The United States entered the Second World War in December 1941. British and American leaders met at the Arcadia Conference in Washington D.C. to discuss future strategy. They agreed on a Europe first principle but disagreed on implementation. Americans favored a direct approach with a limited landing in Europe in 1942. The British pressed for a less ambitious plan due to shipping shortages. Winston Churchill proposed invading North Africa instead. General George Marshall and Admiral Ernest King strongly opposed that plan. President Franklin D. Roosevelt wanted to support the Russians. He agreed to the North African operation because Pacific operations would not help them. On the 14th of August 1942 Lt. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was appointed Commander in Chief Allied expeditionary Force. He set up his headquarters in London. Planners identified Oran, Algiers and Casablanca as key targets. Ideally there would also be a landing at Tunis to secure Tunisia. A compromise would be to land at Bône in eastern Algeria. Limited resources dictated that the Allies could only make three landings. Eisenhower believed any plan must include landings at Oran and Algiers. He had two main options: either the western option or the eastern option. The Combined Chiefs of Staff chose the Casablanca option as the less risky since forces in Algeria and Tunisia could be supplied overland from Casablanca.
Covert Diplomacy And Vichy Intrigue
The Allies believed that the Vichy French Armistice Army would not fight. Information came from American Consul Robert Daniel Murphy in Algiers. US troops were instructed not to fire unless they were fired upon. The Vichy French Navy were expected to be very hostile after the British Attack on Mers-el-Kébir in June 1940. Murphy was appointed to the American consulate in Algeria. His covert mission was to determine the mood of the French forces. He succeeded in contacting several French officers including General Charles Mast. These officers were willing to support the Allies but asked for a clandestine conference with a senior Allied general. Major General Mark W. Clark was secretly dispatched to Cherchell in Algeria aboard the British submarine. They met with these Vichy French officers on the 21st of October 1942. Due to the need to maintain secrecy, the French officers were left in the dark about concrete plans. They gave Clark detailed information about the military situation in Algiers. These officers also asked French General Henri Giraud be moved out of Vichy France to take the lead of the operation. Eventually the Allies succeeded in slipping Giraud out of Vichy France on HMS Seraph to Gibraltar. Eisenhower had his headquarters there intending to offer him the post of commander in chief of French forces in North Africa after the invasion. However, Giraud would take no position lower than commander in chief of all the invading forces. When he was refused, he decided to remain a spectator in this affair.