World War II: Operation Torch and the Liberation of North Africa & Italy

My grandfather, Colonel Robert W. Stewart, Sr. (1904-1996) of the US Army Air Corps in earlier years as a 1st Lieutenant

Commanding Officer of Williams Field, Arizona (January - March 1942)

In December 1941 the US declared war on Nazi Germany and Japan after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

1st Lieutenant Robert Wilson Stewart with his wife Ora Pate Stewart and their oldest daughter

Major Robert Wilson Stewart, a graduate of the US Army Air Corps Flying School Class of October 1928, was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel on January 5, 1942. He was assigned as the Commanding Officer of the Air Corps Advanced Flying School (ACAFS) Sub-Depot at the newly constructed Higley Field in Arizona where he oversaw flight training and construction of the base. [1] The base was renamed Williams Field in February 1942 – and later became the site of the present-day Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. He served in this position for only two months before leaving for another assignment.

Higley Field, Arizona in 1941, which was later renamed Williams Field [2]

The New Orleans Port of Embarkation (March – July 1942) 

On February 16, 1942, Lieutenant Colonel Stewart was appointed a Colonel in the US Air Corps Regular Army, with a new assignment as the Port Air Officer at the New Orleans Port of Embarkation beginning at the end of March.

The New Orleans Port of Embarkation [3]

At that time, largely unknown to the American public, German U-boats operated offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. One article states:

[I]n late 1941, the High German command ordered the 10th U-boat flotilla to begin war time operations in the Gulf of Mexico. The primary objective was to disrupt the vital flow of oil carried by tankers from ports in Texas and Louisiana and to impede the flow of military hardware and supplies to the European front. [4]

Another source states:

In the summer of 1942, more ships were sunk by U-boats in the Gulf than in the Atlantic or the Pacific. It was a dangerous time to be on an oil tanker in the Gulf. During that time, 44 allied ships were attacked, 33 sunk and 434 lives lost.

In May and June of 1942, U-boat attacks in the Gulf claimed the highest total of ship losses for any other two-month period of the war. U-boats sank oil tankers and freighters vital to the war effort. In May, fourteen ships were torpedoed, nine more went down in June, seven in July, and one each in August and September. [5]

No more dangerous job existed than that of a merchant seaman on an oil tanker in the Gulf in 1942. Men who sailed in tankers during the war were like sitting on something worse than a keg of gunpowder. A single torpedo could transform their ships into a flaming inferno. [6]

One of the articles continues:

The Germans were exceedingly successful in their Gulf campaign, sending 56 vessels to the bottom; 39 of these are now believed to be in state or Federal waters off the Texas, Louisiana, and Florida coastline. In fact, naval historians tell us that Germany’s concentrated war effort in the Gulf of Mexico in 1942 and early 1943 represent one of the most celebrated sea campaigns of all time. At least two U-boat captains earned Germany’s Distinguished Iron Cross for their efforts, and the campaign is credited with effectively disrupting U.S. oil and gas supplies for the first half of the war. [7]

Colonel Stewart writes of his assignment there:

As Air Officer at the Port of Embarkation in New Orleans all supplies on ships that were sunk had to be reordered from point of origin.

During July through September of 1942, Colonel Stewart traveled to Fort George Wright in Spokane, Washington and then reported to the Office of the Deputy Wing Commander at Gowen Field in Boise, Idaho.

A Midvale, Utah newspaper dated July 24, 1942 reports:

Colonel Robert W. Stewart of the U. S. Army Air Command of New Orleans, with his wife and three small children, spent the week end visiting Mr. and Mrs. Ezra Pate and other relatives of East Midvale, en route to Spokane, Wash., where Colonel Stewart will engage in air maneuvers prior to his going overseas in the near future…friends and relatives wish them success and “Godspeed.” [8]

Planning Operation Torch (September - October 1942)

“Operation Torch” was the designated name for the Allied invasion of North Africa, which was then occupied by French Vichy forces and the German Afrika Korps under the command of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, “the Desert Fox.”

According to one source:

U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave a direct order that Torch was to have precedence over other operations and was to take place at the earliest possible date, one of only two direct orders he gave to military commanders during the war. [9]

This was a joint operation of US and UK forces with the whole operation under the command of General Dwight D. Eisenhower. The attacks were divided into 3 task forces, focused on Casablanca (Western Task Force), Oran (Center Task Force), and Algiers (Eastern Task Force).

Operation Torch in North Africa [10]

Planning the logistics of the operation in two months was a daunting task.

One writer noted that:

Torch was the largest and most complicated combined operation in history to that date. [11]

Also noting that there was:

"...not much time to plan and organize the deployment of three task forces comprising more than 70,000 troops, more than 400 warships, and upward of 60 merchant ships. [12]

It was to be “the largest combined amphibious operation in the history of warfare.” [13]

Additionally, “Torch was the first mass involvement of US troops in the European-North African Theatre, and saw the first major airborne assault carried out by the United States.” [14]

General Eisenhower described the operation as an undertaking “of a quite desperate nature.”[15]

Colonel Stewart was assigned as the A3 (Air Force Headquarters operations officer) for the 5th Bombardment Wing, a strategic heavy bomber wing in the Eighth Air Force. [16] Beginning in September, he participated in the planning of Operation Torch in Washington D.C. as part of the Western Task Force under General George S. Patton.

The 5th Bomb Wing flew B-17 Flying Fortresses, B-18 Bolos, and B-23 Dragons.

A Boeing B-17 “Flying Fortress” Bomber of the type flown by the 5th Bombardment Wing [17]

On October 10, 1942, Col. Stewart was rated as a Command Pilot, by command of Lt. General “Hap” Arnold.

The 5th Bomb Wing was reassigned to the Twelfth Air Force in October 1942, to support the Western Task Force being assembled for the Operation Torch landings, planned for November. [18]

Colonel Stewart recalled in later years:

In planning the invasion of Africa all concerned worked in Washington to prepare for this invasion. I was A-3 of the 5th Bombardment Wing. General Patton was in charge.

One day I went with him and suggested that he let me supply him by air. He thought about it for a while and then decided no. If he had let me supply him by air the Russians would never have got out of Russia. And we would have retained the Philippines. At Patterson [Air Field] when the subdepots were about to be organized I suggested that their sole purpose would be to supply board, bed and supplies to the tactical units thus enabling these units to move quickly from place to place and not try to repair the airplanes. Repairing airplanes won and when we met the Germans they had exactly the same mobile depots that I had urged our service to adopt. We seldom knew where the German fighters were because of their mobility. Shortly before we sailed for Africa our new Wing Commander came aboard. He had no equipment, so equipment was obtained for him.

The new Wing Commander was Brigadier General James “Jimmy” Doolittle, recently named commander of the Twelfth Air Force.


Operation Torch: Algeria – French Morocco (November 8-16, 1942)

Colonel Stewart participated in the amphibious landings in French Morocco at Fedhala beach - just north of Casablanca - as part of the Western Task Force of Operation Torch under General Patton. General Patton wanted an Air Corps Officer on the ground with the infantry to coordinate airstrikes, so Col. Stewart was selected for this task. The beachhead landings took place on November 8, 1942 against fierce resistance by Vichy French forces.

Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel (LCVP) of the type used for amphibious landings in North Africa for Operation Torch [19]

Landing at Fedala Beach during Operation Torch.

Image courtesy of the Library of Congress (LC-USW33- 000798-ZC [P&P])

After arriving ashore, the unit radioman was killed, making coordinating airstrikes impossible for Colonel Stewart. As a pilot, he was now in the unusual situation of serving as an infantry officer. However, Colonel Stewart was a recognized Expert Marksman and was prepared for ground combat. He writes:

On landing in Africa, all the officers went in town to the hotel. I was the only officer left with the Air Force troops.

There was fighting going on all around us. The sky had the most brilliant fireworks that I have ever seen. Part of the night was spent organizing defense positions. No light could be used and the men were told not to smoke or light matches because snipers might shoot them. It took most of the night to organize defense position and post guards. Many rumors came in such as a tank column was approaching, enemy troops in the neighborhood, etc. In the dark friendly troops could not be distinguished from enemy troops. There were also cobras in the area – they move around at night. I never thought I would make it through the night. The worst ever.

On another occasion, Colonel Stewart wrote:

When we landed in Africa I was the only officer to stay with the Air Corps troops. There was fighting nearby lighting up the entire sky. So I organized a perimeter defense using a third of the troops on duty while the others rested. Otherwise an attack by the nearby French infantry would have destroyed all of them. They were rotated every two hours. [21]

In a letter dated 16 September 1946 about the night of their first landing, Lt. Col. Gerald C. Ward wrote to Col. Stewart:

I am sure you will recall the reconnaissance we made together in the darkness of Fedhala, the challenges of the French or Arabs, and the times we were fired upon while trying to locate the nearest American troops.

Although out pathways in Africa never actually crossed after you left Casablanca, I did spend a night in the Alletti Hotel in Algiers in a room which had your trunk in it, but nobody seemed to know where you could be found. That was in the summer of 1943, as I recall it.

Colonel Stewart wrote the following statement in response:

Between the dates of 8 November and 11 November 1942, I was a member of the headquarters of the 5th Bombardment Command, attached to the XII Air Support Command, a part of the Western Task Force, engaged in the assault of the beaches at Fedhala, north of Casablanca, French Morocco, as a part of Operation TORCH. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the following facts are true:

Prior to the signing of an armistice with the French on 11 November 1942 at Fedhala there had been sporadic fighting and sniping, and the beaches in the vicinity of Fedhala were under intermittent sniper fire as late as 11 November.

Sometime during the day of 8 November, the main body of the Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron of the XII Air Support Command left the vicinity of the beaches and moved inland, leaving behind a beach detail of officers and men. After dark that evening, this detail found itself cut off from the main body, due to lack of communication facilities or transportation and to the semi-hostile condition of the intervening territory. Consequently, it was necessary for them to provide their own security throughout the hours of darkness.

The evening of 8 November I joined this party and found it under cover in three small beach cabins along the shoreline. Prior to my arrival the party had been in charge of Major Gerald C. Ward, A-4 of the Assault Echelon of the XII Air Support Command. In order to determine the extent of hostility of the surrounding area, Major Ward and I made an armed reconnaissance, during which we were challenged in French at several points and were fired upon. We returned to the beach cabins with the conviction that thorough measures were necessary for the security of the party, and took such measures at once.

The following evening, 9 November, this party again assembled at the beach cabins, and security measures were again instituted when the darkness fell. A jeep had been acquired during the day, and Major Ward and I used it in an attempt to make contact with the main body, but were again fired upon and forced to return without success.

As a result of our reconnaissance, on both evenings, I am convinced that we were the only American troops in the vicinity of the beach cabins, and that we were surrounded by hostile territory. I am equally certain that the shots fired were hostile, as we were never challenged by Americans, nor could we find any American troops nearby.

During the day of 10 November it was learned that the main body of the XII Air Support Command had occupied a sardine cannery east of Fedhala, and subsequent nights were spent at that point.

He continues:

Our next move was to Casablanca. [22]

One source states:

Casablanca fell on November 11 and Patton negotiated an armistice with French General Charles Nogues. The Sultan of Morocco was so impressed that he presented Patton with the Order of Ouissam Alaouite, with the citation “Les Lions dans leurs tanières tremblent en le voyant approcher” (The lions in their dens tremble at his approach). Patton oversaw the conversion of Casablanca into a military port and hosted the Casablanca Conference in January 1943. [23]

Colonel Stewart recalled:

I obtained housing and office facilities for Air Corps personnel in Casablanca. [24]

For his actions in the amphibious assault of North Africa during Operation Torch, Colonel Stewart was awarded the Bronze Star, a medal given to soldiers who distinguish themselves by heroic or meritorious achievement not involving participation in aerial flight – a rare honor for a pilot to receive.

A Bronze Star Medal [25]

The Tunisia Campaign (1943)

Colonel Stewart was fluent in Spanish and French, and even learned some Arabic:

I did all the interpreting for our headquarters (in N. Africa). [26]  

I worked with the heads of the various groups. Learning that toilet soap and tissue paper were scarce items I had taken several cartons of both. Invitations were received for dinner and since it is not good to give one’s host such a package of soap and tissue paper, I would put a small package in the bathroom. Soon I became the most popular officer there receiving dinner invitation every night. Thus, the support of all these groups was obtained. [27]

Colonel Robert W. Stewart as a Planning and Operations Officer during the North African Campaign 

On another occasion he wrote:

Before leaving it was found out that toilet tissue and soap were items most needed. So several cartons of these supplies were taken over. As A-3 I dealt with the heads of the various groups and on being invited out this toilet tissue and soap was secretly deposited in the bathrooms. Suddenly many invitations were received and very quickly several different languages were learned and all the translation was done for our troops.

Arabs caught stealing were turned over to the French who shot them. That is the sole means of livelihood for some. Accordingly, orders were given that they would be turned over to me. This and the tissue paper and soap won them over to our side. (The Arabs caught stealing were turned loose after being warned not to steal.)

When the Germans gave them guns and ammunition and a bounty for every American soldier killed they so informed me and the price was double for each German soldier killed.

They invited me to their feasts and treated me like one of them. Sometimes they would take me down into the mountainous areas hunting. They would scare up the game which was shot and then given to them which both of us enjoyed.

They also proved excellent informants. They reported that 300 German pilots had just arrived at a nearby field. They also gave us the location of the dugouts used during air raids. Our bombing raid killed 81 pilots, 31 in one dugout! Another time over 5,000 enemy were caught in the open and destroyed.

Using an excellent training program for gunnery and bombing, tremendous damage was done on bombing missions and also permission to issue medals was obtained. This changed the morale so that the odds of 4 to 1 (airplanes shot down) changed to 1 to 12 in our favor. Pilots would put in for additional tours of duty even as much as four. After so many missions called a tour of duty they could go home.

At my urgent plea the captain of a big ocean liner gave us his grand piano. Instruments were obtained and an excellent orchestra was used to entertain not only our troops but the French and Arabs as well. It was a great morale factor. [28] 

Then a new general took command and I was relieved as A-3…. The new A-3 was shot down which would have happened to me if this change had not been made.

The CO who was replaced once asked who was it that was playing the piano. He didn’t recognize his own adjutant. [29]

In late 1942 two bomb groups within the 5th Bomb Wing began flying missions from French Morocco. As the American forces moved east, units from the 5th Bomb Wing flew from Algeria and bombed coastal targets in Tunisia and Rommel’s Afrika Corps, beginning in January 1943. From February 19-24, 1943 the 5th Bomb Wing participated in the Battle of Kasserine Pass against Field Marshal Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Korps Assault Group.

The Life magazine of March 1, 1943 shows Colonel Robert Wilson Stewart (far left) as the senior officer planning the Tunis air raid against the Axis-controlled El Auina airfield during the Tunisia campaign. [30]

In May 1943, Colonel Stewart returned home from his deployment. Upon returning from this assignment to his home in Midvale, Utah, he spoke at a local Kiwanis Club meeting:

'Although the war looks extremely favorable at this time, Americans should not let down in any war effort, because anything can happen, and victory is still a long way off,’ declared Col. Robert W. Stewart, guest speaker at Monday night’s meeting of the Midvale Kiwanis club. 

Col. Stewart, who is visiting relatives here briefly, following active duty with the United States Air Corps on the North African Front, told interesting and pathetic experiences of our troops during the invasion and first battles in Africa and paid high tribute to our fighting men. He also told of the amusing ways and customs of the Arabs. [31]

While speaking at a Church service in Midvale Utah during this same leave, Colonel Stewart related,

Our boys with a religious and moral background make the best soldiers. [32]

The living room of the home of Col. Robert W. Stewart and Ora Pate Stewart in Midvale, Utah, 1943. The copper Islamic tray table was a gift he received as a token of friendship from a family in North Africa and the artillery shells came from the North African campaign. 

From May through December 1943, Colonel Stewart served as a Senior Air Inspector examining different air bases, based out of the Field Office of the Air Inspector at HQ Army Air Forces at Peterson Army Air Field in Colorado Springs.

Colonel Stewart [33] 

During the year of 1944, Colonel Stewart served in an executive position as the Inspector General Deputy at the HQ 4th Air Force in San Francisco. During this time he traveled to inspect airbases throughout the country.


Commanding Officer of the HQ 62nd Air Service Group in Sicily, Italy (January – July 1945)

Colonel Stewart’s second overseas deployment during the war was to Sicily, Italy, as the Commanding Officer of the 62nd Air Service Group Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron on overseas assignment in Italy.

Colonel Robert Wilson Stewart, second from the right

The Air Service Groups were organizations:

...designed to establish and operate a base with necessary echelon supply and maintenance facilities for a combat group in the theater of operations,” and “organized into three special squadrons according to function: Material Squadron, Engineering Squadron and Headquarters and Base Services Squadron. [34]

Each Service Group (Special) would service one combat group, and to operate a base complete with finance service, fixed communications, medical dispensaries, interior guard, utilities, firefighting and motor transport.

The Air Service Groups were trained in the US and shipped overseas.

Colonel Stewart departed the US on January 4, 1945 and arrived in Italy on January 13, 1945.

Col. R. W. Stewart, Europe

The 62nd Air Service Group operated from a base in Sicily and transported men and supplies to the front lines during the Italy campaign.

After the end of the war in Europe in May 1945, the 62nd shuttled troops, supplies, wounded, and prisoners in the Mediterranean area. [35]

A 1945 Midvale Sentinel newspaper stated:

We have a photograph clipped from The Bomb Blast, air corps newspaper on the Italian front, showing our own Col Robert Stewart chatting with Prince Umberto, crown prince of Italy. The picture was taken March 25, while Col Stewart was inspecting Italian units and installations. [36]

Unfortunately, the whereabouts of the photo mentioned in the above article is unknown, but will hopefully resurface someday.

Colonel Robert W. Stewart (right) promoting Cornelius J. Chamberlain (left), an enlisted man under his command in the HQ 62nd Air Service Group, as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. [37]

Colonel Stewart completed his second deployment and left Italy to return home in April 1945.


Base Commander of Hensley Field, Texas (July 1945 – August 1946)

After the end of the war in Europe, but prior to the surrender of Japan to the Allies, Colonel Stewart was assigned as the Base Commander of Hensley Field in Texas. With the surrender of Japan in September, the world war finally came to an end.

Colonel Robert W. Stewart, Sr. (1904-1996) of the US Army Air Corps, ca. 1945

The military insignia of Colonel Robert Wilson Stewart, Sr. 

UNIFORM INSIGNIA:

• Upper Left: Officer Cap Insignia
• Center Top: Command Pilot Badge and Combat Observer Badge 
• Upper Right: Insignia of Officer’s Grade - Colonel. Lapel Badges - Aviation Cadet Badge and “U.S” for officers
• Lower Right: “Expert” Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Army Weapon Qualification Clasps: “Carbine” and “Pistol”
• Lower Left: Overseas Service Bars (3 assignments) worn on the lower left sleeve
• Decorations (left to right, ribbons worn in wartime in lieu of medals):
• Bronze Star Medal
• American Defense Medal
• American Theater Medal
• European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with 1 Campaign Star: Algeria-Morocco
• World War II Victory Medal 

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[1] The base was initially called Mesa Military Airport and was renamed Higley Field in October 1941. In February 1942 it was renamed Williams Field. Williams Air Force Base was decommissioned in 1993 and was converted to the current Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport in 1994.

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Williams_Air_Force_Base#/media/File:Williams_Army_Airfield_Arizona_1941.jpg

[3] https://www.nola.com/politics/2012/09/new_orleans_chooses_developer.html

[4] https://wintertexansonline.com/uboats.html

[5] https://www.caller.com/story/opinion/2018/08/28/u-boats-prowled-gulf-deadly-summer-1942/1114860002/

[6] https://www.caller.com/story/opinion/2018/08/28/u-boats-prowled-gulf-deadly-summer-1942/1114860002/

[7] https://wintertexansonline.com/uboats.html

[8] The Midvale Sentinel, Volume 9, Number 30, July 24, 1942.

[9] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Torch

[10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Torch#/media/File:Operation_Torch_-_map.jpg

[11] Baxter, Colin F. The War in North Africa, 1940-1943: A Selected Bibliography. Pp. 56-57

[12] Baxter, Colin F. The War in North Africa, 1940-1943: A Selected Bibliography. Pp. 56-57

[13] https://www.combinedops.com/Torch.htm

[14] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Torch

[15] Baxter, Colin F. The War in North Africa, 1940-1943: A Selected Bibliography. Pp. 56-57

[16] A3 is the “staff designation for air force headquarters staff concerned with operations.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staff_(military)#Continental_Staff_System

[17] https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:B17_-_Chino_Airshow_2014_(framed).jpg

[18] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5th_Air_Division

[19] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LCVP_(United_States)#/media/File:Darke_APA-159_-_LCVP_18.jpg

[20] https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2017871656/

[21] Military Record Correction Letter, Robert Wilson Stewart.

[22] Military Record Correction Letter, Robert Wilson Stewart.

[23] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_S._Patton

[24] Military Record Correction Letter, Robert Wilson Stewart.

[25] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze_Star_Medal#/media/File:Bronze_Star_medal.jpg

[26] Application for Correction of Military Record, Robert Wilson Stewart.

[27] Military Record Correction Letter, Robert Wilson Stewart.

[28] Application for Correction of Military Record, Robert Wilson Stewart.

[29] Application for Correction of Military Record, Robert Wilson Stewart.

[30] The current site of Tunis-Carthage International Airport, adjacent to El Aouina.

[31] The Midvale Sentinel, Vol. 10 Number 21, May 21, 1943: “Speaker Warns of Over-Optimism Concerning War”

[32] The Sentinel, Midvale, Utah, Page Four. Friday, May 28, 1943.

[33] Ora Pate Stewart Archive, BYU Library. Official records say he was 5’9” but the photo shows just under 6’0”.

[34] Coleman, John M. "The Development of Tactical Services in the Army Air Forces." 1950.

[35] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/62nd_Operations_Group

[36] The Midvale Sentinel, Volume 12, Number 21. May 25, 1945.

[37] The Midvale Sentinel Volume 12 Number 19. Friday, May 11, 1945.