Springboard To Berlin

SPRINGBOARD TO BERLIN FOREWORD Early on the morning of November eighth Allied invasion forces struck simultaneously at half a dozen places in North Africa. From that moment news of our campaign poured out from innumerable points up and down the coast. Obviously no one person could be everywhere at once, or t could hope to tell the complete story. This could only be done by the col laboration of several of those who were there. Springboard to Berlin is the work of four correspondents of the United Press. John A. Parris, Jr. in the London office was in an excellent position to give us a glimpse of what went on before those con voys finally slipped through the Straits of Gibraltar. This he has done in Part I. Leo Disher had the unique experience of actually sailing on H. M. S. Walney, which was sent to break the boom at Oran harbor. Part II, telling what happened, is one of the high points of the book. Operations at Algiers are covered in Part III by Ned Russell, who landed there with the troops. John A. Parris, Jr. went in with the troops at Arzu, close by Oran. He covers Oran in Part V. His familiarity with the whole picture has enabled him to provide also a portion Part IV on Casablanca and later Part VII a chapter on the Casablanca Conference. That November-December dash for Bizerte and Tunis is cov ered by Ned Russell in Part VI. Attached to the British First Army, he went up the coast from Bone. As Rommel made for home with Montgomery at his heels, the illfiOlG NOV3 1943 Aiffcdjfo. SpHfhern Tunisia. Phil Ault was in the thick of the Sgniihg if Kasssrine Pass, El Guettar, and the other famous battf tfi Part VIII he tells how the Americans won their spurs there - v The final knockoutat Bizerte and Tunis was witnessed by Ned Russell. Part IX was sent by him to London. John Parris and Phil Ault, now in London, contributed to the section and got it into the hands of a naval officer bound for New York. Meanwhile Ned Russell continued across the Mediterranean with the invasion forces. Part X, analyzing the breakdown of the Axis African army and describing the conquest of Lampedusa and most of Sicily was cabled to New York via London just as this book - went to press. THE PUBLISHERS CONTENTS PROLOGUE 3 I. THE GROUNDWORK, by John Parris 11 II. H. M. S. WALNEY, by Leo Disher 91 III. ALGIERS, by Ned Russell 127 IV. CASABLANCA, by John Parris 157 V. ORAN, by John Parris 181 VI. THE LONG CHANCE, by Ned Russell 199 VII. CASABLANCA CONFERENCE, by John Parris 271 VIII. SOUTHERN TUNISIA, by Phil Ault 283 IX. THE KNOCKOUT, by Ned Russell, John Parris, and Phil Ault 317 X. HEEL OF ACHILLES, by Ned Russell and John Parris 361 EPILOGUE 391 INDEX 395 PROLOGUE PROLOGUE October, 1942. Time was running out. The Russians were fighting again with their backs to the wall. Stalingrad seemed almost ready to fall. The Germans were pul verizing the city with heavy guns, and the bombers came and laid their eggs and went away only to return again and again. quot Mama, I m afraid. quot The little Russian girl hugged the rag doll closer to her. quot Will they come and take us away quot Stalin sat in the Kremlin. He was a patient man but his pa tience was running out. He wondered when the Americans and the British were going to fulfill their promise. The time was ripe for a second front. He needed help, needed it desperately. Time was running out for Stalin. A little group of eight American andBritish officers stood on a dimly lit platform of a London railway station. There was really nothing unusual about these men whom Destiny had picked for a strange mission. Just eight men in uniform stand ing on a platform waiting for a train. The night was dark and rainy and everybody was feeling pretty dismal. There was nothing in the newspapers to make a man feel good. The eight men stood smoking, talking casually among them selves. The tall American major general said something about the weather...