Twelve Desperate Miles (45 page)

  
1
“I feel like the lady”:
Stephen E. Ambrose,
Eisenhower
, vol. 1,
Soldier, General of the Army, President-Elect, 1890–1952
, (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1983–1984), p. 191.

  
2
three hundred thousand women:
“Army will double women workers,”
New York Times
, September 4, 1942.

  
3
lines to buy newspapers:
Robert Henriques,
From a Biography of Myself
(London: Secker & Warburg, 1969), p. 62.

  
4
Hewitt had served in the navy:
Rick Atkinson,
An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa
(New York: Henry Holt, 2003), p. 21.

  
5
“I am not among”:
Lucian Truscott,
Command Mission, a Personal Story
(New York: Dutton, 1954), p. 72.

  
6
“it was an essential though costly lesson”: Ibid., p. 72
.

  
7
“quite desperate nature”:
Captain Harry C. Butcher,
My Three Years with Eisenhower
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 1946), p. 84.

  
8
“If we can take into North Africa”:
Ibid., p. 84.

  
9
Marshall, too, had begun to worry:
Ibid., p. 84.

  
1
The consuls were a highly educated group:
Details on the backgrounds of the “apostles” come from Hal Vaughan,
FDR’s 12 Apostles
(Guilford, CT: Lyons Press, 2006), p. 46–78.

  
2
“The city was neat, white”:
Kenneth Pendar,
Adventure in Diplomacy
(New York: Dodd, Mead, 1945), p. 12.

  
3
no shortage of refugees:
Vaughan,
FDR’s 12 Apostles
, p. 62.

  
4
Eddy passed along an order:
Anthony Cave Brown, ed.,
Secret War Report of the OSS
(New York: Berkley Publishing, 1976), p. 136.

  
5
“represent a perfect picture”:
Pendar,
Adventure in Diplomacy
, p. 17.

  
6
He flew to Washington:
William L. Langer,
Our Vichy Gamble
(New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1947), pp. 305–11.

  
7
“Stretching of the facts”:
Ibid., p. 308.

  
8
“The sonofabitch has been shot at enough”:
Maj. Thomas W. Durrell Jr.,
The Role of the Office of Strategic Services in Operation Torch
, a master’s
thesis presented to the faculty of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Leavenworth, Kansas, 2008, p. 67.

  
9
Eddy advised that British forces:
Langer,
Our Vichy Gamble
, p. 309.

10
“We can count on”:
Ibid., p. 310.

11
“knows every rock”:
Ibid.

  
1
One of the thornier issues:
Lucian Truscott,
Command Mission, a Personal Story
(New York: Dutton, 1954), p. 75.

  
2
To Truscott’s mind:
Ibid., pp. 76–77.

  
3
a sub–task force named Goalpost:
John J. Toffey IV,
Jack Toffey’s War
(New York: Fordham University Press, 2008), p. 238.

  
4
snapshots and film footage:
Samuel Eliot Morison,
History of United States Naval Operations in World War II
, vol. 2,
Operations in North African Waters October 1942–June 1943
(Boston: Atlantic Little, Brown, 1954), p. 25.

  
5
“extremely reluctant to undertake”:
Truscott,
Command Mission
, p. 77.

  
6
the basic objectives of Goalpost:
“Estimates for Plan of Attack,” North Africa; operational plan for Operation Goalpost, Northern sub-task force (designated “Z”) of Torch’s Western Task Force, General Lucian Truscott commanding, p. 1). Records of Headquarters Army Ground Forces, 1916–1954, Record Group (RG) 337, 55:799–803 B.799: AF381 National Archives Building, College Park, MD.

  
7
A small unit of:
Truscott,
Command Mission
, p. 78.

  
1
The idea of extricating René Malevergne:
Dave King, report, July 19, 1944, p. 6, Torch anthology, Records of the Office of Strategic Services (O.S.S.), 1919–1946, Record Group 226 99:49:197 National Archives Building, College Park, MD.

  
2
transporting Malevergne in the Chevy:
Ibid., p. 2.

  
3
go ahead, Eddy told him:
What Eddy meant by this was that Malevergne should be concealed under baggage rather than smuggled out through
the use of false papers. Unfortunately, neither King nor Holcomb nor Browne quite understood the meaning, which would shortly be a source of confusion.

  
4
“face was weathered”:
Ibid., p. 138.

  
5
King was the sort:
Ibid., p. 138.

  
6
“I ask only for that”:
Ibid., p. 138.

  
7
“Old friend, this time”:
Ibid., p. 139.

  
8
“Count two months”:
Ibid., p. 139.

  
1
To Gordon Browne:
Details of the Malevergne extrication come from the King report, July 19, 1944, Torch anthology, Records of the O.S.S., 1919–1946, RG 22699:49:197; and a report from Gordon Browne in the same anthology, (RG 226:99:49:198), National Archives Building, College Park, MD. Details are also drawn from René Malevergne’s diary,
The Exfiltration of René Malevergne
. It should be noted that René Malevergne’s name was misspelled by virtually every OSS officer involved in his extrication. King spelled it “Malverne”; Browne spelled it “Malvern”; others spelled it “Malavergne.”

  
2
“Then what’s the argument?”:
King Report, Torch anthology, O.S.S. Records, 1919–1946, RG226 99:49:197, p. 6.

  
3
“this miniscule box”:
Malevergne,
Exfiltration of René Malevergne
, p. 148.

  
4
The road between Casablanca and Tangier:
Robert Murphy described the road to Eisenhower and said that he had made the drive to Casablanca on this road all the way from Oran in sixteen hours. Captain Harry C. Butcher,
My Three Years with Eisenhower
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 1946), p. 111.

  
5
“Tout va bien”:
Browne report, Torch anthology, O.S.S. Records, 1919–1946, RG 226 99:49:198, p. 2.

  
6
The word from King:
Ibid., p. 2.

  
7
had exhausted the supply:
A footnote in Malevergne’s diary (p. 149) says that Holcomb told Professor Blair that they had stopped south of the border—the place where they ate their ham—to replenish their gasoline from a previously hidden stash, but unfortunately someone had swiped the gas.

  
8
It was Coon’s idea:
Carleton Stevens Coon,
A North Africa Story: The Anthropologist as O.S.S. Agent, 1941–1943
(Boston: Gambit, 1980), p. 31.

  
9
The old dog was poised:
Browne report, Torch anthology, Records of the O.S.S., 1919–1946, RG 226 99:49:198, p. 2.

10
“We passed all the controls”:
Ibid., p. 2.

  
1
stretched out to a distance:
Report of Commodore M. Lennon Goldsmith on Convoy HX 208, Sept. 17, 1942 (New York) to October 2, 1942 (Liverpool),
Warsailors.com/HX208.html
.

  
2
“filthy load of coal”:
Ibid.

  
3
“The result,” Goldsmith reported:
Ibid.

  
4
“All Masters of merchant ships”:
Ibid.

  
5
“I lost none of the Leaders”:
Ibid.

  
6
“at least two Signalmen”:
Records of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, 1875–1989, Record Group 38, Armed Guard Reports:145:
Contessa
, Lt. William Cato commanding, October 23, 1942, National Archives Building, College Park, MD.

  
7
“resentful of the gold braid”:
Ibid., p. 299.

  
8
“These lads had”:
Samuel Eliot Morison,
History of United States Naval Operations in World War II
, vol. 1,
The Battle of the Atlantic
(Boston: Atlantic Little, Brown, 1954), p. 297.

  
9
Hard-won union fights:
Bruce Felknor,
The U.S. Merchant Marine at War, 1776–1945
(Annapolis, MD: U.S. Naval Institute, 1999), p. 172.

10
All had emerged:
Ibid., p. 174.

11
“Any ship in which”:
Morison,
History of United States Naval Operations
, vol. 1, pp. 299–300.

12
“abolishing the color line”:
Ibid., p. 298.

13
“emphatic opinion that if and when”:
Ibid., p. 300.

14
Sailing at that rate:
Mark H. Goldberg,
Going Bananas
(Kings Point, NY: American Merchant Marine Museum Foundation, 1993), p. 194.

15
“That wasn’t no fun”:
Smithsonian National Museum of American History, “On the Water,”
http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater/exhibition/6_3.html
; audio recollection of Sam Casarez.

16
“Attention is called”:
RG38 Armed Guard Reports: 145:
Contessa
, Lt. William Cato commanding, October 23, 1942.

  
1
He ordered the rights purchased:
Hal Wallis and Charles Higham,
Starmaker: The Autobiography of Hal Wallis
(New York: MacMillan, 1980), p. 83.

  
2
“were brought in on time”:
Aljean Harmetz,
Round Up the Usual Suspects
(New York: Hyperion, 1992), p. 63.

  
3
Wallis never seriously considered:
Ibid., p. 88.

  
4
Ingrid Bergman, in contrast:
Ibid., p. 90.

  
5
verbal messages cause misunderstandings:
Ibid., p. 29.

  
6
“a good punchline”:
Wallis,
Starmaker
, p. 91.

  
7
a clear-cut moral:
Harmetz,
Round Up the Usual Suspects
, p. 234.

  
8
To give the scene:
Ibid., p. 237.

  
9
But on August 7:
Ibid., p. 263.

  
1
Uncoiled from what he called:
René Malevergne,
The Exfiltration of René Malevergne
(unpublished diary), pp. 151–57. In his diary, Malevergne describes his brief stay in Tangier and journey to Gibraltar.

  
2
“rude French”:
Ibid., p. 153.

  
2
“comforting sensibility”: Ibid.
, p. 151.

  
3
“the intelligence section”: Ibid.
, p. 153.

  
5
“The boat is very small”:
Ibid., p. 156.

  
6
“a prisoner once again”:
Ibid., p. 159.

  
7
“I do not like this”:
Ibid., p. 160.

  
8
“very tall, dry and rigid”:
Ibid., p. 161.

  
1
“It is reported here”:
George Marshall to Dwight D. Eisenhower, incoming cables AGWAR, vol. 12, October 2, 1942, Records of the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, United States Army, 1942–1947, Record Group 492 85:1387:311.23 National Archives Building, College Park, MD.

  
2
The problem, thought Eisenhower’s aide:
Captain Harry C. Butcher,
My Three Years with Eisenhower
(New York: Simon & Schuster 1946), p. 128.

  
3
were less than impressed:
General Alfred M. Gruenther, Oral History 113, p. 14, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Abilene, Kansas.

  
4
Soon after he arrived:
William L. Langer,
Our Vichy Gamble
(New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1947), p. 310.

  
5
The officer’s body:
Gruenther, p. 15.

  
6
London soon traced the order:
Butcher,
My Three Years
, p. 128; Butcher makes the direct connection with Patton.

  
7
the last time it had sailed:
H. Paul Jeffers,
Command of Honor
(New York: NAL Caliber, 2008), p. 88.

  
8
The task force from Great Britain:
Richard M. Leighton and Robert W. Coakley,
Global Logistics and Strategy
(Washington, D.C.: U.S. Army Center of Military History, 1995), p. 429.

  
9
“It would have been desirable”:
Samuel Eliot Morison,
History of United States Naval Operations in World War II
, vol. 2,
Operations in North African Waters October 1942–June 1943
(Boston: Atlantic Little, Brown, 1954), p. 28.

10
In a progress report:
Wesley Frank Craven and James Lea Cate,
The Army Air Forces in World War II
, Office of Air Force History, Washington, D.C., 1983, p. 59.

11
The pilots were so inexperienced:
Morison, History of United States Naval Operations
, vol. 2, p. 32.

12
For instance, twelve ships:
Joseph Byfosky and Harold Larson,
The Transportation Corps: Operations Overseas
(Washington, D.C.: U.S. Army Center of Military History, 2003), p. 145.

13
In the third week:
Butcher,
My Three Years
, p. 113.

14
The fact that the OSS:
Ibid., p. 128.

15
While there, he witnessed:
Lucian Truscott,
Command Mission, a Personal Story
(New York: Dutton, 1954), p. 78.

16
“resembled a football team”:
Morison,
History of United States Naval Operations
, vol. 2, p. 33.

17
“Rest assured that when we start”:
Martin Blumenson, ed.,
The Patton Papers
(New York: Da Capo Press, 1996–1998), p. 86.

18
“Germany will never conquer Russia”:
“Nazis on defensive,”
New York Times
, October 14, 1942, p. 1.

19
The
Times of London
:
“British anticipate revived Nazi blitz,”
New York Times
, September 28, 1942.