Take-off of Paratroop Operations

One phase of the plan for the capture of Oran included the dropping of paratroops from 39 C-47's of the 60th Troop Carrier Group. Col. William C. Bentley, Jr., was mission commander and Lt. Col. Thomas J. Schofield was group commander. The 39 planes assigned to the mission were divided into four flights. The first two flights, consisting of 19 aircraft, took off from St. Eval, and the other two, made up of 20 planes, took off from Predanneck.

The 556 paratroop engaged in the mission were the 2d Battalion of the 503d Parachute Infantry, commanded by Lt. Col. Edson D. Raff. Two plans were formulated: by the "war" plan most of the paratroops were to jump near Tafaraoui and capture that airdrome; by the "peace" plan the planes were to land at La Senia, where the paratroops were to walk in and receive the plaudits of the multitude.

While the men were standing by their planes on five-minute alert, the order was received to substitute the "peace" plan for the "war" plan, which had originally been thought more probable. personnel were informed of the change and warned to take off in time to assemble over Portreath in Cornwall at 2200. However, during the night the "war" plan was reinstated, unknown to the mission, a circumstance leading to utter confusion the next day. To add to the general turmoil, the radio boat in the Mediterranean was sending signals on 460 kc instead of 440 kc, as indicated in the Signal Annex and the inadequately informed briefing personnel briefed the crews for Gibraltar. Much time was lost, and when the instructions were given for the actual mission they were very inadequate.

Flights A and B took off at 2120 on 7 November, with C and D taking off at 2105. Rendezvous was made over Portreath at 1,000 feet, and the course was taken from there. The planes had difficulty in getting into formation in the darkness, in some cases collisions being narrowly averted. Ground fog and occasional rains were encountered and these, added to poor radio communication and the failure of some lights to function, made it difficult for the aircraft to keep formation. The dispersal became practically complete when the planes climbed to 10,000 feet for the flight over the mountains of northern Spain. Radio and navigator failure made reassembly impossible, and the C-47's arrived at widely dispersed points over the north African coast. Over the coast of Spain several aircraft were fired upon. Notwithstanding the liberal use of caffeine pills, most of the crews had to fight to stay awake. Of three which lost their way, one put in at Gibraltar and two reached Casablanca.

With the dawn arrival in Algeria most of the planes were almost out of fuel and the crews all but exhausted. The crews and parachutists of three planes landing in Spanish Morocco were interned, and the paratroops of a fourth plane were dropped there and also taken into custody.

Near Lourmel a column of tanks was seen and 12 planes jumped their paratroops, but the tanks proved to be American. the airborne troops marched to Tafaraoui, arriving the next day. The change from the "peace" to the "war" plan first became known to the mission when a C-47 encountered flak over Tafaraoui. This plane hastily warned all those it could reach by radio, and an emergency landing field was sought at the west end of the Sebkra d'Oran, a salt lake south of Oran. During the morning the majority of the aircraft, 28 in number, landed there. The first of this contingent to land, about 0830, was fired upon by two Arab horsemen, and a bullet exploded a parachutist's hand grenade, seriously wounding and officer. The paratroops were organized, the planes dispersed, and the defensive outposts established. A platoon of light tanks reinforced the defense.

Colonel Bentley's plane was among those which reached the Sebkra, but after talking with those on the ground he jumped his paratroops and turned north to reconnoiter over Tafaraoui and La Senia. It must be remembered that to the best of his knowledge the mission was operating on the "peace" plan. There  were evidences of a ground battle occurring at Tafaraoui, and at La Senia he was met by antiaircraft fire. With his fuel low and one engine spitting and missing, he sat down on a dry sebkra and managed to establish radio contact with the ground commander, reporting the situation of the aircraft and paratroops at the west end of the Sebkra d-Oran. here he was joined by another C-47.

Presently, with the arrival of French civilian police, Colonel Bentley and the crews of the two planes were taken prisoner. On the way to Oran they were joined by the crew and parachutists of the third C-47 which had landed in the vicinity early in the morning, apparently the first to land in Algeria. Incarcerated in the prison camp of St. Philippe, Colonel Bentley was courteously treated, and remained there until the 11th, when American armored forces captured the camp.