From North Africa to Anzio's bloody fields, Darby's Rangers asked for only one thing--the chance to fight.
Darby's Rangers: We Led the Way
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle.
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Chapter I
North African Spearhead--Arzew
NOVEMBER 1942
Perspective
The summer of 1942 was an unforgettable time for the World War II Allies. Until that year, defeat had followed defeat. Pearl Harbor came first for the United States, and then the loss of the Philippines; Britain had its Dunkirk and had lost Singapore; and the Soviet Union was fighting a desperate battle against the Nazi Army on its entire Western front.
Darby's Rangers' first operations--Operation Torch of 8 November 1942--began with the war in North Africa in support of the Allied landing. This invasion had the backing of both British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and American President Franklin Roosevelt, and the opposition of practically all the military staffs. It was first mentioned by the British at the Arcadia Conference in December 1941. They stressed the desirability of bringing French forces back into the war against Germany and thought of the North African operation as a relatively cheap means of seizing the initiative from Hitler. At the same time, the United States was busily engaged in the Pacific, particularly with the Guadalcanal operation which began on 7 August 1942. In late August 1942 the Soviet Union was to see the beginning of the Stalingrad attack by the Germans.
Churchill journeyed to Moscow to take news to Joseph Stalin, premier of the Soviet Union: the Western Allies were not going to invade the continent in 1942 but instead were to attack northwest Africa before the end of October. He gave Stalin the reasons for the inability of the Allies to help his beleaguered forces by drawing German divisions away through a continental attack. Churchill explained Operation Torch and what was hoped it would do; he was greatly surprised when Stalin agreed with its concept.
After Churchill's visit to Moscow, and with Roosevelt's complete approval, plans went ahead swiftly for the Allied invasion of North Africa. On 14 August the Combined Chiefs of Staff appointed Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, then in command of the American forces in England, to be commander of the Allied expeditionary force and directed him to prepare plans for the landing. Three task forces were developed for the operation. The Western Task Force was to capture Casablanca, the Central Task Force the city of Oran, and the Eastern Task Force the seaport of Algiers. In each case these amphibious landings were to be made in the classical historic mode of pinching off a seaport by attacking from the flanks, rather than head-on.
The Western Task Force, under the command of Maj. Gen. George S. Patton, included infantry troops and Maj. Gen. Ernest Harmon's armored forces. Harmon had elements of the 2nd Armored Division while the infantry was part of the 9th Infantry Division. The Central Task Force at Oran was commanded by Maj. Gen. Lloyd Fredendall and included the 1st Infantry Division and Maj. William Darby's Ranger Battalion. At Algiers the landing force consisted of a British division, a regimental combat team from the American forces, and three British Commando units.
IT WAS JUST THREE HOURS BEFORE THE START of the greatest amphibious operation in history with the hands of the ship's clock into 8 November 1942. I was standing on the bridge of H.M.S. Ulster Monarch with the master of the ship, trying to pierce the fog. Pricks of doubt ran through both our minds as we considered the assault landing to be made at Arzew, east of Oran, by my command, the 1st Ranger Battalion. Arzew was now some thirty miles off our starboard bow. Strange lights flickered in the distance along the shore, raising questions as to whether the landing force had been discovered. Knowing the importance of the assault landing, we were rubbing our hands nervously. What would the French do? Would they fight bitterly, or would they give up after their honor had been satisfied by strong resistance against an aggressive assault? A beacon, flashing its signal in a circle, spoke reassuringly. Perhaps the Rangers were going to make a landing in the dark without blue jets of flame crossing their path or large shells sending up waterspouts close by the landing boats.
The fog was growing thicker. I drifted over to the port side of the bridge and stared into the water, but close astern I could barely make out the misty outlines of H.M.S. Royal Scotsman and H.M.S. Royal Ulsterman, bearing the remainder of the 1st Ranger Battalion.
Suddenly I stiffened with fright. Cold chills ran down my spine and my hair literally stood on end. Two silver objects, racing with terrific speed, were heading for the ships. "My God, torpedoes! We've been discovered."
Clutching the master of the ship by the arm, I pointed shakily towards those streaks of foam in the sea. For a few seconds we stared at them in numbed silence. Nothing could be done since it was too late to take any evasive action. The streaks were within twenty-five yards of the ship and closing fast. As they approached nearer and nearer, I instinctively threw my hands to my head as if to protect myself from the expected explosion. Then as the objects were within a few yards of the ship, they leaped out of the water, throwing a fountain of spray. Diving gracefully, the two porpoises--for that was what they were--changed course to follow the ship. We mopped the perspiration from our foreheads and laughed weakly at one another's fears.
The North African invasion by United Nations forces was an awesome venture. The operation, carrying the hopes of many Allied peoples, was on a shoestring. Some of the landing craft, ships, and men had been made available just as the convoys were casting off from Great Britain and the United States. For months the public of the various countries of the United Nations had called for a second front; and when American troops first went to Northern Ireland and England, there was some feeling that the invasion of the continent was imminent. The soldiers on this expedition were not aware of any strategic decisions but knew only that they were going to the north coast of Africa, an area new to them and practically unknown to the average person on the streets at home.
As commanding officer of the 1st Ranger Battalion, I was well aware of the importance of the mission. Nervously I continued to scan the dim shapes all around. Beyond and to the rear of the three British ships bearing my battalion was a vast armada of assault ships protected by units of the British and American battle fleets. The Mediterranean was calm, but the fog and darkness gave little information as to the size of the swells through which the ships were pounding their deliberate passage.
I pondered the job ahead, certain that my unit--British-trained under Commando instructors and experienced in landing exercises in all kinds of weather on the islands west of Scotland--would fight smartly and courageously. There were nearly five hundred of us, each man versed in the use of weapons and aware of the importance of scrambling ashore and vaulting over the parapets of the forts. The coastal guns within had to be knocked out to make the landings of the main forces safe.
The three ships on which the Rangers were being carried to battle were British, British-manned, and bore the resounding title of His Majesty's Ships. Taken from the Glasgow-Belfast ferry run, they were small ships--never intended for battle.
When my men had first boarded the former ferryboats, they had a twinge of self-pity since they were obviously not built for combat, they were just the best available. Though Great Britain had a large merchant marine at the beginning of the war, they had had to scrape the barrel by 1942. Ships of all types and classes were handed their orders to join the military service and be converted, like these ferryboats, for assault use. The primary method of conversion was to rip out the luxury items and place davits inboard on the promenade deck to hold the landing craft.
The North African landing was to be a ship-to-shore operation rather than shore-to-shore. In the latter, men enter a large landing craft at a port, proceed across water, and land directly on a beach. This is the easier of the two, but for longer distances, ship-to-shore is a necessity. Men could not stay in even large landing craft over many hundreds of miles of open water without suffering from exposure which would make them unfit for an assault landing. By utilizing large ships carrying a number of small landing craft, fighting men can travel distances of more than a thousand miles and be disembarked several miles out to sea from their landing beach. This was the procedure for the North African operation.
The mother vessel is called an assault ship for another reason. Carrying necessary weapons, equipment, and supplies for the men aboard, it is "combat-loaded" so that everything is available in the priority needed. Guns and ammunition come first; food, shelter, and clothing next.
After the initial beach has been crossed and the defenses set up inland, succeeding waves of troops go ashore from ships which are "convoy-loaded" instead of "combat-loaded." In the former case, a number of ships bearing a battalion, a regiment, or a division, have all the initial supplies stowed economically throughout the convoy.
On 26 October 1942 the three ferryboats left their home port of Glasgow bound for Oran. They must have seemed like trusty old streetcars being sent out on a new and untried rail line. They steamed southward at good speed and eventually joined other groups of larger transports. The armada, gathered together like chickens in a barnyard, was protected by the mother hens of the fleets hovering in the distance. Only the superstructures of some of the men-of-war could be seen. Planes floated above the convoy all day in great easy circles, assuring the troops that aircraft carriers were accompanying them. Zigzagging, the convoy steamed south, headed like others presumably on the long voyage around the Cape of Good Hope to Egypt and the battle th...
North African Spearhead--Arzew
NOVEMBER 1942
Perspective
The summer of 1942 was an unforgettable time for the World War II Allies. Until that year, defeat had followed defeat. Pearl Harbor came first for the United States, and then the loss of the Philippines; Britain had its Dunkirk and had lost Singapore; and the Soviet Union was fighting a desperate battle against the Nazi Army on its entire Western front.
Darby's Rangers' first operations--Operation Torch of 8 November 1942--began with the war in North Africa in support of the Allied landing. This invasion had the backing of both British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and American President Franklin Roosevelt, and the opposition of practically all the military staffs. It was first mentioned by the British at the Arcadia Conference in December 1941. They stressed the desirability of bringing French forces back into the war against Germany and thought of the North African operation as a relatively cheap means of seizing the initiative from Hitler. At the same time, the United States was busily engaged in the Pacific, particularly with the Guadalcanal operation which began on 7 August 1942. In late August 1942 the Soviet Union was to see the beginning of the Stalingrad attack by the Germans.
Churchill journeyed to Moscow to take news to Joseph Stalin, premier of the Soviet Union: the Western Allies were not going to invade the continent in 1942 but instead were to attack northwest Africa before the end of October. He gave Stalin the reasons for the inability of the Allies to help his beleaguered forces by drawing German divisions away through a continental attack. Churchill explained Operation Torch and what was hoped it would do; he was greatly surprised when Stalin agreed with its concept.
After Churchill's visit to Moscow, and with Roosevelt's complete approval, plans went ahead swiftly for the Allied invasion of North Africa. On 14 August the Combined Chiefs of Staff appointed Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, then in command of the American forces in England, to be commander of the Allied expeditionary force and directed him to prepare plans for the landing. Three task forces were developed for the operation. The Western Task Force was to capture Casablanca, the Central Task Force the city of Oran, and the Eastern Task Force the seaport of Algiers. In each case these amphibious landings were to be made in the classical historic mode of pinching off a seaport by attacking from the flanks, rather than head-on.
The Western Task Force, under the command of Maj. Gen. George S. Patton, included infantry troops and Maj. Gen. Ernest Harmon's armored forces. Harmon had elements of the 2nd Armored Division while the infantry was part of the 9th Infantry Division. The Central Task Force at Oran was commanded by Maj. Gen. Lloyd Fredendall and included the 1st Infantry Division and Maj. William Darby's Ranger Battalion. At Algiers the landing force consisted of a British division, a regimental combat team from the American forces, and three British Commando units.
IT WAS JUST THREE HOURS BEFORE THE START of the greatest amphibious operation in history with the hands of the ship's clock into 8 November 1942. I was standing on the bridge of H.M.S. Ulster Monarch with the master of the ship, trying to pierce the fog. Pricks of doubt ran through both our minds as we considered the assault landing to be made at Arzew, east of Oran, by my command, the 1st Ranger Battalion. Arzew was now some thirty miles off our starboard bow. Strange lights flickered in the distance along the shore, raising questions as to whether the landing force had been discovered. Knowing the importance of the assault landing, we were rubbing our hands nervously. What would the French do? Would they fight bitterly, or would they give up after their honor had been satisfied by strong resistance against an aggressive assault? A beacon, flashing its signal in a circle, spoke reassuringly. Perhaps the Rangers were going to make a landing in the dark without blue jets of flame crossing their path or large shells sending up waterspouts close by the landing boats.
The fog was growing thicker. I drifted over to the port side of the bridge and stared into the water, but close astern I could barely make out the misty outlines of H.M.S. Royal Scotsman and H.M.S. Royal Ulsterman, bearing the remainder of the 1st Ranger Battalion.
Suddenly I stiffened with fright. Cold chills ran down my spine and my hair literally stood on end. Two silver objects, racing with terrific speed, were heading for the ships. "My God, torpedoes! We've been discovered."
Clutching the master of the ship by the arm, I pointed shakily towards those streaks of foam in the sea. For a few seconds we stared at them in numbed silence. Nothing could be done since it was too late to take any evasive action. The streaks were within twenty-five yards of the ship and closing fast. As they approached nearer and nearer, I instinctively threw my hands to my head as if to protect myself from the expected explosion. Then as the objects were within a few yards of the ship, they leaped out of the water, throwing a fountain of spray. Diving gracefully, the two porpoises--for that was what they were--changed course to follow the ship. We mopped the perspiration from our foreheads and laughed weakly at one another's fears.
The North African invasion by United Nations forces was an awesome venture. The operation, carrying the hopes of many Allied peoples, was on a shoestring. Some of the landing craft, ships, and men had been made available just as the convoys were casting off from Great Britain and the United States. For months the public of the various countries of the United Nations had called for a second front; and when American troops first went to Northern Ireland and England, there was some feeling that the invasion of the continent was imminent. The soldiers on this expedition were not aware of any strategic decisions but knew only that they were going to the north coast of Africa, an area new to them and practically unknown to the average person on the streets at home.
As commanding officer of the 1st Ranger Battalion, I was well aware of the importance of the mission. Nervously I continued to scan the dim shapes all around. Beyond and to the rear of the three British ships bearing my battalion was a vast armada of assault ships protected by units of the British and American battle fleets. The Mediterranean was calm, but the fog and darkness gave little information as to the size of the swells through which the ships were pounding their deliberate passage.
I pondered the job ahead, certain that my unit--British-trained under Commando instructors and experienced in landing exercises in all kinds of weather on the islands west of Scotland--would fight smartly and courageously. There were nearly five hundred of us, each man versed in the use of weapons and aware of the importance of scrambling ashore and vaulting over the parapets of the forts. The coastal guns within had to be knocked out to make the landings of the main forces safe.
The three ships on which the Rangers were being carried to battle were British, British-manned, and bore the resounding title of His Majesty's Ships. Taken from the Glasgow-Belfast ferry run, they were small ships--never intended for battle.
When my men had first boarded the former ferryboats, they had a twinge of self-pity since they were obviously not built for combat, they were just the best available. Though Great Britain had a large merchant marine at the beginning of the war, they had had to scrape the barrel by 1942. Ships of all types and classes were handed their orders to join the military service and be converted, like these ferryboats, for assault use. The primary method of conversion was to rip out the luxury items and place davits inboard on the promenade deck to hold the landing craft.
The North African landing was to be a ship-to-shore operation rather than shore-to-shore. In the latter, men enter a large landing craft at a port, proceed across water, and land directly on a beach. This is the easier of the two, but for longer distances, ship-to-shore is a necessity. Men could not stay in even large landing craft over many hundreds of miles of open water without suffering from exposure which would make them unfit for an assault landing. By utilizing large ships carrying a number of small landing craft, fighting men can travel distances of more than a thousand miles and be disembarked several miles out to sea from their landing beach. This was the procedure for the North African operation.
The mother vessel is called an assault ship for another reason. Carrying necessary weapons, equipment, and supplies for the men aboard, it is "combat-loaded" so that everything is available in the priority needed. Guns and ammunition come first; food, shelter, and clothing next.
After the initial beach has been crossed and the defenses set up inland, succeeding waves of troops go ashore from ships which are "convoy-loaded" instead of "combat-loaded." In the former case, a number of ships bearing a battalion, a regiment, or a division, have all the initial supplies stowed economically throughout the convoy.
On 26 October 1942 the three ferryboats left their home port of Glasgow bound for Oran. They must have seemed like trusty old streetcars being sent out on a new and untried rail line. They steamed southward at good speed and eventually joined other groups of larger transports. The armada, gathered together like chickens in a barnyard, was protected by the mother hens of the fleets hovering in the distance. Only the superstructures of some of the men-of-war could be seen. Planes floated above the convoy all day in great easy circles, assuring the troops that aircraft carriers were accompanying them. Zigzagging, the convoy steamed south, headed like others presumably on the long voyage around the Cape of Good Hope to Egypt and the battle th...
From AudioFile
[Editor's Note: The following is a combined review with VISIONS FROM A FOXHOLE and I AM ALIVE.]--Things were so much easier when war was just good guys versus bad guys. Random House seems to have tapped into that sentiment with this trio of WWII memoirs. Visions From a Foxhole is the author's recounting of the battles he fought in Europe in the final few months of the war. An 18-year-old soldier in 1945, Foley later made a career as an artist, and he displays an obvious skill for observation. Jim Soreiro's reading is smooth but perhaps a bit too even--he narrates every passage with the same moderate urgency, whether his character is ducking bullets or making pencil sketches. The author of I Am Alive! saw little combat, having been captured in the Philippines in 1942 and spending the next three years as a prisoner in Japan. His account of life as a POW is chilling, though the other anecdotes that pad the work are a tad quaint. John Henry Cox relates all in just the right tones of an older veteran telling yarns. Major William Darby was not a rank-and-file soldier but a legendary commander, and Darby's Rangers is a memoir of his battalion's combat in North Africa and Italy. Darby was portrayed by James Garner in a 1958 film, but Don Leslie's narration is more reminiscent of John Wayne. There's a swagger in his voice that often suits the tough-guy narrative, though in places the listener may want to admonish him with an "At ease, soldier." D.B. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Authors
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A sad end to some gallant soldiers,
By
This review is from: Darby's Rangers: We Led the Way (Audio CD)
This book is based primarily on the memoirs of William O. Darby, the founder and commanding officer of "Darby's Rangers," who dictated the original draft shortly before he was killed in action on April 30, 1945. Perhaps, if he hadn't been killed his story and that of Darby's Rangers would be better known today.
To summarize the book: The 1st Ranger Battalion was activated on June 19, 1942. It consisted of 600 men who had been selected from a group of 1500 volunteers. These "Rangers" were sent to Achnacarry, Scotland where they were subjected to intensive training by British commando instructors. Fifty of the 500 men who survived this training then went on to see action in the ill-fated Dieppe Raid, where three of the participating rangers were killed. The 1st Battalion then went on to spearhead the invasion at the Port of Arzew in Algeria, during the invasion of North Africa, by executing a surprise night landing. Later, in 1943, they executed behind-the-lines night-raids in Tunisia, in one of which they surprised the Germans from the rear, took two hundred prisoners, and opened the way for General Patton's advance through North Africa. The Battalion then went on to fight at El Guettar where the Battalion won the Presidential Unit Citation. The success of the 1st Ranger Battalion prompted the creation of the 3rd and 4th Battalions, which were formed in part from elements of the 1st. Taken together, these three Battalions were to become known as Darby's Rangers. Following some additional training in North Africa, the Rangers participated in the invasion of Sicily. There, near the town of Cisterna, Italy, the 1st and 3rd Ranger Battalions were virtually annihilated while on a night infiltration mission. Surrounded by an overwhelming German force of which they had no prior knowledge, they fought until their ammunition ran out. Then, the survivors were forced to surrender. The 4th Battalion also suffered severe casualties in an unsuccessful attempt to rescue them. Although this book starts out rather slowly, probably because it was for the most part dictated by a soldier, when it picks up steam it is hard to put down. And the culmination of the book, the action at Cisterna, is an unsurpassed study of courage and bravery.
10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
We Led the Way Review,
This review is from: Darby's Rangers: We Led the Way (Paperback)
This book in a indepth lok at the struggles of the Darby Rangers and their missions during WWII. Should be required reading for every basic trainee in the armed forces today.
3.0 out of 5 stars
GREAT book / LOUSY edition.,
By Rob Genadio (Garner NC) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Darby's Rangers: We Led the Way (Paperback)
Five-star book, one-star edition.
Darby's story is incredible and truly heroic. Darby was rare, natural leader: inspiringly charismatic while at the same time being selfless, humble, and ALWAYS concerned for his men. He would have been a great postwar leader if he hadn't have been tragically cut down just nine days before the war in Europe ended. It's amazing that so many people have never heard of him. Hollywood has only attempted a telling once, with mediocre results. Rick Atkinson's sequential books An Army At Dawn and Day Of Battle finally give him due justice, but Hollywood does need to try again. This is an essential read. That said, THIS edition is shoddy. I remember being stunned by the excellent quality and detail of the photos when I first read my beat-up older edition. It was like being taken back in time. THESE reproductions are new but they look like they were copied on an old 90s dot matrix! For shame. William O. Darby deserves better.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Inside This Book
(learn more)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs):
(learn more)
one ranger, parachute battalion, sticky grenades, chemical mortar battalion Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Ranger Battalion, North Africa, Fifth Army, Infantry Division, Father Basil, Sorrento Peninsula, Eighth Army, Colonel Darby, United States, Colonel Vaughan, Dernaia Pass, Captain Shunstrom, Cap Carbon, Amalfi Drive, Ulster Monarch, Alban Hills, Armored Division, Major Dammer, General Clark, Chiunzi Pass, San Nicola, Colli Laziali, Batterie du Nord, Djebel Berda, Kasserine Pass Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Surprise Me!
one ranger, parachute battalion, sticky grenades, chemical mortar battalion Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Ranger Battalion, North Africa, Fifth Army, Infantry Division, Father Basil, Sorrento Peninsula, Eighth Army, Colonel Darby, United States, Colonel Vaughan, Dernaia Pass, Captain Shunstrom, Cap Carbon, Amalfi Drive, Ulster Monarch, Alban Hills, Armored Division, Major Dammer, General Clark, Chiunzi Pass, San Nicola, Colli Laziali, Batterie du Nord, Djebel Berda, Kasserine Pass Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Surprise Me!
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
So You'd Like to...
|
|
Look for Similar Items by Category
- Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Leaders & Notable People > Military
- Books > History > Americas > United States
- Books > History > Europe
- Books > History > Military > United States > Veterans
- Books > History > Military > World War II
