In the first of a two-pronged campaign, General Bernard Montgomery, the commander of the British 8th Army during the Battles of El Alamein, repulsed Rommel's attacks and forced an Axis retreat. In applying further pressure on the Nazi forces, a task force composed of American units, with Major General George S. Patton in command. set out for Casablanca, the principal Vichy French Atlantic naval base after German occupation of the European coast.