Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1942-11-12
Gen. Clark Reveals
Details Of Secret
~
kissionI>to Africa
D. G, Officer and Purty
Hid in Wine Cellar
From Vichy Police
Continued From First Page }

weeks before the American Occupa-
ton began.
Maj. Gen. Mark w. Clark, the
American commander in chiefs A.
year-old right-hand man, was the
leader in this 15,000-mile mission.
Following are the characters and
story as pieced together from de-
tails furnished by Gen. Eisenhower
and Gen. Clark:
d. C. Captain in Party.
On the mission with Gen. Clark
were:
Brig. Gen. Lyman L. Lemnitzer,
43, of Honesdale, Pa; Col Archie
9laus L. Hamblen, 48, of Maine; Col.
Julius c. Holmes, 49, former men,
Der of the American diplomatic
service; Capt. Jerauld Wright of
the United States Navy, Washing
ton, and Commando Capts. C. j..
Courtney, r. T. Livingstone and
1t. j. D. Foot.
tCapt. Wright resides here at
TIT Twentieth street NV. He
and Mrs. Wright have been res
idents of the Capital several
years. His father is Maj. Gen.
William Wright, U. S. A., retired,
of this city Capt Wright has
brother, Col. Mason Wright, in
the Army)
About three weeks before the
campaign opened it became evident
there was a large group of French
men in North Africa anxious to CO.
operate with America, and it be-
came essential to send staff of
professional officers to contact and
make use of these men and obtain
essential military information"
said Gen. Eisenhower in telling of
this modern message to Garcia"
that LED to speedy conclusion of the
77-hour occupation campaign.
" CLARK and all men on the mission
volunteered enthusiastically"
Story of Trip Disclosed.
The spy thriller began one rainy
night when the mission secretly left
London by train. Then by devious
means it eacned Africa.
by dStCCIACIlt, l1SllJ WdS W NC
flashed in house in a certain part
of North Africa al selected hour
to give Gen. Clark and his party the
all-clear signal ano advise them to
make themselves known.
At the appointed hour no light
was shown and the party, always in
extreme danger, had to wait around
until the second rendezvous hour.
The light finally appeared and the
Clark party showed itself out of the
dark to the owner of the house,
who had taken the precaution to
send his Arab servants away.
Conferences Described.
THE house was filled with French
military officers in uniform, al
though they had come in civilian
clothes" said Gen. Clark.
I'VE conferred all day and night
until we had gathered all the infor-
nation we wanted" .
Meanwhile Arab servants had de-
cided that something suspicious was
going on and had gone to the Axis
controlled Vichy police. The con-
ference of American and French
officers received word that police
were on the way.
Il never saw such excitement in
my life," Gen. Clark said with a
laugh. Maps disappeared like
lightning. A French general in
military uniform changed into civil
ian clothes in minute fiat, and I
last saw him going out the window
They were going in all directions"
Gen. Clark and his staff gathered
up their papers and guns and hid
in an empty wine cellar as police
talked to the owner of the house
over their heads
One of the commando officers
whispered, I'm afraid if I hold this
cough back any longer I'm going
to choke to death"
I'm afraid you won't choke" Gen.
Clark joked.
Hid in Wine Cellar.
The tall angular American general
crouched in the cellar with a re-
volver in one hand and $1,000 francs
in his pocket.
IF the police came down was
undecided whether to shoot them
or bride them" he said.
After spending an hour hidden
away, the police departed, partly
satisfied.
The mission members decided it
was no time to linger and, gather
ing their papers together, they de-
parted.
1t was then that they lost their
pants and shirts and practically
everything else when their boats
upset crossing some water nearby
I'VE lost almost every stitch OF
our clothes and l lost some $4,000
in gold," Gen. Clark laughed. Il
wonder If Morgenthau UNITED
States Secretary of the Treasury
will get after me for that
The party scrambled ashore with
only their papers and underclothes,
and hid in the woods through the
day, alternately walking and SILVER
ing.
Finally they reached secret
UcSJlIlAUlUll WIlCIc d y d IL POA
whisked them out of North Africa.
Success Gets High Praise.
Even then their mission remained
secret. They reached London Just
eight days after the start Of their
journey.
THE fact that land resistance was
not ,terrifically great anywhere and
we did not have to land in place
where the opposition was great tes-
titles to the success of Gen. Clark's
mission, Gen. Eisenhower said.
Il am exceedingly proud of all OF
them. They took great risks and
accomplished their work. 1t was
modern message to Garcia"
AL the men taking part In the
mission, including the Commands,
who played = large part In its sue
ceas, will be recommended for deco
xations.
tAneInternational News Service
corresponding whose report was
furnished to the Associated Press
by the military pooling Of COM