Evening star., 1942-11-16
BY ROBERT G. NIXON.

UklC SdodN4dA1Nos al ca.
Meanwhile, Gen. Patton is work.
ing out the consolidation of the posi-
tions taken in Morocco.
Do0little Flies Plane.
Gen. Doolittle, chief of the AL
lied air forces on the North African
front, was In command of the Fly
ing Fortress in which we made our
fight.
Gen. Gruenther was acting as
Gen. Eisenhower's emissary to make
the first contact with Gen. Patton
since the fighting began last Sun
day inasmuch as communications
between the Mediterranean and At
lantic sectors have been cut of, ex-
cept by air.
Gen. Gruenther was accompanied
on his mission by Maj. Ernest T. Lee
of San Antonio, Tex, aide to Gen.
Eisenhower, the supreme Allied COM
mander for this theater.
Gen. Doolittle flew our plane. Gen.
Gruenther took up a position at a
.50-caliber mashine gun to watch
out for Nazi planes. I handled the
second .50-caliber waist gun" po-
sition, beside Gen. Gruenther.
AS we flew down the coast of Mo-
rocco, we were fired on by anti
aircraft guns at one point. I had a
strange feeling of unreality as saw
shells suddenly burst with vicious
black puffs nearby. They rocked our
| ship, but Jimmy Doolittle noncha-
lantly shrugged his shoulders and
remarked:
They don't matter. They can't
touch the Fortress"
Wore Blood Spotted Life Jacket.
1 wore a Mae West" flyers life
| jacket spotted with blood. When I
put it on at the air field just before
taking off was told: That's
lucky Mae West The man who
wore 1t before, when bombing Oc-
cupied France, is alive"
AS we flew down the coast of
Morocco, the towns and villages
below were cleaning white in the
sunlight, while the line of the surf
in the cobalt sea and the purple
mountains in the background re-
minded me of the California coast
on flight from Los Angeles to San
Francisco.
Over Port Lyautey we saw two
ships lying in the roadstead with
their sunken hulls turned up. Tank
tracks on the beaches showed where
our Gen. Grant tanks had reduced
machine gun and artillery points of
resistance.
We flew over Rabat, administra-
tive capital of the Morocco protec-
torate, where we saw burned-out
and smashed planes scattered over
the airdrome-the results of our
initial assault there.
Numerous beached merchant ships
cluttered the coast here and there,
some still burning
At one point we saw three
French merchantmen and corvette
beached.
Saw U. s. Landing Craft.
Flying over Fedala, just northeast
OF Casablanca, we saw United States
landing craft lined up. along the
beach where our men went ashore
in their first assault. We also saw
one of our artillery and tank
columns on the coastal road.
Over Casablanca we saw the
IS, 5,0O0-ton French battleship Jean
Bart, two French cruisers and sew
eral destroyers smashed up in the
harbor. The stern part of the Jean
Bart was burned out and the broken
battleship was listing. She showed
the holes of two torpedoes made by
United States torpedo planes that
heavily attacked the Jean Bart be-
cause she was putting up terrific
resistance.
The city of Casablanca itself was
untouched by the battle.
We landed at an airdrome outside
the city where there were many
United States planes.
We got down luckily. The field
was muddy and there were no con-
crete runways. We begged down
just as we were landing. Our speed
was lost and our right wheel dug
itself into the soft ground. Only the
superb handling OF the plane by Gen.
Doolittle and his co-pilot, 1t. John
G.. Summers of Lexington, Tenn.
saved us from doing ground loop.
After landing we learned that the
French Lafayette Escadrille had been
based at that very same field. When
the American attack was launched
the escadrille sent up several planes
pour notre honneur" (for our
honor). Five of the French planes
were shot down and the escadrille
then gave up, its honor having been
discharged.
Colonel Goes Direct to Admiral.
Other members of the crew of our
Fortress were 1t. A. w. Kellams.
Edinburg, Ind; 1t. E. L. Leonard.
Chicasaw, Okla: 1t. Bin Loudermilk,
Winter Haven, Fla, and Sergts. Ken
meth Decker, John Kakaruda, Struth.
ers. Ohio; Edward Witt, Lakeland,
Fla; Thomas Roberts, Bozeman.
Mont: Willis D. Harris, Pittsburgh.
and Jason G. Lancaster, Pearson, Ga.
The worst resistance was en-
countered at Fedala and San, north
east and southwest Of Casablanca.
The man Of the hour was Col.
William Wilbut, who landed with
the first assault force, took a jeep
at Fedala and motored all the way
to Casablanca through the lines.
Arriving In the city, he asked pedes-
trians the location Of Admiral
Micheliers headquarters, then
walked up to the door, presented |
himself and asked for an interview
with the admiral, saying:
we como as friends. WIN you
give up without fightingf"
The admiral refused b. ~ II |