page_title: Géo Gras Group
section_title: November 8, 1942
hierarchical_section_title: Géo Gras Group / November 8, 1942
caption_attribution_description: English: Members of the Geo Gras Group during the King's Medal for Courage award ceremony at the British Consulate in Algiers, April 1948
context_page_description: The Géo Gras Group was a French resistance movement that played a decisive role during Operation Torch, the British-American invasion of French North Africa during WWII.
  Formed October 1940 in Algiers, the group recruited Jews and French Army officers opposed to the Vichy regime.
  They provided a third of the resistance fighters during the capture of Algiers. Its role was to neutralize the strategic civilian and military points of the city, and prevent the Vichy forces from defeating the Allied forces.
context_section_description: On October 22, 1942, General Clark, secretly came to Cherchell, Algeria to negotiate the coordination of the military operations for the Allied forces for the invasion of North Africa with the representatives of the Resistance. The two focal points of this clandestine negotiation were :
  On D-Day, the Resistance shall control the strategic points of the city; cut the Vichy means of communication; neutralize the 19th Army Corps and the police forces until the arrival of the Allied Army; and capture military and civilian leaders under the Vichy authority.
  US Special Forces would be sent before the landing of regular troops to take over the positions captured by the Resistance who were out-numbered by the Vichy armed forces.
  On November 7, 1942, the BBC broadcast the code message: "Hello Robert? Franklin’s coming!" (Robert refers to American Consul Robert Murphy, personal representative of Franklin Roosevelt in French North Africa). Under the command of General Eisenhower, 110,000 men were engaged in Operation Torch. The invasion took place on the night of November 7 without having notified General de Gaulle. Colonel Germain Jousse and General Charles Mast led the resistance operation. Supplies of arms by the Allies had failed, so very old Lebel Model 1886 rifles, stolen from the military by Colonel Jousse, were distributed to resistance fighters. The fighters were identified by VP armbands (Square Volunteers). These armbands were originally intended to identify collaborationist volunteers. 
  Called for 21:00 hours with mission orders signed by General Mast or Colonel Jousse, section leaders took up the main key targets of the city such as the barracks of 19th Army Corps, police stations, the arsenal, telephone exchanges, the General Government (also known as Summer Palace), the Prefecture, and the headquarters of Radio Algiers. All means of communication of Vichy forces were sabotaged. The operation was accomplished as early as 1:30.
  The Allied invasion was however 15 hours behind schedule because of rough seas, communication failure with the Resistance, and the difficult first landing of the Anglo-American forces on the Western Front. The positions captured by the Resistance were recaptured by the Vichy forces. Resistant fighters tried to secure their positions as long as possible, resulting in the death of Lieutenant Jean Dreyfus, and Captain Alfred Pillafort. The US military released the city only in the late afternoon, with the surrender of Admiral François Darlan, commander of the French Forces.
  General Juin ordered a ceasefire at 16:30. The future leader of the French Expeditionary Corps and future Marshal of France then commanded the Vichy French troops in North Africa.
caption: The Géo Gras Group during the King's Medal for Courage in the Cause of Freedom award ceremony
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