About the Episode
In November 1942, the Allies make their first major move against Adolf Hitler’s empire with Operation Torch, an amphibious assault not in Europe but French North Africa. Agents from the OSS are already on the ground gathering intelligence to lay the groundwork for a successful operation, but the complex dynamics between occupied and unoccupied France thwart many of their efforts. Meanwhile, British spies and operatives increasingly work alongside their American allies, including several who will go on to prominent postwar careers.
Host Bradley W. Hart is joined by historians and authors Peter Crean, Michael Bell, John Curatola, Mary Kathryn Barbier, and Nick Reynolds.
Topics Covered in This Episode
- North African Campaign
- Operation Torch
- Vichy France
- William Eddy and the “Twelve Apostles”
- Ian Fleming and Roald Dahl
Peter Crean (COL, USA, Ret.)
Pete Crean is the Vice President of Education and Access at The National WWII Museum. He previously served as Director of the US Army Heritage and Education Center at the US Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. As an Army officer with nearly three decades of experience and multiple deployments, Crean has an extensive record of service as a leader in logistics and administrative roles.
Michael Bell, PhD (COL, USA, Ret.)
Michael Bell is the Executive Director of the Jenny Craig Institute for the Study of War and Democracy. Commissioned in Armor following graduation from West Point, he is a combat veteran, historian, and strategist who has served at every level from platoon through theater army, as well as with US Central Command, the Joint Staff, the West Point faculty, and the National Defense University. As a civilian faculty member at the National Defense University, he also served details to the Office of the Secretary of State and as a National Security Council Senior Director and Special Assistant to the President.
John Curatola, PhD
John Curatola is the Samuel Zemurray Stone Senior Historian at the Jenny Craig Institute for the Study of War and Democracy. A US Marine Corps officer of 22 years, he is a veteran of Operation Provide Hope in Somalia, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and the 2005 Indian Ocean tsunami relief effort. Curatola’s first two books, Bigger Bombs for a Brighter Tomorrow and Autumn of Our Discontent, assess US national security and nuclear capabilities in the early Cold War period. His most recent title, Armies Afloat: How the Development of Amphibious Operations in Europe Helped Win World War II, explores the US Army’s journey in mastering amphibious warfare.
Nicholas Reynolds, PhD
Nicholas Reynolds is a US Marine Corps veteran, serving as an infantry officer and then as an official historian. As a Colonel in the Reserves, he was Officer in Charge of Field History, deploying historians around the world to capture history as it was being made. For many years, he worked at the CIA, most recently as the historian for the CIA Museum. Reynolds has taught at the Naval War College, Johns Hopkins University, and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.
Mary Kathryn Barbier, PhD
Mary Kathryn Barbier is an associate professor of history at Mississippi State University. She is the author of several books, including Spies, Lies, and Citizenship: The Hunt for Nazi Criminals and D-Day Deception: Operation Fortitude and the Normandy Invasion.
-
Article TypeThe US Invasion of North Africa
As the "Hinge of Fate" was turning across the globe, Operation Torch became the US military's first step toward defeat of Nazi Germany in Europe.
-
Article Type
Secret Agents, Secret Armies: Who Was the Real James Bond?
Before he became famous as the creator of James Bond in the 1950s, Ian Fleming (1908-1964) was an officer in the Royal Navy’s Naval Intelligence Department. He devised a number of wartime schemes worthy of a Bond novel. Some were successful and some were too wild to carry out.
-
Article Type
Secret Agents, Secret Armies: Operation Mincemeat
The British intelligence services’ bizarre deception plan created by a spy novelist, a lawyer, and an RAF officer proved successful beyond expectations, deceiving the Germans about Allied plans for the invasion of Sicily.
-
'Armies Afloat' with Author John Curatola
Samuel Zemurray Stone Senior Historian John Curatola, PhD, author of Armies Afloat: How the Development of Amphibious Operations in Europe Helped Win World War II, explores the US Army’s journey in mastering amphibious warfare—an endeavor that required years of rigorous training, joint-force cooperation, and groundbreaking military strategy.
Special thanks to The Dale E. and Janice Davis Johnston Family for their generous support of this series.