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Pensamientos para hoy (afterthought for today)

Operation Torch

In preparation for the Summer Olympics that will be starting soon in China the Olympic Torch is being carried by athletes through the participating countries. Sixty-six years ago another torch was carried not by athletes but by American and British soldiers. Operation Torch was the first Allied invasion of North Africa in World War Two, and as part of Memorial Day I'd like to share the story of one of those brave soldiers who is a member of our church. William (Bill) "Deacon" Engbrecksen is one of the men who fought against the Axis powers of Vichy France, Mussolini's Italy and Hitler's Germany. Engbrecksen fought bravely in two different theaters--North Africa and Europe. He took part in three invasions--North Africa, Sicily, and Normandy, and eight major battles. He is the recipient of the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, and several other medals and ribbons. This is the story of some of his experiences as he fought to defend our country against tyranny and oppression.

Corporal Engbrecksen or "Deacon" as he was affectingly called by his comrades-in-arms was a soldier with Battery D, 5th Field Artillery Battalion of Big Red One, the 1st Infantry Division. His first military campaign was in the Allied invasion of North Africa during Operation Torch which took place from November 8th to November 11th, 1942.

"We left Glasgow, Scotland the night of October 26th for an unknown destination aboard a converted channel boat the H.M.S Ulster Monarch," Engbrecksen recalls.

picture of the HMS Ulster Monarch ¹

"On board with us were a number of U.S. Army Rangers under the command of Colonel Darby. I didn't get to meet Colonel Darby. He and the other officers were busy planning for the invasion." The rest of Darby's Rangers were in two other ships--the H.M.S. Royal Scotsman and H.M.S. Royal Ulsterman. All three ships had been civilian ferryboats that had been sequestered by the Royal Navy for the war effort and converted into troop transports. These ships carried troops, supplies, vehicles, and artillery including the 155 mm Howitzers used by Engbrecksen's "D" Battery. The ships also carried the LCAs--the landing crafts that would take the Rangers to the beach for their amphibious landing.

"At first we sailed around trying to fool the Jerrys. Then we anchored off Spain at the Bay of Biscay and waited for orders to sail through the Straits of Gibraltar. Finally we got the order. We were going to be part of a task force to capture the town of Oran, Algeria." Oran is a key port in Algeria and was in a strategic location for the Allied invasion of Tunisia.

"After we got our orders for a landing in Algeria, we sailed around Gibraltar into the Mediterranean," Engbrecksen said. "Our destination was the port of Arzew. The plan was for Darby's Rangers to take Arzew which was east of Oran. We arrived off the coast of Algeria the night of November 8th and anchored outside Arzew. From there the Rangers set out in their LCAs. The Rangers went ashore and captured the port of Arzew. Once the port was secure our ship docked at Arzew. We got off the boat and were once again happily back on dry land. By the time our ship docked at Arzew most of the French soldiers who at that time were working for the Nazis had been killed or captured by Darby's Rangers. So I didn't see any action in Arzew. That came later after we crossed the Atlas Mountains on our way to Tunisia."

Engbrecksen recalls a humorous event that happened as they were unloading their equipment from the Ulster Monarch. "After we docked at Arzew we had to get the equipment off the ship. When a motorcycle with sidecar was moved off the ship to the dock they needed to find someone to drive the motorcycle off the dock. One soldier tried to drive it, but he didn't know what he was doing. Then a second soldier came over and started it up, but he underestimated the power of the engine. When he let out the clutch and gave it gas, he turned the throttle too far and drove the motorcycle right off dock into the bay. That gave everybody a big laugh."

After landing at Arzew, Cpl. Engbrecksen along with Big Red One moved inland and eastward over the Atlas Mountains towards the Nazi troops in Tunisia. Big Red One fought the Nazis in the Battle for Tunisia from November 17 to May 13. "We had to make our way over the Atlas Mountains," Engbrecksen said. "Then we started to run into the Germans in Tunisia. It was in Tunisia that my boys and I first used our 155mm howitzers in actual combat. That was during the battle for the town of Medjez el Bab." Medjez el Bab was a small but strategic town about 10 miles west of Tunis. "We were under the command of the British V Corps," Engbrecksen said, "but they sent us too far forward. During the night we heard loud rumbling and the ground began to shake. When the sun came up we discovered that we were surrounded by hundreds of German tanks from Rommel's 10th Panzer Division. The tanks and German infantry began firing at our position, and we had to stay in our foxholes for protection. I remember one guy by the name of Donahue who had been too lazy to dig his fox hole. Private Donahue only had room to put his head in the hole and he tried to cover his back side with a shovel. I know it was a foolish thing for me to do, seeing we were getting shot at, but I couldn't resist and threw a rock at Donahue's shovel giving him quite a scare," Engbrecksen told me with a smile.

"The German tanks kept coming and overran our position. We had to abandon our guns." This was one of the few times in history that the 5th Field Artillery Battalion of Big Red One was forced to leave their guns as a result of an enemy attack.

"Finally reinforcements came in and helped us beat back the Germans so that we could move back to our position and take control of our 155mm howitzers. It was really touch and go for a while.

"After Rommel surrendered the Germans were put into POW camps. We were given a brief rest, but in less than a week we began training for the invasion of Sicily ."

We should thank God for men like Bill "Deacon" Engbrecksen. They fought and died to keep our country free. This Memorial Day we need to remember that we owe our freedom, including freedom of religion--the freedom to worship God according to our own conscience--to these brave men and women. So as you see the Olympic Torch being carried through the different countries, thank God for men like Bill Engbrecksen and ask God to give you the courage to stand up for freedom--especially religious freedom--wherever and whenever it is threatened.

Thanking God for men like Bill Engbrecksen,

Pastor Steve

May 16, 2008

Next -- Operation Husky The Invasion of Sicily

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Footnotes

¹Photo used by permission from Ian Boyle/Simplon Postcards: http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/. Postcard photo of HMS Ulster Monarch found at: http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/BSS_Ulster_Monarch1929.html.

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