From
old WWII newsreels Oran is black and white like most of the history then. GI photos were the same; carefully screened
by official censors allowing only nondescript pictures of self with or without buddies. My first impressions of Oran, Algeria where Operation Torch captured this strategic
port in North Africa, are the same – black and gray. It reminds me of the San Diego naval base
without the color. I noticed from the
government photo that there was a “wet side” and “dry side” separated by the
usual utility road. There is an oil
depot, several warehouses, lined up deuce-and-a-half trucks, and regulating (track
cluster) train station. What’s barely
shown in the photo are the steep cliffs surrounding the waterfront. Dad spent two years in North Africa and Oran
arriving there with the D+3 convoy on November 11, 1942. His discharge citing Departure November 1 and
Arrival November 11 indicates he was on this 41 troop ship convoy from Britain.
When he arrived he said bodies were still floating in the harbor. 
Other
than the landings to the east and west and the harbor assault to neutralize the
French fleet little is known by the public of anything else although Oran
became the Cam Ranh Bay of its day. Trucks,
equipment, and supplies were landed at Mers-el-Kébir, Oran’s smaller sister
harbor to the west. A Provisional
Ordnance Group (POG) made mostly up of the 87th Medium Maintenance Battalion and
55th Heavy Maintenance Regiment had custody of the trucks and maintained
them. The Transportation Corps under the
Mediterranean Base Section (MBS) soon assigned their missions. Because of theft, Oran’s blocked harbor had
only one road: entrance and exit.
In
1942 Oran had a cosmopolitan population of Spanish, French, and impoverished
Arabs who were hired to help off-load the ships. Old photos from the time aren’t kind to
Oran. Of course, there was a war going
on with its inherent destruction, disease, and vice. I’d read descriptions of North Africa from
travel and history books written before the war, but I never appreciated the
scenery until I started surfing You Tube to see what Oran looks like
today. It’s amazing. I know there are always old and dingy parts to
every city, but Oran seems to be a surprisingly beautiful and modern city. Maybe it’s French money, but what You Tube
reveals are long expanses of clean modern highways with grassy mediums, road-side
palm trees, skyscrapers, cranes, modern cars, beautiful pastel colored
apartment building, tastefully done cultural centers, and I saw only one stop
light. I’ve included the best You Tube video of Oran I
could find: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtJ3lbpSOmQ. Halfway through the
video you can see Ft. Santa Cruz (WWII stockade), on the mountain west of the
harbor. It’s in the drawing and is now a
favorite tourist destination.
