Operation Torch: WW2’s first Paratrooper Missions Were On One-Way Flights With Drops Into Total Darkness

History Unplugged Podcast · Mar 2, 2023 · 34m

The December 7, 1941, surprise attack on Pearl Harbor thrust the

United States into World War II. Just six months later in May 1942,

flying new C-47 transport aircraft, the 60th Troop Carrier Group led

the way as the first U.S. TCG to deploy to England and the European

Theater of Operations in World War II. Leading the way to victory,

the 60th TCG’s first mission—dropping U. S. paratroopers outside of

Oran, North Africa—was not only the first combat airborne mission

in U.S. Army history, but also the longest airborne mission of the

entire war. This drop spearheaded Operation TORCH, also known…