When was casablanca conference

The Memphis had been ordered to anchor off Bathurst in order to provide safe quarters for FDR and his party en route to and from the Casablanca Conference. Murphy, General George S. Patton, naval aide to the President Admiral John L. FDR used this U. Army mess kit and canteen at a field luncheon during his visit to Rabat, Morocco, to review American troops on January 21, Casablanca was well within the range of German bombers, so secrecy was a top priority. Colonel Elliot Roosevelt met his father when he arrived, but even he had not been told why he was going to Morocco.

The presidential party made its way to the Anfa Hotel where the conference would take place. That evening the British and American leaders had dinner, and FDR and Churchill stayed up until 3am discussing strategy, drinking and smoking like long lost friends. The meetings began the next morning, January 15 th. The Red Army was suffering tremendous casualties as they fought to defend Moscow, Stalingrad and Leningrad from a ferocious German assault.

Nearly four million German troops and thousands of tanks were deep within Russia and Stalin was insistent that the British and Americans launch a cross channel invasion to draw off some of the Nazi war machine that was devouring Russia. The British and American military leaders had been at odds for more than a year about when they should invade France. Some of the Americans wanted to focus on the war in the Pacific against the Japanese. The German submarine attacks had made it very difficult to supply Britain and the Soviet Union with all of the supplies they needed.

Now that the war in Africa was moving toward a conclusion, it was essential that the Allies develop a clear plan for victory. The meetings went on for ten days, and tempers flared on more than one occasion. Adding to the complexity was the role of the French, who had initially fought the Americans when they came ashore in Morocco.

One British general noted that they hated each other more than they hated the Germans. This was the first time since the Civil War that an American president had been in a battle zone and FDR was determined to review the troops, despite the objections of the Secret Service. The battle of Morocco had ended just two months earlier, and hundreds of thousands of American troops were now coming ashore and heading into battle in Tunisia.

But none of them knew their Commander in Chief was in their midst. On January 18 th President Roosevelt reviewed the 30 th Infantry Battalion near Casablanca, and on the 21st he traveled up the coast to Rabat, where some of the fiercest fighting had taken place, to review the 3 rd Infantry Division.

The president visited the new military cemetery at Mehdia, and had lunch with Harry Hopkins, Gen. They were also joined by Henri Giraud and Charles de Gaulle, who headed up opposing factions of the French resistance. Stalin had been invited but declined to attend. Roosevelt and Churchill excluded the press from the conference—partly for safety reasons and partly to allow them to work without scrutiny of their every move. But, toward the end of the conference, Allied Forces Headquarters invited a group of approximately 50 journalists to Casablanca, promising them a history-making event.

They were instructed not to talk about their assignment in front of hotel employees or others in Casablanca. They were also told to behave as if their rooms were bugged. To help with security, the U. Four white chairs sat empty before the scrum of reporters. Shortly after noon, the door to the villa opened, and Churchill, de Gaulle, and Giraud walked out, while Roosevelt was carried to his chair.

The whirling of film and clicking of cameras quickly replaced the murmurs of disbelief. Roosevelt and Churchill hoped to bring the competing factions of the French resistance together in Casablanca, but their attempt proved futile.

There would be no headlines touting a new, unified French war effort. But photographs showing American, British, and French leaders together would galvanize Allied propaganda efforts. As Giraud, Roosevelt, and Churchill traded small talk and offered occasional smiles for the cameras, a solemn-faced de Gaulle smoked a cigarette. The Casablanca Conference was a meeting between U. President Franklin D. While Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin received an invitation, he was unable to attend because the Red Army was engaged in a major offensive against the German Army at the time.