In November 1942, British commandos wore American uniforms, Royal Navy destroyers flew the Stars and Stripes, and Fleet Air Arm planes were repainted with US roundels. It was not a logistics mix-up but camouflage based on geopolitical psychology: the Allies hoped Vichy French defenders would be less willing to fire on Americans than on the British. This episode unpacks Operation Torch, the first major American ground effort against the Axis in the European and Mediterranean theater, from the Europe First strategy debate between George Marshall, Ernest King, and Winston Churchill to Franklin Roosevelt overruling his own generals and handing Dwight Eisenhower supreme command.

We follow the covert preparations, including Mark Clark sneaking into Algeria aboard the submarine HMS Seraph, the extraction and ego of General Henri Giraud, and the de ...