Twelve Desperate Miles (46 page)

  
1
“adjutant of the official”:
René Malevergne,
The Exfiltration of René Malevergne
(unpublished diary), p. 162.

  
2
“Colonel Eddy wrote a letter”:
Ibid., p. 162.

  
3
“Monsieur Malevergne,” he said:
Ibid.

  
4
“profoundly discouraged”:
Ibid.

  
5
“I was sincere”:
Ibid., p. 163.

  
1
“infantry, artillery, armor”:
Lucian Truscott,
Command Mission, a Personal Story
(New York: Dutton, 1954), p. 79.

  
2
By the beginning of their second week:
Ibid.

  
3
Conway was “another Truscott”:
Robert Henriques,
From a Biography of Myself
(London: Secker & Warburg, 1969), p. 86.

  
4
“was not unqualified fun”:
Ibid., p. 60.

  
5
“ ‘Again’ was the savage adverb”:
Ibid., p. 61.

  
6
“a bad, mad gamble”:
Ibid., p. 66.

  
7
“that the French did not like the British”:
Ibid.

  
8
“every available ship”:
Ibid., p. 87.

  
9
She was docked in Philadelphia:
Ibid., p. 90. Henriques’s autobiography is not entirely reliable on the matter. Writing a number of years after the fact, he sometimes confuses the “destroyer” (the
Dallas
) enlisted in Truscott’s assault with the “transport” (the
Contessa
).

10
But rid of her masts:
Samuel Eliot Morison,
History of United States Naval Operations in World War II
, vol. 2,
Operations in North African Waters October 1942–June 1943
(Boston: Atlantic Little, Brown), p. 129.

11
And she had some firepower:
See the section on the USS
Dallas
at
http://destroyerhistory.org/flushdeck/index.asp?r=210&pid=19900
.

12
he made a political enemy:
John Kennedy Ohl,
Supplying the Troops: General Somervell and American Logistics in WWII
(DeKalb, IL: Northern Illinois Press, 1994), p. 47.

13
“changing horse in mid-stream”:
Ibid., p. 190.

14
And the simple swamp of matériel:
William Reginald Wheeler,
The Road to Victory: A History of Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation
, vol. 1 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1946), p. 67.

15
if General Patton endorsed the request:
Ohl,
Supplying the Troops
, p. 191.

  
1
“attempt[
i
ng] to issue orders”:
Martin Blumenson, ed.,
The Patton Papers
(New York: Da Capo Press, 1996–1998), p. 88.

  
2
“I have now reached the situation”:
Ibid., p. 89.

  
3
in a couple of instances:
William Reginald Wheeler,
The Road to Victory: A History of Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation
, vol. 1 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1946), p. 69.

  
4
Combat vehicles needed to be prepared:
Ibid.

  
5
but it was discovered only later:
Harry Semmes,
Portrait of Patton
(New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1955), p. 86.

  
6
Craw was a no-nonsense tough guy:
Background on Craw comes from “Craw grave no. 1 at Port Lyautey,”
New York Times
, March 25, 1943.

  
7
“navy authorities would have no difficulty”:
Lucian Truscott,
Command Mission, a Personal Story
(New York: Dutton, 1954), p. 86.

  
1
“English methods are not pleasing to me”:
René Malevergne,
The Exfiltration of René Malevergne
(unpublished diary), p. 165.

  
2
“his handshake on parting”:
Ibid.

  
3
“no difficulty should befall M. Prechak”:
Ibid., p. 166.

  
1
So it wasn’t surprising:
“The Voyage of the Steamship ‘Contessa’ from American to African Shores,” p. 2; Historical Records, 1942–1944, Folder 2, November 1–December 31, 1942; Records of the Office of the Chief of Transportation, 1917–1966, Record Group 336 51-1.5, National Archives Building, Philadelphia, PA.

         “The Voyage of the Steamship ‘Contessa’ from American to African Shores” is a narrative created from reports collected from officers involved in the
Contessa
’s loading and voyage, including phone logs of Colonel C. J. Wilder and a special action report from Lieutenant Albert Leslie.

  
2
As later documents indicate:
George Patton to Brehon Somervell, November 22, 1942, NARA Records of the War Department General and Special Staffs, 1860–1952, Record Group 165:418:1291: Doc 109, National Archives building, College Park, MD.

  
3
“where the ranking strategists”:
Bertram B. Fowler, “Twelve Desperate Miles,”
Saturday Evening Post
, August 28, 1943.

  
4
A day and a half later:
“Voyage of the Steamship ‘Contessa,’ ” p. 2. It may have been Vissering who first identified the
Contessa
as the best vessel for the operation, when word arrived in England that a ship of her make was needed in Norfolk.

  
5
There would be no way:
Ibid., p. 1.

  
1
“a veritable garden”:
René Malevergne,
The Exfiltration of René Malevergne
(unpublished diary), p. 170.

  
2
Word came to the
Contessa
:
“The Voyage of the Steamship ‘Contessa’ from American to African Shores,” p. 2; Historical Records, 1942–1944, Folder 2, November 1–December 31, 1942; Records of the Office of the Chief of Transportation, 1917–1966, Record Group 336 51-1.5, National Archives Building, Philadelphia, PA.

  
3
Back in April 1931:
“Ship lands refugees who fled Nicaragua,”
New York Times
, April 19, 1931.

  
4
“All my life I have wanted”:
Martin Blumenson, ed.,
The Patton Papers
(New York: Da Capo Press, 1996–1998), p. 92.

  
5
He visited Marshall:
Ibid., p. 93.

  
6
“I can always pick a fighting man”:
Ibid., p. 93.

  
7
“Come in, Skipper”:
Ibid.

  
8
“The Admiral and I”:
Ibid., p. 94.

  
9
On the morning of Friday, October 23:
Rick Atkinson,
An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa
(New York: Henry Holt, 2003), p. 37.

10
“If you have any doubts”:
Ibid., p. 37.

11
“This is my last night in America”:
Blumenson, ed.,
The Patton Papers
, p. 95.

12
“Darling Bea”:
Harry Semmes,
Portrait of Patton
(New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1955), p. 91.

  
1
Admiral Kent Hewitt ordered:
“The Voyage of the Steamship ‘Contessa’ from American to African Shores,” p. 2; Historical Records, 1942–1944, Folder 2, November 1–December 31, 1942; Records of the Office of the Chief of Transportation, 1917–1966, Record Group 336 51-1.5, National Archives Building, Philadelphia, PA.

  
2
Leslie had had a diverse career:
Ibid., p. 2.

  
3
“ ‘If you have the will’ ”:
Ibid., p. 3.

  
4
In his notes from that wild day:
Ibid.

  
5
Many years later:
William Sigsworth Jr. (son of Bill Sigsworth), interview with the author, New Orleans, March 10, 2010.

  
6
Wilder had something crucial to learn:
“Voyage of the Steamship,” p. 4.

  
1
Despite their experiences:
Phyllis A. Hall, “Crisis at Hampton Roads: The Problems of Wartime Congestion, 1942–1944,”
Virginia Magazine of History and Biography
101, no. 3 (July 1992): p. 407.

  
2
“Demand is far beyond supply”:
J. Blan Van Urk, “Norfolk: Our Worst War Town,”
American Mercury
, February 1943, p. 145.

  
3
“a poor man’s Gypsy Rose Lee”:
Ibid., p. 407.

  
4
denied a last fling:
Rick Atkinson,
An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa
(New York: Henry Holt, 2003), p. 39.

  
5
“Our Worst War Town”:
Van Urk, “Norfolk,” p. 146.

  
6
“dances, movies, sports”:
Hall, “Crisis at Hampton Roads,” p. 408.

  
7
Meanwhile, that Sunday morning:
“The Voyage of the Steamship ‘Contessa’ from American to African Shores,” Historical Records, 1942–1944, Folder 2, November 1–December 31, 1942, pp. 4–5; Records of the Office of the Chief of Transportation, 1917–1966, Record Group 336 51-1.5, National Archives Building, Philadelphia, PA.

  
1
“frank and cordial”:
René Malevergne,
The Exfiltration of René Malevergne
(unpublished diary), p. 173.

  
2
wanted to “cry out”:
Ibid., p. 173.

  
3
“fancy civilian pajamas”:
Walter Cronkite,
A Reporter’s Life
(New York: Ballantine Books, 1996), p. 83.

  
4
“was as unprepared for handling”:
Ibid., p. 81.

  
5
“The officers in the wardroom”:
Ibid.

  
6
“halfway across the wardroom”:
Ibid., p. 84.

  
7
“impresses me better”:
Martin Blumenson, ed.,
The Patton Papers
(New York: Da Capo Press, 1996–1998), p. 96.

  
8
two silver blimps:
Samuel Eliot Morison,
History of United States Naval Operations in World War II
, vol. 2,
Operations in North African Waters October 1942–June 1943
(Boston: Atlantic Little, Brown, 1954), p. 43.

  
1
Another hand arrived:
“The Voyage of the Steamship ‘Contessa’ from American to African Shores,” Historical Records, 1942–1944, Folder 2, November 1–December 31, 1942, p. 5; Records of the Office of the Chief
of Transportation, 1917–1966, Record Group 336 51-1.5, National Archives Building, Philadelphia, PA.

  
2
had always wanted to work:
William Sigsworth Jr. (son of Bill Sigsworth), interview with the author, New Orleans, March 10, 2010.

  
3
In his notes, Wilder:
“Voyage of the Steamship,” p. 6.

  
4
The county sheriff and a judge:
Mark H. Goldberg,
Going Bananas
(Kings Point, NY: American Merchant Marine Museum Foundation, 1993), p. 208.

  
5
“bedraggled crew [who] you’d think”:
Pittsburgh Press
, November 28, 1942, quoted in “Voyage of the Steamship,” pp. 6–7.

  
6
“were good seamen”:
“Voyage of the steamship,” p. 6.

  
7
“because most of them had”:
Bertram Fowler, “Twelve Desperate Miles,”
Saturday Evening Post
, August 28, 1942.

  
8
Among those who joined:
Microfilm Serial T715; Microfilm Roll 6672; line: 1; 199. Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820–1897; Records of the U.S. Customs Service, Record Group 36; National Archives, Washington, D.C. Particular members of the crew who joined from the Norfolk jail were identified by examining these lists to find crew members who signed on to the
Contessa
on October 26, the day the ship sailed for North Africa, as opposed to October 24 and 25, when all other members of the
Contessa
crew registered on the ship’s list. The author could find no document that listed the specific seamen who were released from incarceration to sail with the
Contessa
.

  
9
“whatever the attitude”:
“Voyage of the steamship,” p. 6.

  
1
In all, the convoy stretched:
Samuel Eliot Morison,
History of United States Naval Operations in World War II
, vol. 2,
Operations in North African Waters October 1942–June 1943
(Boston: Atlantic Little, Brown, 1954), p. 44.

  
2
On two ships mentioned:
Ibid., p. 45.

  
3
“floating school[s] of amphibious operations”:
Ibid., p. 48.

  
4
“devoted to an intensive training”:
Lucian Truscott,
Command Mission, a Personal Story
(New York: Dutton, 1954), p. 90.

  
5
“space is the soldier’s medium”:
Ibid., p. 90.

  
6
After finally marrying the launchers:
Harry Semmes,
Portrait of Patton
(New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1955), p. 87.

  
7
delighted Malevergne:
René Malevergne,
The Exfiltration of René Malevergne
(unpublished diary), p. 178.

  
8
“shall do everything possible”:
Ibid., p. 179.

  
9
“G-2 information was invaluable”:
John J. Toffey IV,
Jack Toffey’s War
(New York: Fordham University Press, 2008), p. 65.

10
“My civilian clothing”:
Malevergne,
Exfiltration of René Malevergne
, p. 180.

11
It was Toffey:
Toffey,
Jack Toffey’s War
, p. 65

12
“that I should be doing something”:
Martin Blumenson, ed.,
The Patton Papers
(New York: Da Capo Press, 1996–1998), p. 97.

13
“for it would sort of pull the cork”:
Ibid., p. 97.

14
“Only the
‘Texas’
does not budge”:
Malevergne,
Exfiltration of René Malevergne
, p. 177.

15
“A great convoy”:
Truscott,
Command Mission
, p. 90.

16
“grim possibility”:
Ibid., pp. 90–91.

17
Doenitz had actually devised:
Karl Doenitz, “The Conduct of the War at Sea,” U.S. Navy Division of Naval Intelligence, January 15, 1946, p. 4 (available at
http://www.karl-doenitz.com/doenitzconductofwar.pdf
).