![]() ![]() Unable to move, the crew of the middle car did the same. The crews of the burning vehicles abandoned them, taking cover in a drainage ditch. Another hit on the leading car set it afire, and moments later a skillful shot from an American 37mm some 1,800 yards away hit the rear armored car, setting it alight and trapping the middle vehicle. ![]() All three French vehicles fired their own cannon and machine guns at the telltale muzzle flashes of the American guns. Two of the 37mm guns started banging away, hitting the lead armored car. Would these French soldiers fight or not? The question was soon answered when a burst of machine-gun fire stuttered from one of the armored cars. It was a tense moment Smith’s orders were not to fire unless fired upon. The platoon had been ordered to man a roadblock near the town of El Ancor, protecting the flank of the 26th Regiment during its landing as part of Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North Africa. Smith’s antitank platoon, 2nd Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division peered over the gun shields of their 37mm cannon at the column of Vichy French armored cars approaching their roadblock.
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