Operation Reservist
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Operation Reservist was an Allied military operation during World War II. Part of Operation Torch (the Allied invasion of West Africa) it was an attempted landing of troops directly into the harbour at Oran.
The purpose of Operation Reservist was to capture the valuable facilities and ships at the Vichy French port of Oran before they could be destroyed. The landing of troops directly from ships was extremely risky; however it was hoped that either the French defenders would be taken entirely by surprise, or that they would actually cooperate with the landing forces. Two sloops, HMS Walney and HMS Hartland were used in landing the troops.
The landing ships in fact came under sustained fire from the defenders once they were inside the harbour boom. Both were destroyed with great loss of life, Walney while actually alongside the jetty, having landed a small number of men. The survivors were captured.
The defenders surrendered two days after the invasion, but the harbour facilities had been destroyed.
A similar operation was carried out at the same time at Algiers, codenamed Operation Terminal.
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