Word: blida
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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...convoys came, not to the port itself, but to the sandy beaches a few miles from the city. There they disgorged Rangers (U.S. commandomen) for initial landings, infantry, artillery and tanks to consolidate and widen the landings. Their purposes were to pincer the city itself, and to seize Blida and Maison-Blanche, Algiers' two main airdromes...
Maison-Blanche fell without a fight; U.S. paratroops seized Blida airdrome. U.S troops marched quickly inland to cut the Algiers-Oran railway. U.S. and British fighters and light bombers flew in to the captured airdromes from carriers; other bombers arrived, probably from Gibraltar...