Elizabeth Stanton (AP 69) - Naval Cruise Book

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Ship to Shore. Getting Under Way. Laying OH. H-Hour Minus One. Beachhead Parking Lot Return of the Native.

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' 1 WMA Ap... North Africa was the destination of the Lizzie on her first long voyage as a Navy ship. And subsequently, its seaports, Oran, Casablanca, and Algiers, became better known to the Lizzie's crew than were most American ports except New York. Africa was not the Way We had imag- ined it. Instead of thick jungles we found modern cities, cultivated fields, and large stretches of bare, rugged land. And in the Algiers Casbah, instead of Hedy Lamarr we saw only non- descript Arab Women in sleazy-looking veils. Casablanca was perhaps the most Europeanized of the North African cities, with Algiers a close second. Both of these cities were clean and had large business sections, fine parks, and some beautiful buildings which were a not-too-bizarre combination of African and French architecture. But European civilization clung to the coastline. A short jeep-ride inland revealed large farms, grazing herds of sheep tended by Arab shepherds, miles of vineyards from whose mild-looking grapes the mule kick vino was made. Dotted over the mountainsides and valleys were dirty little Arab villages. lVlost of us at one time or another visited the headquarters town of the French Foreign Legion, Sidi-bel-Abbis. The feeling there was one of isolation and loneliness. The relics and barracks of the Legionnaires . . . the Legionnaires themselves with their hard-bitten faces and stiff military smartness all seemed like a page of past history suddenly come alive in an age of mechanized warfare. It was a little like bumping casually into . . . say, Nero buying a can of Spam at the corner A81P. i But the lasting impression of Africa is one of bright-hot monotonous days and of ever- lastingly standing by roadsides to thumb a ride as the jeeps, command cars, and trucks sped by, leaving clouds of dust that would not settle until the black African night fell and War motors were hushed, and only the land was left in its ancient brooding wakefulness. 31