Casablanca a hive of rumors, air batteries and Tommy guns
By Walter Logan
Casablanca, Morocco – (Jan. 20, delayed)
G-2 (Military Intelligence) called me to headquarters and told me I would be shot if I tried to go near a certain villa.
Later Logan found out why. The villa was the meeting place of President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
That was how thorough were the precautions taken to protect the President, Prime Minister and other dignitaries during their conference.
Planes of all types crowded the airports, guards were increased, new anti-aircraft batteries dotted the landscape and at night officers went on guard duty with Tommy guns.
Casablanca was a fountain of rumors. One of the most recurrent was that anti-aircraft gunners at the airports had been instructed not to fire on any planes under any circumstances at certain hours.
The meeting place itself was protected by armed guards patrolling a barbed-wire obstruction and the President was protected by his own bodyguard, armed with Tommy guns and two companies of troops.