Torch — Minimalist

Operation Torch was the first American offensive of the war against Germany's allies in the West. On November 8, 1942, three task forces landed on the coast of French North Africa: the Western at Casablanca, the Center at Oran, the Eastern at Algiers. More than 100,000 men went ashore, and the Western force under George Patton had sailed straight from Virginia, 4,500 miles across the Atlantic.

The defenders were Vichy French, and nobody knew whether they would fight. Some did, hard, for three days — at Oran and Casablanca the landings were opposed by shore batteries, French warships and infantry. By November 11 Admiral Darlan had ordered a ceasefire.

Six months later the Axis armies in Tunisia surrendered. This piece is a minimalist poster treatment of the operation.

Three arrows down onto a coast, three ports, two country names in heavy navy capitals and a torch in the corner. The map reduces a two-ocean, three-nation operation to a single glance: the sea at the top, Africa at the bottom, the whole thing running south, which is how it looked from the ships. Sand and sea green on toned paper, in the manner of a wartime briefing poster.