(TOMS RIVER, NJ) -- The Ocean County Library Toms River Branch will host a discussion by history professor, military historian and author Paul E. Zigo. “Operation Torch: Allied Invasion – North Africa,” will take place on Tuesday, November 15 at 6:30pm.

On November 8, 1942, an Anglo-American force landed in French Morocco and Algeria. The goal - to defeat General Erwin Rommel’s German-Italian Army in Libya and gain control of North Africa, securing a tactical advantage and a badly-needed boost in morale.

Operation Torch, led by Lieutenant General Dwight D. Eisenhower and a British staff, was the first combined Allied operation of World War II. Paul Zigo will relate how and why the operation was able to succeed.

Zigo, a retired U.S. Army Colonel with 30 years of service, is the founder and director of the World War II Era Studies Institute, which is dedicated to furthering knowledge and understanding of the period and its impact on history.  A graduate of Temple University and the United States Army War College, he is a founding sponsor of the National Museum of the U.S. Army. His account of the Allied victory in Europe, Unconditional Surrender: Witnessing History – May 1945, is available at the Ocean County Library.

Registration at www.theoceancountylibrary.org/events  is required for this free program. For more details visit the Toms River Branch, 101 Washington Street, or call (732) 349-6200.