the army and air force supported it. On October 24, Clark's mission returned to the Seraph and later met a seaplane that flew them back to Gibraltar, arriving back in London on October 25 where Wright briefed Admiral Stark. Both Eisenhower and Clark recommended Jerauld Wright for a Distinguished Service Medal in recognition for his role in Operation Flagpole. Wright's DSM was personally pinned by Admiral Ernest J. King, the Chief of Naval Operations, during the Casablanca Conference. Operation Kingpin With the preliminaries concluded during Operation Flagpole, the next task was to free Général Giraud (code-named Kingpin) whom the Vichy government had under house arrest for his anti-Nazi leanings at Toulon in southern France. On October 26, 1942, Captain Jerauld Wright was directed to take part in the mission to extract Giraud, code-named Operation Kingpin. Because of intense anti-British sentiment among French officers, the mission would present an American face. However, because there were no American submarines operating in the Mediterranean Sea, a novel solution was conceived with Wright taking command of the British submarine . As Captain G. B. H. Fawkes, RN, the commander of 8th Submarine Flotilla in the Mediterranean, noted: The Seraph got underway on October 27 and arrived off Toulon on October 30. After several delays, Giraud and his party were brought on board, and a PBY Catalina flying boat subsequently flew Wright, Giraud, and the others back to Gibraltar, the new Operation Torch headquarters, to confer with generals Eisenhower and Clark.HMS Seraph – British Submarines of World War Two Captain Jerauld Wright was awarded his first Legion of Merit in recognition of his participation in Operation Kingpin. Operation Torch D-Day for Operation Torch, November 8, 1942, saw over 73,000 American and British troops landed at Casablanca, Oran, and Algiers. However, the most significant development was on the diplomatic and political front when U.S. consul general Robert D. Murphy alerted the Allied high command about the unexpected presence of Admiral de la flotte Jean Darlan, the head of the Vichy French military, who was visiting his ill son in Algiers. Darlan's presence complicated the pre-invasion arrangements with Général Henri Giraud. Darlan pointed out to Murphy that he outranked Giraud, whom Darlan maintained had little influence within the French military. After a ceasefire was reached in Algiers, General Eisenhower sent a delegation to resolve the situation and broker a ceasefire with all French North African forces. Captain