"This is the end."

How the defeated General Augusto Nogues, commander-in-chief of all French Forces in North Africa, burst into American Headquarters after the November 1942 invasion and in those four grim words tearfully predicted Axis downfall will be disclosed publicly for the first time on February 18 by Samuel Eliot Morison '08, Jonathan Trumbull Professor of American History in his forthcoming book "Operations in North African Waters."

"That was a strong statement to make so early in the war," Professor Morison asserted yesterday, "but it proved to be quite accurate.

"The Germans had been beating the Allies at every turn up until that point," he continued. "The North African invasion was our first action that really clicked."

First of a 14-volume "History of United States Naval Operations in World War II" to roll off the press, Professor Morison's book covers the period from October 1942 to June 1943, and was written largely from personal observations.

Twin Victories

"While we were still out at sea on board the invasion fleet," he mused, "we heard a radio broadcast on which Wendell Willkie was praising Mongomery's defeat of Rommel at El Alemein as the great turning point of the war." The historian indicated, however, that Willkie made that broad statement while unaware of the approaching landings which were to create what Professor Morison terms one of the major climaxes in the world conflict.