Changes

On March 3rd, the 10th Bersaglieri Regiment supported by 30 tanks attacked the British lines, hoping to repeat the success at Kasserine Pass.<ref>"On February 22— facing poor terrain for mobile operations, increased Alled resistance, and a lack of cooperation from Arnim— Rommel withdrew artfully to prepare for a similiar operation against General Bernard L. Montgomery's British Eighth Army on the Mareth Line to the east." George S. Patton, Earle Rice, pg. 78, Infobase Publishing, 2009</ref> According to Associated Press war correspondent Don Whitehead:{{cquote|Last night three companies of Italians followed by 30 tanks and lorried infantry attacked the Highlander's advance screen. The Jocks “mowed 'em down”—and didn't lose a man. The tanks and infantry scurried back to the safety of the hills. Half the Italians were killed.<ref>Combat Reporter: Don Whitehead's World War II Diary and Memoirs, pg. 125, Fordham Univ Press, 2006</ref>}}

On March 3rd, the 10th Bersaglieri Regiment supported by 30 tanks attacked the British lines, hoping to repeat the success at Kasserine Pass.<ref>"On February 22— facing poor terrain for mobile operations, increased Alled resistance, and a lack of cooperation from Arnim— Rommel withdrew artfully to prepare for a similiar operation against General Bernard L. Montgomery's British Eighth Army on the Mareth Line to the east." George S. Patton, Earle Rice, pg. 78, Infobase Publishing, 2009</ref> According to Associated Press war correspondent Don Whitehead:{{cquote|Last night three companies of Italians followed by 30 tanks and lorried infantry attacked the Highlander's advance screen. The Jocks “mowed 'em down”—and didn't lose a man. The tanks and infantry scurried back to the safety of the hills. Half the Italians were killed.<ref>Combat Reporter: Don Whitehead's World War II Diary and Memoirs, pg. 125, Fordham Univ Press, 2006</ref>}}

During the [[Battle of Maknassy Pass]], the 10th Panzer Division and supporting 7th Bersaglieri Regiment attacked Lieutenant-Colonel Robert H. York's 1st Battalion from the 18th Infantry Regiment (US 1st Infantry Division) and the Panzers penetrated the valley between the US 1st and 3rd Battalions, reaching a position about six miles behind the 1st Battalion.<ref>''"On March 23, Lieutenant Colonel Robert H. York commanded the 1st Battalion of an Infantry Regiment of the First Division, which was in position on the northeastern slopes of Djebel Berda, generally facing Hill 369, about seven miles east of El Guettar. At dawn that day, the German 10th Panzer Division and elements of the Italian 7th Bersaglieri Regiment attacked the 1st Division with at least two hundred vehicles. Colonel York's regiment, owing to its position, bore the brunt of the attack. The enemy tanks succeeded in penetrating the valley between the 3d and 1st Battalions which held the high ground on either side and some of the enemy tanks reached a position about six miles to the rear of the 1st Battalion before the attack was finally broken down."'' Infantry Journal, Volumes 54-55, p. 42, United States Infantry Association, 1944</ref> The Panzer Division with the help of the Bersaglieri riding in half-tracks, trucks and motorcycles overrun the US 32nd Field Artillery Battalion and part of the US 5th Field Artillery Battalion, with the Italian Supreme Command reporting that 170 Allied troops had been captured in the counterattack.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=19430324&id=M4ohAAAAIBAJ&sjid=dZgFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2523,3907893&hl=en Yankee Units Within Hour's Drive of Sea; Blast 30 Nazi Tanks, Reading Eagle, 24 March 1943]</ref>   

During the [[Battle of Maknassy Pass]], the 10th Panzer Division and supporting 7th Bersaglieri Regiment on March 23rd attacked Lieutenant-Colonel Robert H. York's 1st Battalion from the 18th Infantry Regiment (US 1st Infantry Division) and the Panzers penetrated the valley between the US 1st and 3rd Battalions, reaching a position about six miles behind the 1st Battalion.<ref>''"On March 23, Lieutenant Colonel Robert H. York commanded the 1st Battalion of an Infantry Regiment of the First Division, which was in position on the northeastern slopes of Djebel Berda, generally facing Hill 369, about seven miles east of El Guettar. At dawn that day, the German 10th Panzer Division and elements of the Italian 7th Bersaglieri Regiment attacked the 1st Division with at least two hundred vehicles. Colonel York's regiment, owing to its position, bore the brunt of the attack. The enemy tanks succeeded in penetrating the valley between the 3d and 1st Battalions which held the high ground on either side and some of the enemy tanks reached a position about six miles to the rear of the 1st Battalion before the attack was finally broken down."'' Infantry Journal, Volumes 54-55, p. 42, United States Infantry Association, 1944</ref> The Panzer Division with the help of the Bersaglieri riding in half-tracks, trucks and motorcycles overrun the US 32nd Field Artillery Battalion and part of the US 5th Field Artillery Battalion, with the Italian Supreme Command reporting that 170 Allied troops had been captured in the counterattack.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=19430324&id=M4ohAAAAIBAJ&sjid=dZgFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2523,3907893&hl=en Yankee Units Within Hour's Drive of Sea; Blast 30 Nazi Tanks, Reading Eagle, 24 March 1943]</ref>   

The 5th Bersaglieri Regiment, Sahara Grouping (''Raggruppamento Sahariano'') and 57th Bersaglieri Battalion from the ''Trieste'' Division fought in the [[Battle of El Guettar]] in March 1943, distinguishing themselves near El Hamma–El Guettar, with several Bersaglieri eventually taken prisoner.<ref>"The Italian forces that managed to impress the GIs most were the Bersaglieri units. With a tradition going back to the old Piedmontese army, composed of carefully selected troops, and equipped with greater numbers of artillery and vehicles, these units sometimes exceeded the performance of the German forces in Africa. A soldier of the 4th Ranger Battalion who had battled against them at Senad Pass in Tunisia in 1943 remembered them as "big shots" while he was on his way to Sicily, and hoped that he would not encounter them again on the island. He did, however, and more bloody clashes with the Bersaglieri left him convinced that they were indeed "Italy's toughest troops." The Crash of Ruin: American Combat Soldiers in Europe during World War II, Peter Schrijvers, p. 52, Springer, 1998</ref><ref>"At El Guettar a few battalions of well-supported Bersaglieri held up the infantry columns, though the Americans did well in capturing Jebel Mcheltat." The Army Quarterly, p. 160, William Clowes & Sons, Limited, 1943</ref>

The 5th Bersaglieri Regiment, Sahara Grouping (''Raggruppamento Sahariano'') and 57th Bersaglieri Battalion from the ''Trieste'' Division fought in the [[Battle of El Guettar]] in March 1943, distinguishing themselves near El Hamma–El Guettar, with several Bersaglieri eventually taken prisoner.<ref>"The Italian forces that managed to impress the GIs most were the Bersaglieri units. With a tradition going back to the old Piedmontese army, composed of carefully selected troops, and equipped with greater numbers of artillery and vehicles, these units sometimes exceeded the performance of the German forces in Africa. A soldier of the 4th Ranger Battalion who had battled against them at Senad Pass in Tunisia in 1943 remembered them as "big shots" while he was on his way to Sicily, and hoped that he would not encounter them again on the island. He did, however, and more bloody clashes with the Bersaglieri left him convinced that they were indeed "Italy's toughest troops." The Crash of Ruin: American Combat Soldiers in Europe during World War II, Peter Schrijvers, p. 52, Springer, 1998</ref><ref>"At El Guettar a few battalions of well-supported Bersaglieri held up the infantry columns, though the Americans did well in capturing Jebel Mcheltat." The Army Quarterly, p. 160, William Clowes & Sons, Limited, 1943</ref>

It was noticed that the Italians fought particularly well, outdoing the Germans in line with them on El Hamma Ridge:{{cquote|The enemy positions seemed impregnable, and, in fact, the Italians manning them held out for three days. Next morning Rommel ... replaced the Italians with crack German troops ... but the enemy, finally fellback into the ravine...the morale of 20-year-old [German] prisoners fresh from the Russian front was low, they made no attempt to hide their satisfaction at being out of the war.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2507&dat=19430401&id=zjRAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=TVkMAAAAIBAJ&pg=2804,4830439&hl=en Fighting French Troops' Part Advance in Advance on Gabes, The Glasgow Herald, 1 April 1943]</ref>}}

 

It was also noticed that the Italians fought particularly well, outdoing the Germans in line with them on El Hamma Ridge facing the Free French Division:{{cquote|The enemy positions seemed impregnable, and, in fact, the Italians manning them held out for three days. Next morning Rommel ... replaced the Italians with crack German troops ... but the enemy, finally fellback into the ravine...the morale of 20-year-old [German] prisoners fresh from the Russian front was low, they made no attempt to hide their satisfaction at being out of the war.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2507&dat=19430401&id=zjRAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=TVkMAAAAIBAJ&pg=2804,4830439&hl=en Fighting French Troops' Part Advance in Advance on Gabes, The Glasgow Herald, 1 April 1943]</ref>}}

The 5th, 8th, 9th and 10th Bersaglieri Regiments along with the Fascist Youth (''Giovani Fascisti'') Regiment fought as part of the 1st Italian Army around Hill 141 during the [[Battle of Tunis]], surrendering on May 13th after defeating all the attacks from the 2nd New Zealand Division,<ref>"On arrival at Enfidaville the 2/5th and 2/6th Queen’s had taken over reserve positions behind the 2nd New Zealand Division, who were holding the low ground on the right of the Takrouna feature, having handed over Takrouna to the 51st (Highland) Division. They were very tired and needed to be relieved. General Montgomery had accepted that to try to outflank the enemy through the hills to the west of Enfidaville was now an unrealistic option, and had decided to switch his efforts to attacking up the coast road towards Hammamet. However, he disappeared off to Cairo on the 23rd April in order to discuss the plans for the invasion of Sicily, leaving Lieut-General Brian Horrocks to ponder the problem." [http://www.queensroyalsurreys.org.uk/ww2/middle_east/qme025.shtml Enfidaville]</ref><ref>"The New Zealanders were very apologetic for their lack of success in securing these two features." [http://www.queensroyalsurreys.org.uk/ww2/middle_east/qme025.shtml Enfidaville]</ref><ref>"It was their last action for a while, as 25 and 26 Battalions were relieved that night by 169 Infantry Brigade of 56 (L) Division, and 24 Battalion by 152 Infantry Brigade of 51 (H) Division." [http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2Bard-c15-1.html 2 NZ Division after Takrouna]</ref> British 56th ''Black Cat'' Division<ref>"The New Zealanders around Takrouna estimated that 20,000 enemy were still in front of them, so SRY supported the newly arrived 56 (Black Cat) Division fresh from Syria in an attack on the 11th/12th May. Alas there was no success and many casualties." (Monty's Marauders, Patrick Delaforce Pen and Sword, 2008)</ref> and 1st Free French Division,<ref>"On May 12th this Italian force was still resisting from positions just north of Enfidaville. A French division attacking their right was repulsed and then counterattacked. The Air Force, being called upon for aid, made a strong bombing attack at 1530, supported by all the artillery whose fire could be brought to bear." Finale in Tunisia, Colonel Conrad H. Lanza, Page. 488, The Field Artillery, July 1943</ref> a week after after the complete collapse of the Afrika Korps facing the US 1st Armoured and 3rd Infantry Divisions on May 6th,<ref>Maj. Gen. Omar N. Bradley, commanding II Corps, had originally planned to have Truscott's 3rd Division relieve the battle-weary 1st ID. However, as Truscott was moving his division forward to effect that relief, Bradley contacted him on the night of the fifth and told him that General Harmon had requested additional infantry to support his division's attack on a strongly defended German position on the peninsula east of Bizerte, and directed that Truscott send an infantry regiment to the Ferryville area for attachment to the 1st AD. Bradley had also ordered that an infantry regiment from the 9th ID and additional field artillery and antiaircraft join Harmon's division for the attack. Truscott's regiment was to attack the following morning. Truscott joined Harmon at his commando post southeast of Ferryville early the next morning, and after breakfast the two set out on a reconnaissance mission to ascertain how far forward Truscott's force could assemble for the attack. As they traveled they found that Harmon's troopers and their tanks were already in possession of the entire peninsula excepting the high ridge overlooking the Mediterranean, from which there came no sounds of enemy fire. It was obvious to Harmon and Truscott that "the battle in Tunisia was all but done and that no large force would be required to clear the ridge." Dogface Soldier: The Life of General Lucian K. Truscott, Jr, By Wilson A., Heefner, p. 101, University of Missouri Press, 2010</ref> and poor showing<ref>"Two remarkable features of this Axis debacle were, firstly, that in the end, when the battle had obviously gone against the Axis, the Italians fought better than the Germans. The German morale collapsed completely towards the close of the campaign. Well-armed German units with plenty of ammunition and provisions surrendered in strong defensive positions when they could have fought for many days (weeks or months) longer." The Conquest of Italy, Joseph Montague Kenworthy, p. 17, Hutchinson, 1944</ref> of the attached German 90th Light Infantry Division.<ref>"For an hour the positions held by the 90th Light Infantry were obscured by a pall of smoke. At the end of the bombardment they surrendered. General Von Sponeck ... told General Keightley when he surrendered to him that although only two men had been killed and three wounded during the bombardment the morale of his men had been shattered." Tunisian Battle, John D'Arcy-Dawson, p. 248, Macdonald & Company, Limited, 1943</ref>  

The 5th, 8th, 9th and 10th Bersaglieri Regiments along with the Fascist Youth (''Giovani Fascisti'') Regiment fought as part of the 1st Italian Army around Hill 141 during the [[Battle of Tunis]], surrendering on May 13th after defeating all the attacks from the 2nd New Zealand Division,<ref>"On arrival at Enfidaville the 2/5th and 2/6th Queen’s had taken over reserve positions behind the 2nd New Zealand Division, who were holding the low ground on the right of the Takrouna feature, having handed over Takrouna to the 51st (Highland) Division. They were very tired and needed to be relieved. General Montgomery had accepted that to try to outflank the enemy through the hills to the west of Enfidaville was now an unrealistic option, and had decided to switch his efforts to attacking up the coast road towards Hammamet. However, he disappeared off to Cairo on the 23rd April in order to discuss the plans for the invasion of Sicily, leaving Lieut-General Brian Horrocks to ponder the problem." [http://www.queensroyalsurreys.org.uk/ww2/middle_east/qme025.shtml Enfidaville]</ref><ref>"The New Zealanders were very apologetic for their lack of success in securing these two features." [http://www.queensroyalsurreys.org.uk/ww2/middle_east/qme025.shtml Enfidaville]</ref><ref>"It was their last action for a while, as 25 and 26 Battalions were relieved that night by 169 Infantry Brigade of 56 (L) Division, and 24 Battalion by 152 Infantry Brigade of 51 (H) Division." [http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2Bard-c15-1.html 2 NZ Division after Takrouna]</ref> British 56th ''Black Cat'' Division<ref>"The New Zealanders around Takrouna estimated that 20,000 enemy were still in front of them, so SRY supported the newly arrived 56 (Black Cat) Division fresh from Syria in an attack on the 11th/12th May. Alas there was no success and many casualties." (Monty's Marauders, Patrick Delaforce Pen and Sword, 2008)</ref> and 1st Free French Division,<ref>"On May 12th this Italian force was still resisting from positions just north of Enfidaville. A French division attacking their right was repulsed and then counterattacked. The Air Force, being called upon for aid, made a strong bombing attack at 1530, supported by all the artillery whose fire could be brought to bear." Finale in Tunisia, Colonel Conrad H. Lanza, Page. 488, The Field Artillery, July 1943</ref> a week after after the complete collapse of the Afrika Korps facing the US 1st Armoured and 3rd Infantry Divisions on May 6th,<ref>Maj. Gen. Omar N. Bradley, commanding II Corps, had originally planned to have Truscott's 3rd Division relieve the battle-weary 1st ID. However, as Truscott was moving his division forward to effect that relief, Bradley contacted him on the night of the fifth and told him that General Harmon had requested additional infantry to support his division's attack on a strongly defended German position on the peninsula east of Bizerte, and directed that Truscott send an infantry regiment to the Ferryville area for attachment to the 1st AD. Bradley had also ordered that an infantry regiment from the 9th ID and additional field artillery and antiaircraft join Harmon's division for the attack. Truscott's regiment was to attack the following morning. Truscott joined Harmon at his commando post southeast of Ferryville early the next morning, and after breakfast the two set out on a reconnaissance mission to ascertain how far forward Truscott's force could assemble for the attack. As they traveled they found that Harmon's troopers and their tanks were already in possession of the entire peninsula excepting the high ridge overlooking the Mediterranean, from which there came no sounds of enemy fire. It was obvious to Harmon and Truscott that "the battle in Tunisia was all but done and that no large force would be required to clear the ridge." Dogface Soldier: The Life of General Lucian K. Truscott, Jr, By Wilson A., Heefner, p. 101, University of Missouri Press, 2010</ref> and poor showing<ref>"Two remarkable features of this Axis debacle were, firstly, that in the end, when the battle had obviously gone against the Axis, the Italians fought better than the Germans. The German morale collapsed completely towards the close of the campaign. Well-armed German units with plenty of ammunition and provisions surrendered in strong defensive positions when they could have fought for many days (weeks or months) longer." The Conquest of Italy, Joseph Montague Kenworthy, p. 17, Hutchinson, 1944</ref> of the attached German 90th Light Infantry Division.<ref>"For an hour the positions held by the 90th Light Infantry were obscured by a pall of smoke. At the end of the bombardment they surrendered. General Von Sponeck ... told General Keightley when he surrendered to him that although only two men had been killed and three wounded during the bombardment the morale of his men had been shattered." Tunisian Battle, John D'Arcy-Dawson, p. 248, Macdonald & Company, Limited, 1943</ref>