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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>

On March 30, the US 1st and 9th Infantry Divisions, supported by the US 1st Armoured Division, attacked the Italian defenders on Hill 369 but ran into mines and anti-tank fire, losing five tanks and a rifle company from the 2nd Battalion of Colonel Edwin H. Randle's 47th Infantry Regiment that was forced to surrender.

On March 30th, the US 1st and 9th Infantry Divisions, supported by the US 1st Armoured Division, attacked the Italian defenders on Hill 369 but ran into mines and anti-tank fire, losing five tanks and a rifle company from the 2nd Battalion of Colonel Edwin H. Randle's 47th Infantry Regiment that was forced to surrender.

<ref>"At H-Hour, 6 A.M. March 28th, the 47th was in position to take the day's objective, Hill 369. It fell quickly, but the darkness and poor maps had led the 47th astray to El Hamra Ridge ... The 2nd Battalion 47th had been sent on a flanking movement that might have done the job. But it was caught in a murderous crossfire decimating Company E. The Battalion C.O. and the Communications Officer were captured as were the commander of Company E and 175 of his men." The 9th Infantry Division: Old Reliables, John Sperry, p.11, Turner Publishing Company, 2000</ref>The next day, the disabled tanks were removed, and the 1st and 9th Infantry Divisions attacked again, taking several hundred prisoners. However, an Italian counterattack drove them back from their newly won positions, and by midday they were back where they started from with the loss of nine tanks and two tank destroyers. A further attempt on April 1st also failed, after barely getting started. Private Emil J. Dedonato, an Italo-American, remembers that Patton drove up to the 47th Regiment's Command Post, furious that the initial attacks against the Italians had failed:{{cquote|Patton was in a huffy mood and stormed over to see Colonel Randle in his Jeep. It was obvious he wasn't pleased with the initial results of the night attack. I'll never forget Colonel Randle's instructions as they moved into El Guettar: "Were we're going you won't need a physic!<ref>[http://www.ww2survivorstories.com/veterans-9th.html 9th Division Veterans]</ref>}}

<ref>"At H-Hour, 6 A.M. March 28th, the 47th was in position to take the day's objective, Hill 369. It fell quickly, but the darkness and poor maps had led the 47th astray to El Hamra Ridge ... The 2nd Battalion 47th had been sent on a flanking movement that might have done the job. But it was caught in a murderous crossfire decimating Company E. The Battalion C.O. and the Communications Officer were captured as were the commander of Company E and 175 of his men." The 9th Infantry Division: Old Reliables, John Sperry, p.11, Turner Publishing Company, 2000</ref>The next day, the disabled tanks were removed, and the 1st and 9th Infantry Divisions attacked again, taking several hundred prisoners. However, an Italian counterattack drove them back from their newly won positions, and by midday they were back where they started from with the loss of nine tanks and two tank destroyers. A further attempt on April 1st also failed, after barely getting started. Private Emil J. Dedonato, an Italo-American, remembers that General George S. Patton ― commander of the US 2nd Army Corps ― drove up to the 47th Regiment's Command Post, furious that the initial attacks against the Italians had failed:{{cquote|Patton was in a huffy mood and stormed over to see Colonel Randle in his Jeep. It was obvious he wasn't pleased with the initial results of the night attack. I'll never forget Colonel Randle's instructions as they moved into El Guettar: "Were we're going you won't need a physic!<ref>[http://www.ww2survivorstories.com/veterans-9th.html 9th Division Veterans]</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>}}

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>}}