| | On the same day the U.S. 2nd Corps and Free French ''Corps d'Afrique'' took Bizerta, a fortress designed and equipped to stand a long siege . | | On the same day the U.S. 2nd Corps and Free French ''Corps d'Afrique'' took Bizerta, a fortress designed and equipped to stand a long siege . |
| − | By May 9, the 5th ''Panzer Armee'' in the northern pocket had surrendered, with 250 German tanks falling into Allied hands.<ref>"More than 1,000 guns and 250 tanks were captured." The Perilous Road to Rome and beyond, Edward Grace, pg.47, Pen and Sword, 17 May 2007</ref> The divisions of the Allied 1st Army then turned to assist in the capture of the Italian 1st Army, which they achieved between May 11–13 but only after a hard fight. | + | By May 9, the 5th ''Panzer Armee'' in the northern pocket had surrendered, with 250 German tanks falling into Allied hands.<ref>"More than 1,000 guns and 250 tanks were captured." The Perilous Road to Rome and beyond, Edward Grace, pg.47, Pen and Sword, 17 May 2007</ref> The divisions of the Allied 1st Army then turned to assist in the capture of the Italian 1st Army, which they achieved between May 11–13 but only after a hard fight.<ref>''"Not only should Tunisia have exploded the myth of Hitler's military acumen, it should have discredited the idea that Germans fought better than the Italians, since Messe's 1st Italian Army held out longer than Arnim's 5th German Army and the DAK, even both groups had about six divisions and faced roughly equal Anglo-American forces. Indeed, Hermann Goring division was the first to be scattered on 7 May, DAK the next to break and surrender on 9 May, with the Italian Spezia division closing the gap created by the German collapse and watching still combat-efficient German units march off into captivity on 11 May. Whether it is significant that the German 90th Light division was the first to collapse in Messe's 'Italian' Army, there is no doubt that the Italians fought well and held out longest in Tunisia."'' The Second World War: The German War 1939-1942, Jeremy Black, Page 265, Ashgate, 2007</ref> |