Tunisian Campaign

The Tunisian Campaign consisted of a series of battles that took place between November 1942 and May 1943. The Axis forces, often called the German-Italian Panzer Armee, consisted of German and Italian units and were led by Field Marshal Erwin Rommel and General Giovanni Messe. The Allies consisted of American forces led by Generals Lloyd Fredendal and General George Patton, and British, New Zealand and Free French forces led by General (later Field Marshal) Bernard Montgomery.

In November, Operation Torch brought in 125,000 American and British forces from the 1st Army (under General Kenneth Anderson) in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia and joined the attack, with the aim of capturing Tunis and Bizerte before the Germans and Italians could send reinforcements into Tunisia. With the use of all available transport capacity the Regia Aeronautica managed to fly 72,000 ground troops and 5,000 tons of war material into Tunisia.

Initially, the Axis forces under Field Marshal Erwin Rommel succeeded in defeating the Allies quickly in the Tunisian Campaign, driving Allied forces back 50 miles through the Kasserine Pass and capturing 4,000 Allied soldiersin the attack lead by the Italian Littorio Armoured Division.

From the start of May the Luftwaffe had been flying men and machines out of Tunisia to save what it could. With the 9th and 12th Air Forces in the battle, the Allies drove the Germans and Italians back into a pocket around Bizerte and Tunis, where the 5th Panzer Armee surrendered on 9 May.

By 11 May the German forces in the northern pocket had been completely mopped up, while the divisions of the Allied 1st Army then turned to assist in the encirclement of the 1st Italian Army, which they achieved between 11-13 May.

On 13 May, over 250,000 Axis prisoners were in Allied custody, thus bringing and end to the Tunisian Campaign. Thus Tunisia became available for launching Operation Husky, an Allied invasion on Sicily as a preliminary to an assault on mainland Italy.

Maknassy Pass

At the end of January, German forces attacked the French, who were defending Faid Pass. General Fredendall faced an immediate choice between seizing Maknassy or reinforcing Faid Pass. The US 1st Armoured Divisiion had been preparing operations against Maknassy Pass since early January and Fredendall decided to seize Maknassy, since it would protect the Faid Pass and threaten the Axis defences.

On 24 January 1943, despite coming under heavy anti-aircraft fire, the 10th Bersaglieri Regiment dug-in and around Djebel Rihana defeat the inital attacks from the US 26th Regimental Combat Team and 443rd Anti-Aircraft Battalion.

On 30 January, the Centauro Armoured Division and German units from from the two German panzer divisions, attacked through Maknassy Pass. The Axis attack came as a complete surprise to the U.S. 2nd Army Corps. The U.S. 1st Armored Division, which had established itself in the saddle of the Faid Pass, was overrun. Gafsa was also abandoned.

On 31 January, the U.S. 34th Division and part of the U.S. 1st Armored Division advanced toward Sened Station. The operation was intended to take them as far as Maknassy, but German and Italian tanks, supported by anti-tanki guns, stopped the Americans on 2 February.

On 22 March, The Americans at Gafsa pushed on steadily along the road to Maknassy, while a second American force, supported by a Free French force, advanced through El Guettar to Gabès. More important still, the 2nd New Zealand Division under General Bernard Freyberg, was developing a threat against Rommel's right flank at El Hamma.

At Maknassy and Faid, the Germans and Italians held until the night of 8/9 April, with the northward retreat of Axis units controlled by General Cramer's Afrika Korps headquarters.

Kasserine Pass

On 14 February, four German battle groups from the 10th and 21st Panzer Divisions (under the overall command of General Heinz Ziegler), attacked through Faïd Pass and Maizila Pass toward Sidi Bouzid under the cover of a sand storm. The German attack had overcome the American defenders along the way and reached the Djebel Lessouda hill. While half the German force reached Djebel Lessouda, the other half marched for Djebel Ksaira and Bir el Hafey. By the end of the day, most of the American fighting vehicles had been driven west or destroyed, leaving isolated pockets of US infantrymen in the hills of Djebel Lessouda, Djebel Ksaira, and Djebel Garet Hadid with no support.

On February 19th, Rommel attacked the US 2nd Army Corps defending Kassarine Pass. The plan was for the German-Italian Panzer Armee to get to Tebessa and Thala. Rommel sent the 5th Bersaglieri Regiment Battalion into the pass to fight Colonel Anderson Moore's 19th Combat Engineer Regiment defending the pass. The Germans were not able to advance through the Sbiba Pass but did manage to exploit Italian success through Kassarine Pass. German battlegroups tried to press on to Thala and Tebessa but were stopped in fierce fighting. Rommel was satisfied that he had managed to cause a significant amount of damage and casualties to the Allied forces, so he decided to withdraw his troops back to their startlines, covered by Bersaglieri. The damage done to the Allies was disastrous, but this was not a complete Axis victory for the Germans were unable to reach Thala and Tebessa.

After the battle, Genral Dwight Eisenhower would send Fredendall back to the United States for a training command. His replacement, General George Patton, would confirm that there was nothing wrong with combat morale in the U.S. 2nd Army Corps that good leadership couldn't fix.

Mareth Line

The Mareth Line in eastern Tunisia was a natural defensive position comparable to El Alamein; a front 35km (22 miles) long extended from the coast to the mountains inland.

On 3 March, the 10th Bersaglieri Regiment supported by 30 tanks counterattacked the British, but lost hundreds killed to machine-gun fire.

On 17 March, the Gurkhas stormed Hangman's Hill and for seven days beat off all the assaults of the Germans, who had surrounded them.

In mid-March the Allies went back on the offensive. Montgomery's 8th Army hit the Axis southern flank around Mareth with several divisions, breaking the Mareth Line on 20 March. When the 30th Corps was thrown back, Montgomery reinforced the flanking attack, which eventually - on 26 March - forced a German withdrawal. When the bridgehead at Wadi Zigzau had to be abandoned on 23 March, General Montgomery decided to switch the main attack from the Mareth Line to the flank where the New Zealanders were making such good progress. So reinforcements and supplies were rushed to Gemera; Bermard Freyberg's 2nd New Zealand Divsion. It was during this battle that Second Lieutenant Moananui-a-Kiwa Ngarimu of the 28th Maori Battalion won a posthumous VC defending Point 209.

On Sunday 28 March, the 8th Army occupied Mareth, Toujane and Matmata, taking several thousands of prisoners. British tanks pursued the retreating Axis forces, but were stopped by anti-tank defences at Wadi el Assuib.

The next Axis fallback position, at Wadi Akarit north of Mareth, was stormed by the 30th Corps on the night of 5 April. Again, the German and Italian forces made an orderly withdrawal, perhaps assisted by Montgomery's deliberate approach. Gemeral von Arnim now fell back to a defensive line covering the Tunisian capital.

In a month-long series of battles, the British, hampered by heavy rains, pushed Axis units over 150 miles north to within 47 miles of Tunis.

El Guettar

While the 8th Army rolled up the German southern flank, Patton's revitalized 2nd Corps drove east into their flank, drawing Axis reinforcments from the south, thereby weakening the opposition to Montgomery's push.

During the Battle of El Guettar, the 5th Bersaglieri Regiment held up the US 2nd Army Corps, though the Americans did well in capturing in Jebel Mcheltat in fierce hand-to-hand combat, a 1, 500-foot hill.

On 23 March, the 10th Panzer Division and supporting 7th Bersaglieri Regiment attacked the US 1st Division on the slopes of Djebel Berda, advancing six miles behind enemy lines and capturing 170 American soldiers.

On the night of 27/28 March, the US 47th Regiment captured Hill 369 from the Italians, but the 2nd Battalion was overrun in chaotic night-fighting and the battalion commander, two officers and 175 men from E Company were captured.

On 28 March, the Free French Forces finally seized El Hamma Ridge and the Axis forces were forced to abandon Gabès. The Raggruppamento Sahariano (under General Alberto Mannerini) had fought stubbornly for several days:

By early April, the US 1st Armored Division's losses since the recapture of Sened Station would reach 304 killed, 1,265 wounded, 116 missing or captured, and forty tanks destroyed.

Wadi Akarit

On 6 April, the Italian San Marcos Marine Regiment, well dug in at Wadi Akarit and plentifully supplied with automatic weapons and grenades, is practically destroyed in hand-to-hand combat with the 6th Green Howards, the British suffering 126 killed.

That next day, the 1st/2nd Gurkhas, 1st/9th Gurkhas and 1st Battalion, the Royal Sussex Regiment secure the mountain pass at the foot of Djebel Fatnassa, with the Gurkhas losing fifty killed but defeatimg two Italian divisions and German reserves in the fighting.

Enfidaville

During 20, 21 and 22 April, General Giuseppe Falugi, commander of the Pistoia Division delivered fierce counterattacks, but they were met with equally fierce resistance and the British succeeded in holding the village of Enfidaville.

Takrouna village was a particularly difficult objective in the battle, a stone outcrop nearly 1,000 feet high. On the night of 19 April, the 2nd New Zealand Division attacked under the cover of heavy artillery fire, but the 28th Maori Battalion suffered heavy casualties in the failed attack, especially among the officers. The Italian defenders put up a fierce defence for another day and night before the two New Zealand brigades, with extra artillery support, finally captured Takrouna.

American infantrymen won much praise for their determination and experience in the fighting on 23-24 April, when the 2nd Battalion from the 18th Infantry, attacked a German stronghold three times before General von Arnim finally quit. After nightfall 1 May the Germans withdrew into Mateur. But two days later American armour drove the defenders out of the town

By 2 May, both sides had fought themselves to exhaustion; but whereas von Arnim had expended his reserves, General Alexander had still strong forces in hand, including those of the 8th Army which was still uncommitted to a major attack.

Tunis

The 1st Army's drive towards Tebourba was heavily contested, with several German counter-attacks. The Allied attackers, however made good progress, taking Longstop Hill, Jebel Bou Aoukas, threatening to to encircle Pont du Fahs. The attacks convinced von Arnim that the Allied main effort would be made in the south and that he had little to fear from the north.

The final Allied offensive began on 5 May with the 5th Corps gaining the hills which dominated the Tunis plain and the 9th Corps advancing on the morning of 6 May. The village of Massicault, which had been prepared for hedgehog defence, fell without resistance. By the afternoon the US 1st Infantry Division had gained their objective, and the British 6th and 7th Armoured Divisions, swept forward and entered Tunis on 7 May. On the same day the US 2nd Corps and Free French Corps d'Afrique took Bizerta.

As the US 2nd Corps units pushed on to cut the Bizerte-Tunis road, they found surrendering Axis units clogging the roads, impeding further advance. Several German commanders had already been flown out, and entire German divisions began surrendering on 9 May, including 30,000 German POWs that surrendered to a British armoured car squadron.

The British 56th Black Cat Division and 1st Free French Division took several of the Italian-held peaks in the reqion of Takrouna during the period 6 May 6 to 13 May, 1943, but with severe losses.

Casualties

Allied casualties during the Tunisian Campaign were around 76,020, with U.S. Army casualties of 18,221, including 2,715 dead, 8,978 wounded and 6,528 captured or missing. British Commonwealth losses amounted to 38,360 men, with 6,233 killed, 21,528 wounded and 10,599 captured or missing. French casualties totaled 19,439 with 2,150 killed, 10,276 wounded and 7,007 captured or missing.

Notes

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