American troopers dug foxholes into the ridgeline at Djebel Chambi. They’d solely arrived in North Africa a couple of weeks in the past and confronted mild resistance from Vichy French troops. The notorious Afrika Korps beneath Area Marshal Erwin Rommel had simply launched a large offensive the day prior. The People knew what was coming.
They had been wanting to struggle the Germans and felt they had been prepared to take action.
Upon listening to motion within the darkness on February 20, 1943, the People on the hill shot flares into the sky that illuminated the hilltop. They had been shocked by waves of Italian infantry with their distinctive plumed helmets charging up the slope, firing SMGs and rifles whereas lobbing hand grenades that detonate on influence. The fifth Bersaglieri Regiment overran the People, killing dozens and driving the remainder off the hill.
The Italian commander, Colonel Luigi Bonfatti, lay useless on the bottom. His regiment had cracked open the American defenses at Kasserine Go. Rommel’s tanks started pouring into the move, shifting towards the American provide depots and staging areas close to Thala and Tebessa.
The Battle of Kasserine Go was America’s first main struggle in opposition to the European Axis in World Battle II. It changed into some of the humiliating defeats of the conflict. However that defeat sparked modifications that reshaped the U.S. Army and led to victory in North Africa three months later.
The Race for Tunis
By early 1943, the conflict in North Africa had turned in opposition to the Axis. Allied forces had landed in Morocco and Algeria in November 1942 as a part of Operation Torch whereas brushing apart Vichy French defenders. In the meantime, British Common Bernard Montgomery chased Rommel throughout Libya after the defeat at El Alamein.
Tunisia grew to become the final Axis stronghold in North Africa. The nation’s mountainous terrain created pure defensive strains. Two parallel mountain chains, the Jap Dorsal and Western Dorsal, ran north to south throughout central Tunisia. Between them lay a broad plain. Whoever managed the mountain passes managed motion by the nation.
Rommel retreated to the Mareth Line in southern Tunisia, a collection of French-built fortifications designed to cease an Italian invasion from Libya. His Afrika Korps would defend there in opposition to Montgomery approaching from the east. However American and British forces urgent from the west threatened to entice him. Rommel determined to strike the inexperienced People earlier than the Allied pincers closed.
The Allied command construction was a large number. British Lieutenant Common Kenneth Anderson led the First Army in northern Tunisia. French Common Louis-Marie Koeltz commanded XIX Corps within the heart with two poorly geared up divisions that the opposite commanders didn’t belief. American Main Common Lloyd Fredendall commanded II Corps within the south. Fredendall reported to Anderson, however the two not often communicated.
They issued conflicting orders. No person appeared sure who was in cost or what their technique was.
First Blood at Faid Go
On January 30, 1943, the German twenty first Panzer Division struck French positions at Faid Go. The French fought exhausting however had been pushed again. They requested reinforcements and assist. Fredendall and Anderson let the request go unfulfilled. The Germans took Faid Go and positioned forces on the Jap Dorsal.
In the meantime, Fredendall made a number of poor choices that set the Axis up for fulfillment. He arrange his headquarters 70 miles behind the entrance in a spot referred to as “Speedy Valley.” He had engineers blast tunnels right into a cliff face for a bombproof command put up. Troops referred to as it “Lloyd’s final resort.”
Fredendall by no means visited the entrance strains. He issued orders over the radio in coded slang no person might perceive.
Main Common Orlando Ward commanded the first Armored Division. Anderson ordered Ward to separate his division into separate process forces scattered throughout the entrance. Ward objected loudly. Splitting armor violated primary Army doctrine. Fight Command A ended up fragmented throughout a 30-mile entrance from Sbeitla to Kasserine to Haidra.
The infantry models didn’t fare significantly better. They had been established on totally different terrain, too far to assist one another and with out ample anti-tank weaponry. Artillery was positioned too far-off to supply ample fireplace assist and pleasant air superiority had not been established.
In the meantime, the Axis started massing their armor and mechanized forces for an offensive that may exploit their latest victory at Faid Go in addition to American inexperience.
Battle correspondent Ernie Pyle watched the American troopers put together for battle and noticed their high quality regardless of poor management.
“There may be nothing incorrect with the widespread American soldier,” he wrote. “The deeper he will get right into a struggle, the extra of a combating man he turns into.”
Catastrophe at Sidi Bou Zid
On February 14, Common Hans-Jürgen von Arnim launched a large offensive. His fifth Panzer Army struck by Faid and Maizila Passes with 140 tanks from the tenth and twenty first Panzer Divisions. A sandstorm lined their advance. Common Dwight Eisenhower had inspected American positions at these passes simply three hours earlier.
American forces held two hills west of Faid, Djebel Lessouda and Djebel Ksaira. These positions had been speculated to anchor the protection. As an alternative, they grew to become loss of life traps. The hills sat too far aside to supply mutual assist.
Lieutenant Colonel John Waters, Common George Patton’s son-in-law, commanded the battalion on Djebel Lessouda. He had already warned his males after their straightforward struggle in opposition to the French that the following struggle wouldn’t be really easy.
“We did very nicely in opposition to the scrub crew. Subsequent week we hit the Germans.”
German tanks surrounded Lessouda by 10:00 AM. Waters misplaced radio contact. His deliberate artillery assist failed to assist them.
Solely about 450 males from Waters’ battalion escaped. Waters himself was captured on February 15. He would spend the following two years as a POW.
On Djebel Ksaira, Colonel Thomas Drake’s power of 1,500 was additionally trapped. The 168th Infantry Regiment was successfully destroyed quickly after.
Fredendall ordered a counterattack on February 15. Fifty-one American tanks from the first Armored Division rolled towards Lessouda in parade-ground formation. After participating the Axis armor, it appeared that the enemy was retreating. The People chased them.
A line of hid German 88mm anti-tank weapons, dual-purpose weapons initially designed for plane, ambushed the American tanks with devastating accuracy. These weapons might penetrate American armor at ranges the place U.S. weapons could not even attain.
Solely seven tanks survived the slaughter earlier than withdrawing.
One American soldier who witnessed the slaughter stated “It was homicide. They rolled proper into the muzzles of the hid eighty-eights and all I might do was stand by and watch tank after tank blown to bits or burst into flames.”
Dominic Martello served with the thirty ninth Infantry Regiment, ninth Infantry Division. His unit had been despatched ahead on February 14 with orders to carry it doesn’t matter what. German tanks encircled them. They ran out of ammunition, meals, and water. On February 18, Martello was captured. He grew to become one of many first American prisoners taken by the Germans in North Africa.
By February 16, II Corps had misplaced 1,600 males, practically 100 tanks, 57 half-tracks, and 29 artillery items. Anderson ordered a withdrawal to the Western Dorsal, the ultimate defensive position defending Algeria. The passes at Kasserine and Sbiba grew to become the brand new American positions.
However the Axis had been removed from completed.
Rommel Pushes Ahead
Rommel needed to use the victory. He proposed driving west by Kasserine Go to Tébessa, a serious Allied provide base simply inside Algeria. Capturing Tébessa would lower Allied provide strains and threaten your entire entrance.
His Italian superiors had different concepts. Comando Supremo in Rome ordered him to separate his forces. Assault northwest by each Kasserine and Sbiba towards Thala and Le Kef. Clear the Western Dorsal. Threaten the British First Army’s flank.
Rommel was livid. The plan dispersed his power. It uncovered his flanks. A concentrated drive on Tébessa made extra tactical sense. However he adopted orders and launched the assault on February 19.
The twenty first Panzer Division struck north by Sbiba Go. They bumped into heavy resistance. British, American, and French forces had laid intensive minefields. British artillery hammered the approaching panzers. The thirty fourth Infantry Division held positions on the heights. The 18th Regimental Fight Group from the first Infantry Division bolstered them.
By February 20, the German assault at Sbiba had stalled fully. The Allies held agency.
As he often did, Rommel determined to disregard his orders. The failure at Sbiba satisfied him to pay attention all the things on Kasserine Go.
The Go Falls
Colonel Alexander Stark commanded the blended power defending Kasserine, components of the twenty sixth Infantry, nineteenth Fight Engineers, sixth Area Artillery, a tank destroyer battalion, and a French artillery battery. They had been unfold throughout a two-mile hole within the mountains. Stark had too few males and too little time to arrange.
German reconnaissance models probed the move on February 19. They discovered American positions surprisingly robust within the heart. Rommel ordered the primary assault for February 20. He introduced up the tenth Panzer Division, Afrika Korps models, and the Italian Centauro Armored Division.
The morning was chilly and wet. Mud lined the rocks. Fog restricted visibility. Rommel arrived personally. He noticed wrecked American vehicles alongside the highway “with useless males sitting on the wheels, evidently shot up by low-level air strikes.”
The Axis assault began slowly. Heavy automobiles slowed down. Fog grounded the Stuka dive-bombers. American artillery fireplace pressured German infantry to take cowl. Rommel dedicated extra forces, panzer regiments, Nebelwerfer rocket launchers nicknamed “Screaming Meemies,” and the fifth Bersaglieri Regiment.
The Italians infiltrated the American positions through the night time. They launched their frontal assault on Djebel Chambi within the early morning hours. German Panzer grenadiers attacked concurrently within the heart. By 1:00 PM, the mixed assault broke by, permitting Rommel’s armor to advance by the move.
One American ranger later famous the Bersaglieri that overran his place had been a few of “Italy’s hardest troops.” He wished that he would by no means face them once more.
The nineteenth Fight Engineer Regiment was left undefended and took the brunt of the assault. Colonel Anderson Moore’s males fought till overwhelmed. Tanks and Bersaglieri from the Centauro Division rolled down Freeway 13 brushing the People apart. Of 1,200 males within the battalion on February 18, solely 125 remained by February 19.
British reinforcements tried to carry. Brigadier Charles Dunphie despatched Gore Drive, 11 tanks, infantry, artillery, and anti-tank weapons, into the northern exit. They fought a delaying motion, however all 11 tanks had been destroyed.
American models retreated in chaos. Some fell again in good order. Others broke. Some infantry threw down their weapons and stripped their gear off earlier than fleeing. Gear littered the roads, tanks, half-tracks, weapons, vehicles. Ahead artillery observers deserted their posts. Some automobiles had been fully deserted in working situation.
Axis forces then break up into two columns. Rommel personally led the tenth Panzer Division north towards Thala. A mixed German-Italian power together with the Centauro Division drove west towards Tébessa.
The People Maintain the Line
The highway to Algeria lay open. However the People had been prepared.
Fight Command B beneath Brigadier Common Paul Robinett linked up with the sixteenth Infantry Regiment from Main Common Terry Allen’s 1st Infantry Division at Djebel el Hamra. They had been achieved working.
Robinett positioned his forces on key terrain inside vary of one another to supply assist. Tanks went hull-down behind ridges. Infantry dug in on the slopes. Anti-tank weapons lined all approaches. Ahead artillery observers discovered hid positions with clear views of the battlefield. They registered fireplace on each seemingly avenue of advance.
The Afrika Korps assault group got here up the Hatab River valley on February 21. American and British artillery opened up. Shells rained down on the German-Italian column. The fifth Bersaglieri, Centauro tanks, and components of the fifteenth Panzer Division tried to push by.
The People held agency. The assault failed.
North at Thala, British and American reinforcements arrived all through February 21 and 22. The twenty sixth Armored Brigade took blocking positions. Most significantly, the ninth Infantry Division’s artillery arrived after a four-day, 735-mile pressured march from Algeria. When the tenth Panzer Division attacked on February 22, massed Allied artillery destroyed a lot of the tanks. Communications broke down. The advance stalled.
Rommel realized his offensive had failed. He was overextended and gas was working low. Montgomery’s Eighth Army was approaching the Mareth Line, held solely by a display screen of Italian infantry divisions. Allied air energy was rising. On February 22, he ordered a last withdrawal.
An enormous American air strike occurred on February 23. The bombers hit German positions across the move. By February 25, Axis forces had pulled again to their beginning positions. American troops reoccupied Kasserine Go, capturing a number of hundred Italian prisoners.
The Aftermath
Allied casualties totaled 10,000, together with 6,500 People (300 killed, 3,000 wounded, 3,000 captured), plus tons of of British and French losses. The U.S. additionally misplaced 183 tanks, 104 half-tracks, 208 weapons, and 512 vehicles. Axis casualties had been solely 2,000, with about 20 tanks destroyed. Nevertheless, the Germans captured 45 tons of ammunition and 50,000 gallons of gas.
The Army required over 7,000 replacements to carry the mauled models again to full power. German commanders started dismissing the People as a hole power as a substitute of a formidable enemy. Even the British allegedly started referring to the American Army as “our Italians.”
Not like most of his superiors, Rommel got here away with respect for his opponents. In his journal, he wrote, “The tactical conduct of the enemy’s protection had been top notch. They’d recovered in a short time after the primary shock and had quickly succeeded in damming up our advance by grouping their reserves to defend the passes and different appropriate factors.”
He was additionally impressed by American tools. “British expertise has been put to good use in American tools,” he famous. American vehicles had been superior to something the Germans had. The M3 half-track, regardless of skinny armor, impressed German commanders with its reliability.
Most of the automobiles the People misplaced within the battle had been repaired and refitted by Rommel’s troops. American forces often destroyed or recovered a few of their tools from enemy forces by the remainder of the marketing campaign.
Sweeping Modifications
Eisenhower moved to get better from the catastrophe. On February 20, he despatched Main Common Ernest Harmon to evaluate the scenario. Harmon discovered Fredendall exhausted and defeated. When Harmon arrived at 3:00 AM, Fredendall handed him a observe authorizing him to take cost. Then Fredendall went to mattress.
Harmon reported again that Fredendall was “no rattling good.” On March 6, Eisenhower relieved him and put in George S. Patton as the brand new commander of II Corps.
The distinction between the generals was beautiful. Patton imposed self-discipline instantly. He led from the entrance. His expectations had been clear. One officer recalled Patton addressing them earlier than a battle. Patton allegedly stated he anticipated to see casualties amongst workers officers that may persuade him a critical effort had been made to take the target.
Eisenhower restructured the command. He created the 18th Army Group beneath British Common Harold Alexander. This unified British, French, and American forces beneath single operational management. Liaison officers from every nation had been unfold out among the many totally different models and command workers. The confusion that crippled models at Kasserine disappeared.
The Army additionally carried out sweeping modifications. Air superiority grew to become necessary for floor operations. Units skilled as mixed arms groups. Artillery realized to mass fires on choose targets. Tank destroyers stopped chasing panzers and used defensive techniques similar to hull-down positions. Infantry and armor practiced coordinated assaults. Infantry additionally realized to higher put together defensive positions and how one can counter enemy tanks.
In the meantime, tools improved. New M10 tank destroyers with 75mm weapons had been issued to the forces. One Army officer famous that the Germans had been about to be fairly shocked by the brand new tank destroyer.
Most significantly, the Army realized to belief its troopers. At Djebel el Hamra, the first Infantry Division managed to blunt the Axis. At Thala, American models stopped Rommel’s last assault. Whereas the battle was misplaced, it was a failure on management, not the widespread soldier.
Just a few weeks after taking command, Patton’s troops went toe-to-toe with the Afrika Korps at El Guettar and held their very own. In the meantime, Allied forces overran Axis defenses within the north and south, pushing the Axis right into a small pocket.
By Might 1943, Allied forces had trapped them in opposition to the Mediterranean coast. On Might 13, the final Axis troops in North Africa surrendered. Practically 250,000 German and Italian troops went into captivity.
Dominic Martello survived his 2.5 years as a POW. He credited his humorousness with conserving him alive. The expertise left deep scars nonetheless. He suffered flashbacks for the remainder of his life. Many years later, reflecting on what he’d been by, he stated, “Typically I ponder if it actually occurred.”
Kasserine Go uncovered each weak spot within the American Army, poor intelligence, insufficient coaching, scattered models, confused command, leaders who could not adapt. Nevertheless it additionally proved that American troopers might be taught beneath fireplace. British commanders on the time famous that it was precisely the expertise the U.S. Army wanted earlier than conducting large offensives in opposition to the Germans going ahead.
The American Army that got here out of Tunisia by no means misplaced one other main battle within the European Theater for the remainder of the conflict.
