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The Tunisian campaign (also known as the battle of Tunisia) was a series of battles that took place in Tunisia during the North African campaign of the Second World War, between Axis powers and Allied forces from 17 November 1942 to 13 May 1943. The Allies consisted of British Empire, including a Greek contingent, with United States and French corps. Despite initial successes by the Nazi Germany and Italian forces brought from the mainland and which had withdrawn into and occupied Tunisia after their defeat in the Western Desert and the success of Operation Torch, massive supply interdiction efforts and Allied assaults from east and west led to the decisive defeat of the Axis. Over 260,000 Wehrmacht and Italian troops were taken as prisoners of war, including most of the Afrika Korps.
The chronic difficulty in the supply of military forces in the desert led to several indecisive victories by both sides and long fruitless advances along the coast. The Italian invasion of Egypt by the 10th Army in 1940, advanced into Egypt and more than in a straight line from Tripoli, from Benghazi and from Tobruk. The Western Desert Force (WDF) fought a delaying action as it fell back to Mersa Matruh (Matruh), then began Operation Compass, a raid and counter-attack into Libya. The 10th Army was destroyed and the WDF occupied El Agheila, some from Alexandria. With the arrival of the German Afrika Korps, the Axis counter-attacked in Operation Sonnenblume and in April 1941 reached the limit of their supply capacity at the Egyptian border but failed to recapture Tobruk.
In November 1941 the British Eighth Army recovered, helped by the short supply distance from Alexandria to the front line and launched Operation Crusader, relieving the Siege of Tobruk and again reached El Agheila. The Eighth Army was soon pushed back to Gazala west of Tobruk and at the Battle of Gazala in May 1942, the Axis pushed them all the way back to El Alamein, only from Alexandria. In 1942, the Royal Navy and Italian Navy were still disputing the Mediterranean but the British hold on Malta, and intelligence from Ultra, allowed the Royal Air Force to sink more Italian supply ships. Large quantities of supplies became available to the British from the United States and the supply situation of the Eighth Army eventually resolved. With the Eighth Army no longer constrained, the Axis were driven westwards from Egypt following the Second Battle of El Alamein in November 1942.
However, planners had to assume the worst case regarding the extent of Vichy opposition at Algiers and the invasion convoys were assault-loaded with a preponderance of infantry to meet heavy ground opposition. This meant that at Algiers the disembarkation of mobile forces for an advance to Tunisia would necessarily be delayed.Hinsley, pp. 472–473 Plans were thus a compromise and the Allies realised that an attempt to reach Bizerte and Tunis overland before the Axis could establish themselves represented a gamble which depended on the ability of the navy and air force to delay the Axis build-up.Playfair, p. 239. The Allies, although they had provided for the possibility of strong Vichy opposition to their landings both in terms of infantry and air force allocations, seriously underestimated the Axis appetite for and speed of intervention in Tunisia.Hinsley, p. 487
Once operations had commenced, despite clear intelligence reports regarding the Axis reaction, the Allies were slow to respond. It was not until nearly two weeks after the landings that air and naval plans were made to interdict Axis sea transport to Tunis.Hinsley, p. 493 At the end of November, naval Force K was reformed in Malta with three cruisers and four destroyers and Force Q formed in Bône with three cruisers and two destroyers. No Axis ships sailing to Tunis were sunk in November but the Allied naval forces had some success in early December sinking seven Axis transports. However, this came too late to affect the fighting on land because the armoured elements of 10th Panzer Division had already arrived. To counter the surface threat, Axis convoys were switched to daylight when they could be protected by air cover, simultaneously denying the Allies the advantage of using radar in night surface combat. Night convoys resumed on completion of the extension of Axis minefields which severely restricted the activities of Force K and Force Q.Hinsley, pp. 495–496
Only in the north was the terrain favourable to attack; here the Atlas Mountains stopped near the eastern coast, leaving a large area on the north-west coast unprotected. Defensive lines in the north could deal with approaching forces, while the Mareth Line made the south secure. In between, there were only a few easily defended passes through the Atlas Mountains. Tunisia has two big deep water ports at Tunis and Bizerte, only a few hundred miles from Italian supply bases in Sicily. Ships could deliver supplies at night, safe from RAF patrols and return the next night, while Libya was a full-day trip, making supply operations vulnerable to daylight air attacks. In Adolf Hitler's view, Tunisia could be held indefinitely, upsetting Allied plans in Europe.
The French governor in Tunisia, Admiral Esteva, was afraid to support the Allies or oppose the Axis. He did not close airfields to either side; the Germans moved first and by 9 November, there were reports of 40 German aircraft arriving at Tunis and by 10 November, aerial reconnaissance reported 100 aircraft.Playfair, p. 152. Two days later, an airlift began that carried over 15,000 men and of supplies and ships brought 176 tanks, 131 artillery pieces, 1,152 vehicles and of supplies. By the end of the month, three German divisions, including the 10th Panzer Division, and two Italian infantry divisions had arrived. Walther Nehring took command of the new XC Corps on 12 November and arrived on 17 November. The French military commander in Tunisia, General Barré, moved troops into the western mountains of Tunisia and formed a defensive line from Tebersouk through Majaz al Bab (Medjez el Bab).Watson (2007), p. 60
There were two roads eastwards into Tunisia from Algeria. The Allied plan was to advance along the two roads and take Bizerte and Tunis. On 11 November, the British 36th Infantry Brigade had landed unopposed at Bougie but supply shortages delayed their arrival at Djedjelli until 13 November. Bône airfield was occupied following a parachute drop by British 3rd Parachute Battalion and this was followed by No. 6 Commando seizing the port on 12 November. Advanced guards of the 36th Infantry Brigade reached Tebarka on 15 November and Djebel Abiod on 18 November, where they met Axis forces. Further south, on 15 November, a US parachute battalion made an unopposed drop at Youks-les-Bains, capturing the airfield and advanced to take the airfield at Gafsa on 17 November.
On 19 November Nehring demanded passage for his forces across the bridge at Medjez and was refused by Barré. The Germans attacked twice and were repulsed, but the French defensive success was costly, and lacking armour and artillery, the French had to withdraw. Some Vichy French forces, such as Barré's, joined the Allies. But the attitude of Vichy forces remained uncertain until on 22 November, when the "Darlan Deal" placed French North Africa on the Allied side. This allowed US and British forces that had been securing Algeria to go to the front. By this time, the Axis had deployed a corps in Tunisia and outnumbered the Allies there in almost all ways.
Two Allied brigade groups advanced toward Djebel Abiod and Béja respectively. The Luftwaffe, happy to have local air superiority while Allied planes had to fly from relatively distant bases in Algeria, harassed them all the way.Ford (1999), p. 17 On 17 November, the same day Nehring arrived, the leading elements of the British 36th Brigade on the northern road met a mixed force of 17 tanks and 400 paratroops with self-propelled guns at Djebel Abiod. The Fallschirmjaeger, with Luftwaffe and Italian fire support from the 1st Infantry Division "Superga", knocked out 11 tanks but their advance was halted while the fight at Djebel Abiod continued for nine days.Ford (1999), pp. 19–22 On 22 November, tanks from the Italian L Special Brigade forced US paratroopers to abandon Gafsa. The two Allied columns concentrated at Djebel Abiod and Béja, preparing for an assault on 24 November. The 36th Brigade was to advance from Djebel Abiod toward Mateur and 11th Brigade was to move down the valley of the River Merjerda to take Majaz al Bab (shown on Allied maps as Medjez el Bab or just 'Medjez') and then to Tebourba, Djedeida and Tunis. Blade Force, an armoured regimental group made up of 37 mm gun M3 Stuart light tanks and 75 mm M3 GMC self-propelled anti-tank guns, was to strike across country on minor roads in the gap between the two infantry brigades towards Sidi Nsir and make flanking attacks on Tebourba and Djedeida.Ford (1999), p. 23
The northern attack did not take place because torrential rain had slowed the build-up. In the south 11th Brigade were halted by stiff resistance at Medjez. Blade Force passed through Sidi Nsir to reach the Chouigui Pass, north of Tebourba part of B Squadron Stuart's from Blade Force infiltrated behind Axis lines to the newly activated airbase at Djedeida in the afternoon and destroyed more than 20 Axis planes but lacking infantry support, withdrew to Chouigui. The understrength tank Squadrons and three M3 GMC French 75s were to hold the pass. A mixed unit of Panzer III and and a small Italian scouting Force, around 15 tanks all told. Frontal attacks by the GMCs and Stuarts were ineffective losing 12 tanks, but allowed a rear attack by B Squadron firing into the weaker rear armour of the German tanks. The German commander, believing he had encountered a much stronger force, retreated.Ford (1999), pp. 23–25 Blade Force's attack caught Nehring by surprise and he decided to withdraw from Medjez and strengthen Djedeida, only from Tunis.Ford (1999), p.25 The 36th Brigade's delayed attack began on 26 November but they were ambushed with the leading battalion taking 149 casualties.Ford (1999), p.28 Further attacks were driven back from cleverly planned interlocking defences. 1 Commando landed west of Bizerte on 30 November to outflank the Jefna position, but failed and rejoined 36th Brigade by 3 December. The position remained in German hands until the last days of fighting in Tunisia the following spring.Ford (1999), p. 40
Early on 26 November, as the Germans withdrew, 11 Brigade were able to enter Medjez unopposed and by late in the day had taken positions in and around Tebourba, which had also been evacuated by the Germans, preparatory to advancing on Djedeida. However, on 27 November the Germans attacked in strength. 11th Brigade tried to regain the initiative in the early hours of 28 November, attacking toward Djedeida airfield with the help of US armour, but failed.Ford (1999), pp. 37–38 On 29 November, Combat Command B of US 1st Armored Division had concentrated forward for an attack in conjunction with Blade Force planned for 2 December. They were forestalled by an Axis counter-attack, led by Major-General Wolfgang Fischer, whose 10th Panzer Division had just arrived in Tunisia.Watson (2007), pp. 62–63 By the evening of 2 December, Blade Force had been withdrawn, leaving 11th Brigade and Combat Command B to deal with the Axis attack. The attack threatened to cut off 11th Brigade and break through into the Allied rear, but desperate fighting over four days delayed the Axis advance and permitted a controlled withdrawal to the high ground on each side of the river west of Tebourba.Ford (1999), p. 50
The Allied force initially withdrew roughly to the high positions of Longstop Hill (Djebel el Ahmera) and Bou Aoukaz on each side of the river. Concern over the vulnerability to flanking attacks prompted a further withdrawal west. By the end of 10 December, Allied units held a defensive line just east of Medjez el Bab. Here, they started a build up for another attack and were ready by late December 1942. The slow build up had brought Allied force levels up to a total of 54,000 British, 73,800 American and 7,000 French troops. A hasty intelligence review showed about 125,000 combat and 70,000 service troops, mostly Italian, in front of them. The main attack began the afternoon of 22 December. Despite rain and insufficient air cover, progress was made up the lower ridges of the Longstop Hill that controlled the river corridor from Medjez to Tebourba and thence to Tunis. After three days of to-and-fro fighting, with ammunition running low and Axis forces now holding adjacent high ground, the Longstop position became untenable and the Allies were forced to withdraw to Medjez,Ford (1999), pp. 53–54 and by 26 December 1942 the Allies had withdrawn to the line they had set out from two weeks earlier, having suffered 20,743 casualties.
General Eisenhower transferred further units from Morocco and Algeria eastward into Tunisia. In the north, the British First Army, over the next three months, received three more British divisions, the 1st, 4th, and 46th Infantry Divisions, joining the 6th Armoured and 78th Infantry Divisions. By late March the British IX Corps HQ (Lieutenant-General John Crocker) had arrived to join the British V Corps (Lieutenant-General Charles Allfrey) in commanding the expanded army. On their right flank, the basis of a two-division French XIX Corps (General Alphonse Juin) was assembling.Playfair, pp. 258–259.
In the south was the US II Corps (Major General Lloyd Fredendall), consisting of the 1st and 34th Infantry Divisions and the 1st Armored Division (although the 34th Division was attached to the British IX Corps to the north). Giraud refused to have the French XIX Corps under the command of the British First Army and so they, along with the US II Corps, remained under command of Allied Force Headquarters (AFHQ). New forward airfields were built to improve air support. The Americans also began bases in Algeria and Tunisia, to form a large forward base at Maknassy, on the eastern edge of the Atlas Mountains, well placed to cut off the Panzerarmee in the south from Tunis and the Fifth Panzer Army in the north.
The obvious lack of Allied co-ordination led Eisenhower to change the command structure. On 21 January Anderson was made responsible for the co-ordination of the whole front, and on 24 January his responsibilities were extended to include "the employment of American troops". That night, Juin accepted the command of Anderson, confirmed by Giraud the next day but with forces spread over a front and poor communication (Anderson motored over in four days to speak to the corps commanders) the practical difficulties remained. Eisenhower appointed an air support commander, Brigadier General Laurence S. Kuter, for the whole front on 21 January.
Erwin Rommel had made plans for forces retreating through Libya to dig-in in front of the defunct French fortifications of the Mareth Line. The Axis forces would control the two natural entrances into Tunisia in the north and south, with only the easily defensible mountain passes between them. In January, those parts of the German-Italian Panzer Army on the Mareth defences were renamed First Italian Army (General Giovanni Messe), separate from the units (including the remains of the Afrika Korps) he had facing the Western Dorsale. On 23 January 1943, the Eighth Army took Tripoli, by which point the army retreating through Libya was already well on its way to the Mareth position. Part of the II US Corps crossed into Tunisia through passes in the Atlas Mountains from Algeria, controlling the interior of the triangle formed by the mountains. Their position raised the possibility of a thrust eastwards towards Sfax on the coast, to cut off the First Italian Army at Mareth from Arnim's forces to the north around Tunis. Rommel could not allow this and formed a plan for a spoiling attack.
In Operation Frühlingswind ("spring wind"), Arnim ordered four armoured battle groups forward on 14 February in the area of Sidi Bou Zid held by 34th Infantry Division's 168th Regimental Combat Team and 1st Armored Division's Combat Command A. The defenders' dispositions were poor, with concentrations dispersed so that they were unable to be mutually supportive. By 15 February, CCA had been severely damaged leaving the infantry units isolated on hilltops. Combat Command C was ordered across country to relieve Sidi Bou Zid but were repelled with heavy losses. By the evening of 15 February, three of the Axis battlegroups were able to head toward Sbeitla, to the northwest.Watson (2007), p.77 Pushing aside the remains of CCA and CCC, the battlegroups were confronted by Combat Command B in front of Sbeitla. With the help of air support, CCB held on through the day. However, the air support could not be sustained and the defenders of Sbeitla were obliged to withdraw and the town lay empty by midday on 17 February.
To the south, in Operation Morgenluft ("morning air"), an Italian First Army battlegroup made up of the remains of the Afrika Korps under Karl Bülowius had advanced toward Gafsa at dusk on 15 February to find the town deserted, part of a withdrawal to shorten the Allied front to facilitate a reorganisation involving the withdrawal of French XIX Corps in order to re-equip. II US Corps withdrew to the line of Dernaia-Kasserine-Gap-Sbiba with XIX Corps on their left flank vacating the Eastern Dorsal to conform with them. By the afternoon of 17 February, Rommel's troops had occupied Feriana and Thelepte (roughly southwest of Kasserine) forcing the evacuation on the morning of 18 February of Thelepte airfield, the main air base in British First Army's southern sector.Playfair, p. 294
On 19 February 1943, Rommel, having now been given formal control of the 10th and 21st Panzer Divisions, the Afrika Korps battlegroup as well as General Messe's forces on the Mareth defences (renamed Italian First Army),Watson (2007), p. 82 launched what would become the Battle of Kasserine Pass. Hoping to take the inexperienced defenders by surprise, he sent the light armour of the 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion racing into the pass. Colonel Alexander Stark's Stark Force, a brigade group made up of US and French units, was responsible for the defence of the pass. It had not had time to organise properly but was able to direct heavy artillery fire from the surrounding heights which brought the leading mechanised units of the Afrika Korps batlegroup to a halt.Watson (2007), p. 84 Before they could continue, infantry had to be sent up into the high ground seeking to eliminate the artillery threat. A battlegroup under Hans-Georg Hildebrand including tanks from 21st Panzer were advancing north from Sbeitla toward the Sbiba Gap. In front of the hills east of Sbiba they were brought to a halt by 1st Guards Brigade and 18th Regimental Combat Team which had strong field and anti-tank artillery support and were joined by two infantry regiments from 34th Infantry Division.Watson (2007), pp. 86–87
By the morning of 20 February, the bitter hand-to-hand fighting in the hills above Kasserine was continuing while the Afrika Korps Kampfgruppe and a battalion from the 131st Armoured Division "Centauro" and more artillery, prepared for another attack through the pass, once it had been joined by a 10th Panzer Division battle group from Sbeitla. The morning attack made slow progress but the intense pressure applied during the renewed attack that afternoon triggered a collapse in the Allied defences.Watson (2007), pp. 89–93
Having rolled through the Kasserine Pass on the afternoon of 20 February, units of the Centauro Division headed west toward Tébessa, meeting little or no resistance. Following them came the von Broich battlegroup from 10th Panzer, which forked right onto the road to Thala where they were slowed by a regimental armoured group from 26th Armoured Brigade ( Gore Force). Their tanks outgunned, Gore Force sustained heavy losses but bought time for Nick Force, a composite force from British 6th Armoured Division with tanks from the 2nd Lothians and Border Horse of the 26th Armoured Brigade with extra infantry and artillery (which Anderson had ordered the previous day to leave the Kesra area to bolster the Thala defences) to prepare defensive positions further up the road. Meanwhile, Fredendall had sent 1st Armored Division's CCB to meet the threat to Tébessa.Watson (2007), p. 102
By 1pm on 21 February, Battlegroup von Broich was in contact with the dug-in tanks of B Squadron 2nd Lothians and Border Horse of the 26th Armoured Brigade on the Thala road and making slow progress. Rommel took direct control of the attack and forced the defences by 4pm.Watson (2007), p. 103 However, 26th Armoured Brigade were able to withdraw in reasonable order to the next, final, defensive line in front of Thala. Fighting at this position started at 7pm and continued at close quarters for three hours with neither side able to gain a decisive advantage. Nick Force had taken a heavy beating and did not expect to be able to hold out the next day. However, during the night a further 48 artillery pieces from US 9th Infantry Division arrived after a trip from Morocco on poor roads and in bad weather. On the morning of 22 February, as Broich prepared to launch his attack, his front was hit by a devastating artillery barrage. Rommel told Broich to regroup and assume a defensive posture, so surrendering the initiative.Watson (2007), p. 104
The 21st Panzer battlegroup at Sbiba was making no progress. Further south, the Afrika Korps battlegroup on the road to Tébessa had been halted on 21 February by CCB's armour and artillery dug in on the slopes of Djebel Hamra.Watson (2007), p. 105 An attempt to outflank them during the night of 21 February was a costly failure. A further attack early on 23 February was again beaten back.Watson (2007), pp. 106–107 In a dispirited meeting on 22 February with Kesselring, Rommel argued that faced with stiffening defences and the news that the Eighth Army's lead elements had finally reached Medenine, only a few kilometres from the Mareth Line, he should call off the attack and withdraw to support the Mareth defences, hoping that the Kasserine attack had caused enough damage to deter any offensive action from the west. Kesselring was keen for the offensive to continue but finally agreed that evening, and Comando Supremo formally terminated the operation.Watson (2007), pp. 109–110 The Axis forces from Kasserine reached the Mareth line on 25 February.
At the Casablanca Conference, it had been decided to appoint General Sir Harold Alexander as Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Allied forces in French North Africa. This came into effect on 20 February and at the same time, in order better to co-ordinate the activities of his two armies in Tunisia, Eisenhower at AFHQ brought First and Eighth Armies under a new headquarters, 18th Army Group, which Alexander was to command.Playfair, p. 303 Shortly after taking up his new appointment, Alexander reported to London,
and was critical of Anderson although this was later felt to be a little unfair. Once he had been given control of the whole front at the end of January, Anderson's aim had been to reorganise the front into consolidated national sectors and create reserves with which to regain the initiative, the same priorities articulated in Alexander's orders dated 20 February.Playfair, p. 305. On 21 February, Alexander declared his objective to destroy all enemy forces in Tunisia by first advancing Eighth Army north of Gabès, while the First Army mounted attacks to draw off reserves which would otherwise be used against the Eighth Army. The armies would gain airfields for the Allied air forces. The co-ordinated land, sea and air power of the Allies would draw a net round the Axis forces in Tunisia by 30 April, to meet the timetable set at the Casablanca Conference to allow Sicily to be invaded during the favourable weather of August.Playfair, pp. 315–316
The Casablanca Conference had agreed to reorganise the air forces in the Mediterranean to integrate them more closely; Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder was made commander of Mediterranean Air Command, responsible for all Allied air activity in the Mediterranean and Major General Carl Spaatz became commander of the Northwest African Air Forces under Tedder, with responsibility for all air operations in Tunisia.Playfair, p. 271 By 23 February, Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham had succeeded Kuter at the Allied Air Support Command, which became Northwest African Tactical Air Force under Spaatz, with the Desert Air Force supporting Eighth Army, under its operational control.
Coningham found that the air organisation in Tunisia was that of the Western Desert in 1941 when he had first assumed command of the Desert Air Force. The lessons of the Desert Campaign had not been used in planning for Torch, which constrained the ability of the air arm, already short of aircraft and supplies, to provide tactical support to the army during the Run for Tunis. Coningham unified the British and American operational commands and trained them in new operational practices.Playfair, pp. 307–311
The Axis also created a combined command for their two armies. Hitler and the German General Staff (OKH) believed that Arnim should assume command but Kesselring argued for Rommel. Rommel was appointed to command the new Army Group Africa on 23 February.Watson (2007), pp. 110–111
On 26 March, X Corps (Lieutenant-General Brian Horrocks) drove around the Matmata Hills, capturing the Tebaga Gap and the town of El Hamma at the northern extreme of the line in "Operation Supercharge II", making the Mareth Line untenable. The following day anti-tank guns from German and Italian units checked the advance of X Corps, to gain time for a withdrawal. In the next 48 hours the Axis defenders pulled out of the Mareth Line, establishing a new defensive position to the north-west at Wadi Akarit near Gabès.
The aim of Operation Ausladung ("Outward thrust") was to gain control of the vital town of Djebel Abiod. This attack by the Manteuffel Division made good progress across the French-held, lightly defended hills between Cap Serrat and the railway town of Sedjenane. Costly counter-attacks on February 27 and 2 March by part of the 139th Infantry Brigade, 46th Infantry Division, No. 1 Commando and supporting artillery delayed the Axis advance. Withdrawals of French battalions in the Medjez area to join XIX Corps, left little opposition to the German occupation of the high ground dominating the town, which was left in a dangerous salient. As a result, Sedjenane was abandoned by the British on 4 March and the 139th Infantry Brigade was pushed slowly back over the next three weeks some toward Djebel Abiod.
Fighting lasted until 5 March and in terrible weather conditions the operation was called off by Arnim.Watson p 113 The failure had cost the Axis grievous losses in infantry as well as tanks, particularly the loss of many of the heavy Tiger Tanks. Ochsenkopf was to be the last major Axis offensive by the 5th Panzer Army.Windrow p 23 On 25 March, Alexander ordered a counter-attack on the V Corps front and on 28 March, Anderson attacked with the 46th Infantry Division, with the 138th Infantry Brigade, 128th Infantry Brigade in reserve and reinforced by the 36th Infantry Brigade, 1st Parachute Brigade and French units including a tabor of specialist mountain , the artillery of two divisions plus more from army resources. In four days, it succeeded in recapturing all lost ground and took 850 German and Italian prisoners. On 7 April, Anderson tasked the 78th Infantry Division with clearing the Béja-Medjez road. Supported by artillery and close air support, they methodically advanced through difficult mountain terrain over the next ten days, clearing a front wide. The 4th Infantry Division joined the fighting, taking position on the left of the 78th Division and pushing toward Sidi Nsir.
Alexander planned that while II US Corps would attack on the north towards Bizerte, First Army would attack towards Tunis while Eighth Army attacked north from Enfidaville. Anderson would co-ordinate the actions of First Army and II US Corps, issuing the appropriate orders to achieve this. Anderson's plan was for the main attack to be in the centre of the V Corps front at Medjez, confronting main Axis defences. However, IX Corps on the right would first attack north-east with, by speed of movement, the intention of getting in behind the Medjez position and disrupting their armoured reserves. II US Corps would make a double thrust: one to capture the high ground on V Corps' left flank and a second toward Bizerte. French XIX Corps would be held back until IX Corps and Eighth Army had drawn in the opposition and then advance toward Pont du Fahs.
On the morning of 22 April, the 46th Division attacked on the IX Corps front, creating a gap for the 6th Armoured Division to pass through by nightfall, followed by 1st Armoured Division, striking east for the next two days but not quick enough to forestall the creation of a strong anti-tank screen which halted their progress. The battle had drawn the Axis reserves of armour south, away from the central front. Seeing that no further progress was likely, Anderson withdrew the 6th Armoured Division and most of the 46th Infantry Division into army reserve. The V Corps attack began on the evening of 22 April and the US II Corps launched their offensive in the early hours of 23 April in the Battle of Hill 609, in which the hill was captured, which opened the way to Bizerte. In grim hand-to hand fighting against the Hermann Göring Division, 334th Infantry and 15th Panzer Divisions, it took V Corps with the 1st, 4th and 78th Infantry Divisions, supported by army tanks and heavy artillery concentrations, eight days to penetrate and capture most of the Axis defensive positions.
The fighting was mutually costly but in the Battle of Longstop Hill, Longstop was captured, which opened the way to Tunis and Anderson felt a breakthrough was imminent. On 30 April, after a failed attempt by the 169th Infantry Brigade of the recently arrived 56th (London) Infantry Division, which had just arrived over 3,300 miles from Syria, it had become clear to both Montgomery and Alexander that an Eighth Army attack north from Enfidaville, into strongly-held and difficult terrain, would not succeed. General Alexander gave Montgomery a holding task and transferred the British 7th Armoured Division, the 4th Indian Infantry Division and the 201st Guards Motor Brigade from the Eighth Army to the First Army, joining the British 1st Armoured Division which had been transferred before the main offensive.Mead, p. 44
The redeployments were complete by the night of 5 May; Anderson had arranged for a dummy concentration of tanks near Bou Arada on the IX Corps front, to deflect attention from the arrival of the 7th Armoured Division in the Medjez sector and achieved a considerable measure of surprise as to the size of the armoured force when the attack began. The final assault was launched at 3:30 a.m. on 6 May by IX Corps, commanded by Lieutenant-General Brian Horrocks who had taken over from Lieutenant-General John Crocker, who had been wounded. V Corps, under Lieutenant-General Charles Walter Allfrey, had made a preliminary attack on 5 May, to capture high ground and secure the left flank of IX Corps. The 4th British and 4th Indian Divisions, concentrated on a narrow front and supported by heavy artillery concentrations, broke a hole in the defences for the 6th and 7th Armoured divisions to pass through. On 7 May, British armour entered Tunis and American infantry from II Corps, which had continued its advance in the north, entered Bizerte.
The Abwicklungsstab Tunis, responsible for administratively and logistically managing German losses after the capitulation in North Africa, nevertheless reported in September 1944 that 25,000 troops had allegedly been evacuated.Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv, Abwicklungsstab Tunis Report, BA‑MA RH 6/565, 30 September 1944; summarized at WW2Stats.com – German Casualty Variants, Abwicklungsstab Tunis.
The situation in April and May 1943 was confusing. Transport missions from Sicily to Tunisia (by ship and air) usually returned loaded with wounded and sometimes unwounded troops. How desperate the situation had become is illustrated by the events of the evening of 18 April: only six transports made it back to Sicily out of 65 that had left Tunis. Flying at sea level, half of them were shot down and the remainder turned back damaged.John Weal, Jagdgeschwader 27 “Afrika”, Aviation Elite Units, Vol. 12 (London: Osprey Publishing, 2003), p. 72.
Yet the Germans and Italians continued, with all remaining aircraft and ships, to desperately evacuate troops. On 7 May 1943, the Italian hospital ships SS Aquileia and Virgilio managed to transport several hundred wounded troops to Trapani in Sardinia, despite Allied attacks. Kriegstagebuch der Seekriegsleitung, May 1943; see also: SS Aquileia, Wikipedia. After 7 May, any further evacuation was virtually impossible.
Despite the impossibility of larger operations, the Germans nevertheless managed to fly several senior officers out of the pocket. At the end of April and in early May, some fell ill and were sent out of Tunisia, thus escaping capture. These included Weber (334th Division), von Manteuffel (Manteuffel Division), and Fritz Bayerlein, Giovanni Messe’s German Chief of Staff. They were replaced by Major-General Krause, Major-General Buelowius, and Oberst Markert, respectively. Gause was summoned to a conference in Italy on 4 May, and Schmid (Hermann Göring Division) was ordered by Göring himself to fly out on 9 May.I. S. O. Playfair et al., The Mediterranean and Middle East, Vol. IV: The Destruction of the Axis Forces in Africa (London: HMSO, 1966), pp. 444–445.
As for Italian officers, only Umberto Sozzani and Calvi di Bergolo are known to have been evacuated.
British and Commonwealth forces reported 150,000 Axis POWs taken in the German-held sector from 5 May – 12 June. Major-General Count Theodor von Sponeck, commander of the 90th Light Division, had surrendered unconditionally to the 2nd New Zealand Division, after threatening to fight till the last round. Arnim surrendered to the Royal Sussex Regiment., The War Illustrated, June 11, 1943. Messe, commander of the 1st Army, held the line north of Takrouna and on 12 May, cabled Comando Supremo vowing to fight on; at 7:55 p.m. that evening, after the German collapse, Mussolini ordered Messe to surrender. Next day, the 1st Army was still holding opposite Enfidaville but the remaining 80,000 men were surrounded; the RAF and artillery continued their bombardment and around noon, the 1st Army surrendered to the Eighth Army. Messe along with Kurt Freiherr von Liebenstein formally surrendered to British and New Zealand forces under General Bernard Freyberg.
In 1995 American historian Williamson Murray was more critical:
The Axis gamble failed, and at the cost of heavy losses in men and materiel had only slowed the inevitable. The Allied gains were considerable; control of the North African littoral, and the Mediterranean open to traffic. Even the US defeat at Kasserine may have been paradoxically advantageous; Rommel and the Axis were lulled into a false impression of US capabilities, while the Americans learned valuable lessons, and made positive changes in their command structure and tactics.Westrate (1944), pp. 91–92 With North Africa in Allied hands, plans quickly turned to the invasion of Sicily and Italy. Joseph Goebbels wrote that it was on the same scale as the defeat in the Battle of Stalingrad; Tunisgrad was coined for the defeat. The historian Gerhard Schreiber writes that "it seems no exaggeration to say that—in purely quantitative terms—Tunisia was a second Stalingrad for the invaders".
A Victory March was held in Tunis on May 20, 1943, in which units of the First and Eighth Armies and representative detachments of the American and French forces marched past, with bands playing and generals Eisenhower, Alexander and Giraud taking the salute.
From 22 to 30 November 1942, the RAF flew 1,710 sorties and lost at least 45 aircraft. The USAAF flew 180 sorties and lost at least 7 aeroplanes. From 1 to 12 December, the RAF flew 2,225 sorties and lost a minimum of 37 aircraft. The USAAF flew 523 sorties and lost another 17 aircraft. From 13 to 26 December, the RAF flew 1,940 sorties for a loss of at least 20 aeroplanes while the USAAF conducted 720 sorties for a loss of 16 aircraft. From 27 December 1942 to 17 January 1943 the RAF flew 3,160 sorties and lost 38 aircraft while the USAAF flew an estimated 3,200 sorties and lost 36 aeroplanes. From 18 January to 13 February the RAF flew 5,000 sorties, excluding those against shipping, for the loss of 34 aircraft while the USAAF flew an estimated 6,250 sorties for the loss of 85. During the remainder of February to 28 March, 156 allied planes were lost. Between 29 March and 21 April, 203 Allied aircraft were destroyed. From 22 April to the end of the campaign, 45 bombers and 110 fighters were lost; 12 bombers and 47 fighters of the RAF, the USAAF losing 32 bombers and 63 fighters, while the French lost 1 bomber.
According to a final administrative report by the Abwicklungsstab Group B (Tunis), dated 30 September 1944, specifically regarding the German forces in Tunisia, 95,943 German soldiers were registered as prisoners of war, along with 3,238 dead, 3,293 missing, 2,435 still unclarified cases, and 25,152 who returned out of a total of 130,061 German troops recorded as of 1 April 1943.
The Luftwaffe lost 2,422+ aircraft in the Mediterranean theatre from November 1942 – May 1943 (41 per cent of the Luftwaffe). At least 1,045 aircraft were destroyed; from 22 to 30 November 1942, the Luftwaffe flew 1,084 sorties losing 63 aircraft, including 21 destroyed on the ground. The Regia Aeronautica recorded the loss of four. From 1 to 12 December, the Luftwaffe flew 1,000 sorties and lost 37 aircraft, including nine on the ground, while the Italians recorded the loss of ten more. From 13 to 26 December, the Luftwaffe flew 1,030 sorties and lost 17 aircraft, while the Italians lost three. From 27 December 1942 to 17 January 1943, the Luftwaffe lost 47 aeroplanes; Regia Aeronautica losses are unknown. From 18 January to 13 February, the Luftwaffe lost another 100 aircraft but Italian losses are unknown. From 14 February to 28 March, 136 German aeroplanes were lost and the Regia Aeronautica lost 22 more. From 29 March to 21 April, 270 Luftwaffe aeroplanes were destroyed and 46 "operational aircraft and almost their entire remaining air transport fleet" was lost. From 22 April until the end, the Luftwaffe lost 273 aircraft; 42 bombers, 166 fighters, 52 transport aircraft, 13 Storch observation aircraft and the Italians recorded the loss of 17 aeroplanes; 600+ aircraft were captured by the Allies.
/ref>
See also
Notes
Footnotes
Citations
Charles R. Anderson (1993). 9780160381065, United States Army Center of Military History. . ISBN 9780160381065
David Glantz (1995). 070060717X, University Press of Kansas. 070060717X
E. R. Hooton (1999). 186019995X, Arms & Armour Press. 186019995X
(2025). 9781845740689, Naval & Military Press. ISBN 9781845740689
(2025). 9781780225265, Hachette. ISBN 9781780225265
(2025). 9781853674457, Greenhill Books. ISBN 9781853674457
External links
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