Tunisian campaign
Overview of the campaign
| date | November 1942 to May 13, 1943 |
|---|---|
| place | Tunisia |
| output | Allied victory |
| consequences | Axis troops surrender in Africa |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
|
|
|
| Troop strength | |
 1st Army 8th Army
|
 1st Italian Army 5th Panzer Army.svg){kind=small}
|
| losses | |
|
76 020 dead and wounded |
238 243 dead, wounded and prisoners |
.svg){kind=small}
The Tunisian campaign in North Africa was a military conflict during World War II between Allied and German-Italian troops (November 1942 - May 1943). The campaign ended with the surrender of nearly 250,000 German and Italian soldiers near Tunis . In allusion to the defeat of the Wehrmacht in the Battle of Stalingrad at the end of January 1943, it was secretly referred to by many Germans as Tunisgrad .
background
After the decisive defeat of the Axis Powers at El Alamein (November 1942) and the landing of Allied troops in Morocco and Algeria ( Operation Torch ), the German and Italian armies of the Armored Army Africa withdrew from Libya to Tunisia, where both the Anglo-American armies were defeated Advance from the west and the British 8th Army advancing from Libya from the east to get in the way of General Montgomery .
course
Initial phase
In November 1942, several German and Italian divisions were moved from France and Italy to Tunisia, where they were combined in the 5th Panzer Army under the command of General Hans-Jürgen von Arnim . From the end of November to December 1942 they were engaged in defensive battles in northwestern Tunisia with the allied troops approaching from the west, which after the initial successes of the attackers initially led to the Allies withdrawing. These continued to build up their forces in the west and at the turn of the year brought them together under the command of the British 1st Army under General Kenneth Anderson , which later grew to a total of four corps (two British, one American and one French).
On January 23, British units occupied Tripoli . At the beginning of February 1943, the Italian 1st Army (formerly Panzer Army Africa) under General Giovanni Messe, retreating from the British 8th Army, occupied the southern part of Tunisia together with the German Africa Corps, and in particular the Mareth Line on the Tunisian- Libyan border . France had greatly expanded this line between 1936 and 1940 in order to protect its colony of French North Africa from the Italian colonial power in Italian Libya . On February 23, 1943, Rommel became Commander-in-Chief of Army Group Africa (which consisted of the two armies mentioned).
Kasserine Pass
When the British 8th Army temporarily halted its advance on the Mareth Line due to supply problems, Rommel immediately attacked the Allied attackers in the west. According to Rommel's plans, the attack was to be carried out at the interface between British and American units, with the aim of advancing over the Kasserine Pass to Tebessa , in order to then encompass the Allied units on the Algerian plain that threatened the 5th Panzer Army of Arnims . The 5th Panzer Army was supposed to advance in the direction of Sidi Bouzid and Bir El Hafey ("Operation Spring Wind"), the German-Italian Panzer Army on Gafsa ("Operation Morning Air").
On February 14th, the 10th and 21st Panzer Divisions attacked Sidi Bouzid and destroyed about 50 American tanks within a few hours. A counterattack by the American 1st Panzer Division failed the following day on German 88-mm anti-aircraft guns and tank units, with around 100 more US tanks being destroyed and 1,400 Americans taken prisoner. On February 20, units of the 10th Panzer Division and the combat group German Africa Corps as well as Italian Bersaglieri took the Kasserine Pass after heavy fighting. However, the inadequate meshing of Rommel's and von Arnim's attacks gave the Allies the opportunity to recover from the setbacks at the Kasserine Pass and to launch a counterattack with reinforcements. In this situation Rommel had to withdraw in order to avoid total annihilation. On February 25, the Allies recaptured the pass. In these battles the Allies lost over 10,000 men (6,500 of them the II. US Corps). In contrast, Germans and Italians lost only around 2,000 men.
Medenine and Mareth
After the fighting at the Kasserine Pass, Rommel focused again on the Mareth Line . At the beginning of March 1943, four German divisions ( 90th and 164th light Africa division , 15th and 21st Panzer division, plus the Ramcke paratrooper brigade ) and five Italian divisions stood on this 35 kilometer long defense line between the Matmata heights and the sea ( Armored division “Centauro” , motorized division “Trieste” , infantry divisions “Pistoia” and “La Spezia” , division “Giovani Fascisti” ). With the "Operation Capri" the forces of the British XXX. Corps between Medenine and the Mareth Line would be destroyed before X Corps arrived. However, thanks to Ultra, these plans were well known to the British .
On March 4, Rommel proposed in a detailed radio message to Hitler that the front line should be drastically shortened and that a small bridgehead should be withdrawn around Tunis.
In the early morning of March 6th, three German tank divisions attacked the British positions. The planned advance on Medenine failed because of the 400 tanks and 500 anti-tank guns concentrated here by the British. After eleven hours, Rommel had lost 50 of his 150 tanks and stopped the attack. A few days later, a card was found on a captured British sergeant on which the planned German attack was precisely marked (date: March 4th; the British had cracked the Enigma encryption machine ). Rommel no longer believed in the possibility of victory.
On March 7th Rommel received from the Fuehrer's headquarters the categorical rejection of his proposal of March 4th; Hitler expressed himself angry. Rommel then decided to start his cure now . On March 9th, Rommel flew from Sfax to Germany (he never re-entered Africa). Rommel spoke to Hitler in 'clear text' with Hitler at the Fuehrer's headquarters (which not many of the generals dared to do at the time, among other things because Hitler 'dressed down' and yelled at them in front of third parties).
On March 9th, Hans-Jürgen von Arnim was appointed Commander-in-Chief of Army Group Africa.
On March 15, the Italian 1st Army (Mass) stood on the Mareth Line in the following configuration:
- XX. Corps (Gen. Orlando)
- Black Shirt Division "Giovani Fascisti" (Gen. Sozzani)
- motorized division "Trieste" (Gen. La Ferla)
- 90th Light Division (Gen. Sponeck)
- XXI. Corps (Gen. Berardi)
- Infantry Division "La Spezia" (Gen. Pizzolato)
- Infantry Division "Pistoia" (Gen. Falugi)
- 164th light division (Gen. Liebenstein)
- Sahara Association (Gen. Mannerini)
The Centauro armored division ( Gen. Calvi di Bergolo ) was in the Gafsa area .
Montgomery's 8th Army consisted of the following units:
- XXX. Corps (including 50th Division)
- X Corps (1st and 7th Panzer Divisions)
- New Zealand Corps
- 8th tank brigade
- French Federation of Major General Leclerc
In the south-west stood the 2nd US Corps of General George Patton , which was to advance on Gafsa.
On March 16, the Allies attacked both in the south and in the west. The units of the British 8th Army attempted a breakthrough on the Mareth Line at Wadi Zig-Zaou. Although 620 British tanks were used against only 91 Italian tanks, the attack by British XXX failed. Corps at the tough Italian resistance. The advance of Patton's II Corps also stuck to the Italian armored division “Centauro” for twelve days, which was almost completely wiped out in these fighting. An Allied attempt (New Zealand, French and American units) to separate the Italian 1st Army from the 5th Panzer Army failed at El Hamma with heavy losses.
The British did not take the Mareth Line until March 26, 1943 after the British X. Corps under Brian Horrocks had bypassed the Matmata Heights in the back of the Mareth Line and v. Arnim and Messe therefore decided to take their associations back to the Akarit Line (15 km north of Gabès ). The withdrawal took place under heavy Allied bombing. Several thousand Italians were taken prisoner because they were left without means of transport.
Akarite
The Allied attack on the German-Italian positions near Wadi Akarit began on the night of April 5 to 6, 1943 with massive artillery preparation. Then Montgomery attacked with 500 tanks, which were only faced with about 20 tanks of the 15th Panzer Division. The heavy fighting at Akarit ended after enormous losses on both sides after just one day. Then the Italian 1st Army withdrew to the Enfidaville-Mansour line 250 km north.
Enfidaville
This German-Italian withdrawal was completed on April 13th. The units (divisions were now only the strength of brigades or regiments) stood along the hills north of Enfidaville, of which the Garci and the Takrouna were of particular importance. At this point in time, the 1st Army was composed as follows:
- XX. corps
- 90th Light Division
- "Giovani Fascisti" division
- Division "Trieste"
- XXI. corps
- "Pistoia" division
- 164th Light Division
The 15th Panzer Division with its remaining 15 tanks was kept in reserve along with the remnants of the Centauro Panzer Division.
The fighting at Enfidaville began again on April 19 with massive artillery preparation. On the Takrouna, the 1st Battalion of the 66th Italian Infantry Regiment "Trieste", together with units of the German 47th Panzer Grenadier Regiment, fought off several attacks by far superior Allied units. Only after days of costly fighting did the Allies manage to take this strategically important hill. At the time, British radio justified the heavy losses by stating that Italy had deployed its best soldiers on the Takrouna. On April 22nd and April 27th and 29th, Allied attacks on the coast on the divisions "Giovani Fascisti" and "Trieste" failed, on the Gerbi on the division "Pistoia".
Massicault
" Sir, I dutifully report that the campaign in Tunisia has ended. All enemy resistance has ceased. We are the masters of the North African coasts. "
" The question that was discussed in the world a few weeks ago as to whether the campaign in Tunisia would end in a Dunkirk or a Stalingrad is now out of date "
In the northwest, the British 1st Army began attacking on April 22nd. South of Goubellat attacked the IX. Corps with two armored divisions and one infantry division, further north the V Corps with two divisions. These associations tried in vain for five days to advance along the Medjerda River towards Massicault. At the same time, the Allies conquered other positions that proved to be very important in later battles. South of the British sector, the French XIX. Corps the Mt. Fkirine, a little further north the 2nd Corps worked its way up to Mateur from April 23rd. The far superior Americans gradually forced the German units to withdraw. The decisive attack took place on May 6th. The IX. Corps carried the main burden along the Medjez-Tunis road. On May 6th, the Allied air forces flew 2,500 sorties, while the heavily weakened Axis air forces made only 60 sorties. After the two armored divisions of the IX. Corps had reached Massicault, they advanced immediately in the direction of Tunis, in order to then unite from the north with American forces, which had also broken through in their sector on May 7th and, among other things, had conquered Bizerta. As a result of these operations, three German divisions were encircled and surrendered on May 9th.
After the allied associations had taken Tunis and Bizerta , Italians and Germans could only hold onto Cap Bon and Enfidaville. Enfidaville was also attacked from the north on May 9th.
On May 12, 1943, the remnants of the 5th Panzer Army surrendered. On May 13, 1943 at 12:30 p.m., the last major unit to capitulate was the Italian 1st Army under its Commander-in-Chief Field Marshal Giovanni Messe . Like von Arnim, he went into Allied captivity.
Only after this surrender did the German public find out that Rommel had already left Africa in March and received (on March 11) the diamonds for the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords for his service in Africa . Rommel was the first soldier of the army , which this until the war ended only 27 times his award was given.
Evaluation and outlook
The American historian Williamson Murray calls Hitler's decision (against Rommel's wishes) not to evacuate Tunisia at a feasible time as one of his worst military mistakes. As with the Battle of Stalingrad , many of the Wehrmacht's best troops were placed in an untenable position. Even the first models of the new Tiger tanks were brought to Tunisia. Cut off from the European continent, encircled by the materially and personally superior Allies, there was no escape from this situation for the Axis Powers, as the Allies were able to achieve air and sea supremacy off the Tunisian coast. As in Stalingrad, the German Air Force suffered enormous losses in the impracticable attempt to supply Army Group Africa with supplies via an airlift (e.g. with Messerschmitt Me-323 transport aircraft). The historian David M. Glantz estimates the losses of the Axis Powers during the Tunisian campaign between November 1942 and May 1943 as 1045 aircraft shot down and around 600 captured by the Allies. Joseph Goebbels wrote that the Tunis defeat was on the same scale as that of Stalingrad. In the 3rd Reich, in turn, the population spoke of a “2nd Reich. Stalingrad ”or, in the appropriate context, from“ Tunisgrad ”. The European continent, however, was now open to the Allies. The invasion of Sicily could begin in July 1943.
On May 20, 1943, delegations of the British 1st and British 8th as well as the US Army and the Forces françaises libres carried out a victory parade in Tunis, which was received by Generals Dwight D. Eisenhower , Alexander and Henri Giraud .
War graves in Tunisia
Allies:
- Medjez El Bab : 3,000 graves and memorial for 1,959 dead
- Massicault, near Bordj El Amri, approx. 30 km from Tunis : 1,578 graves
- Sfax : 1,254 graves
- Tabarka
- Oued Zarga: 239 graves
- Beja : 396 graves
- Thibar: 99 graves
- Enfidaville : 1,551 graves
- Carthage : 2,841 dead
German:
- Bordj Cedria : 8,562 killed
See also
literature
- George E. Howe: Northwest Africa: Seizing the Initiative in the West , Office of the Chief of Military History, Washington 1957
Individual evidence
- ↑ Alexander Lüdeke: The Second World War. Causes, outbreak, course, consequences. Berlin 2007, p. 105.
- ↑ page 407
- ↑ Guido Knopp : Hitler's warriors . Look into the book
