the British Eighth and the Anglo-American First, entrapped two Axis armies–world history and facts

After two and a half years of combat, the war in North Africa approached its final conclusion as two Allied armies, the British Eighth and the Anglo-American First, entrapped two Axis armies, the German Fifth and the Italian First, in Tunisia.

 Eventually, this contest would pit 19 Allied divisions against nine German and five Italian divisions.

Early in this contest, the Axis launched a series of limited counter-attacks against the Allied forces in Tunisia from the beginning of January through the first week in March. 

These were largely German affairs, although Italian forces did play minor roles in some of the undertakings. The first of these targeted French positions in the Fondouk Pass, resulting in a German consolidation of the Eastern Dorsals and the seizure of some 4,000 French prisoners.

 The Germans next moved against the American II Corps on First Army’s southern flank. During a ten-day battle culminating in the Kasserine Pass, the Germans sharply rebuked the largely untested American formation, which suffered over 6,000 casualties and lost 183 tanks, 104 half-tracks, over 200 guns and 500 vehicles. 

Immediately following this the Germans switched their attentions to the north as nine battle groups from the German Fifth Panzerarmee launched a series of attacks against British V Corps.

 During these attacks the Germans made some territorial gains and took about 2,500 prisoners, but they ultimately failed to seize their primary objectives and suffered similar heavy losses for their efforts.

 This included 2,200 German prisoners taken by V Corps from 26 February through 24 March. Finally, on 6 March Rommel launched three panzer divisions in an attack against the Eighth Army at Medenine in southern Tunisia. 

Pre-warned by Ultra intelligence, the British handily repulsed this attack in a short, sharp battle that cost Rommel some 645 casualties and 52 tanks for a British loss of 130 casualties.

By the middle of March it was the Allies turn to go onto the offensive. On the 19th Eighth Army launched a two-pronged assault against the strongly held Mareth line in southern Tunisia. 

The first of these forays was a direct assault made against the line by XXX Corps in which 50th Division breached the Axis defences, but was then bogged down due to heavy counter-attacks and poor weather/terrain conditions that prevented the arrival of adequate follow-on forces.

 With this assault stymied, General Montgomery switched his main effort to a western flanking movement by an improvised New Zealand Corps with support from X Corps. 

Launching their attack through the Tebaga Gap on the 26th, the British made steady progress that compelled the Axis to abandon the Mareth line, and on 29 March 1st Armoured Division and 2nd New Zealand Division captured El Hamma and Gabes respectively. 

Eighth Army then advanced to a second strongly held line at Wadi Akarit. On the night of 5/6 April XXX Corps, consisting of 4th Indian, 50th and 51st Highland Divisions, conducted a brilliant assault that breached this line and forced the Axis to once again retreat. 

Continuing its advance, Eighth Army captured Sfax on the 10th, thus concluding a successful series of battles that netted the British some 20,000 prisoners taken since the start of the Mareth offensive.

While this was underway, First Army also carried out a series of assaults that inflicted similar territorial and manpower losses upon the Axis. 

On 17 March US II Corps under General George Patton launched an attack that captured Gafsa and then pushed on towards the El Guettar mountain pass.

 During a three-week period these forces made additional territorial gains, repulsed two German counter-attacks and collected some 4,700 prisoners. 

Meanwhile, during concurrent operations French forces took over 1,000 prisoners between Ousseltia and Kairouan while the British 6th Armoured Division accounted for 650 prisoners, 14 tanks and 15 guns in fighting around the Fondouk Gap.

 Together, these various operations, combined with Eighth Army’s advance along the coast, forced the Axis to abandon southern Tunisia thus reducing their holdings in the contested region by about half. 

Finally, in the north the British 46th and 78th Divisions launched attacks in the Sedjenane-Cap Serrat and Béja-Medjez road areas that more than recovered all the territory lost the month before and resulted in the capture of 850 and 1,080 prisoners respectively.

In a matter of only a few months, the Allies went from being on the defensive to being firmly on the offensive. Given these results, the Axis forces found themselves trapped in an ever-shrinking enclave in Northeast Tunisia, and it would only be a matter of a few weeks before their entire position collapsed. 

Pictured here is a British 17-pounder anti-tank gun in action at Medenine in Tunisia. Keating (Capt), No 2 Army Film & Photographic Unit, Public Domain.

 For more information on this and other related topics, see Blue Water War, the Maritime Struggle in the Mediterranean and Middle East, 1940-1945.

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