Figure 1.--

"At other times our higher authorities were so widely overoptimistic that they hardly knew what to demand of us next; now, however, when a little boldness realy was required, they lacked the guts to give a whold hearted decision"

-- Erwin Rommel, Memoirs

A chain of parallel north-south running mountains mountains (called Dorsals) separates coastal Tunisia from the arid Saharan interior. A plain exists between the two mountain chains. The American Torch force moved east further south from the British,hoping to cut off the retreating Afrika Korps. The advancing American army had set up important airfields and supply dumps in the Dorsdals for a push to the coast. Rommel before Montgomery reached his Mareth position decided to attack the Americans forces. Montgomey did not closely pursur Rommel. Thus he had the opportunity to strike the Americans begore amssing his forces to face Montgmey. He ent his Panzers through the Kasserine Pass in the Tunisian Dorsals (February 14, 1943). His grandiose goal was to break through the American positions, seize needed supplies, and envelop the British in the north. Rommel planned to drive through the Kasserine Pass, then move northwest seizing an Allied supply base at Tébessa and then drive to the coast and trap the Allied units in Tunisia. It was a baptism under fire for the fledgling U.S. Army. The U.S. II Corps was commanded by Maj. Gen. Lloyd R. Fredendall. Poor coordination and outright animosity between Von Arnem in the north and Rommel in the south weakened the Axis position. Rommel and Von Arnem differed on how to strile at theAlles in the Dorsals. Von Arnem favored a more lmted effort. In the end, the limited German forces and rapid American recovery proved inadequate to exploit the victory at Kasserine. The Americans mustered effective artillery fire and air support. Kasserine was a relatively minor engagement. German commanders optimistically saw Kasserine as an indication that the Americans would be a relatively weak opponent. Of course this was how OKW initially viewed the Red Army. Rommel had a different view, impressed with how the Americans responded, especially the artillery. For the Americans it was the beginning of the shaping of an effective combat force that would in less than 2 years land in Normandy and with the British and Canadians liberate Western Europe. Eisenhower moved rapidly to remove commanders not up to to the task and replace them with those that were. Kasserine while a German victory exposed the fundamental weakness of the German adventure in North Africa. They did not have sufficient strength to defeat either the British or Americans even when they made misdtakes. The entire African asventure basically provided a vast training school for both armies, instructing them on how to fight the modern war that the Germans had developed. [Atkinson] The Germand had developed the system, the Americans provided a level intensity and mobility (tanks, aircraft, arillery, and trucks) that the Germans could not begin to msatch. Gen. Eisenhower gave George S. Patton, who had commanded the landings in Morocco, command of II Corps which responded with a victory at El Guettar. The Americans had a great deal to learn about modern war, but after Kasserine the learning curve was steep.

Created: 3:06 AM 2/2/2025
Last updated: 3:06 AM 2/2/2025