BATTLE OF SIDI BOU ZID
The next #WhyWeFight1943 podcast episode will feature Dr. @MarkCalhoun47 and he will take us through the story of this German Offensive in February 1943, beginning with the Battle of Sidi Bou Zid and into Kasserine Pass. So this is a primer to help make the most of that episode.
As noted in Saturday’s Twitter thread, the Allies failed to take Tunis after heading east immediately following the landings of Operation Torch in NOV 1942 and the major action more or less stalled in Tunisia.
The Axis forces controlled much of Tunisia until late 1942 when the Allies were able to capture a portion (the Eastern Dorsal) of the Atlas Mountains and hold onto it. The US II Corps along with a French corps (XIX Corps) held this Eastern Dorsal.
The II Corps commander, LTG Fredendall, set up a headquarters in Tebessa, which probably wasn’t ideal considering Tebessa was about 80 miles behind them and once there, LTG Fredendall rarely visited the front they had established.
In the 1930s, the French had set up a line of fortifications in Tunisia to protect from an invasion by Mussolini’s forces. This was named the Mareth Line as it occupied an area that included a point where routes converged heading toward Mareth, between Gabès and Medenine.
By January 1943, Rommel and his combined German-Italian forces were around this Mareth Line, while General Arnim, in command of the 5th Panzer Army, had been conducting smaller attacks in late 1942 – early 1943 to keep the Allied forces from gaining any real ground.
These German-Italian Axis forces under Rommel and Arnim met up, and in this area near Sidi Bou Zid there were elements from both sets of forces including Afrika Korps’ 21st Panzer Division and the 5th Panzer Army’s 10th Panzer Division.
Lacking any real intelligence on the intentions of those Axis commanders, Fredendall spread out his forces with the hope of being able to fend off any potential attacks but, by doing this, his units were a bit too far from each other to be of any real help should something arise.
At Sidi Bou Zid, against the judgment of his subordinate commanders, Fredendall tasked the 34th Infantry Division’s 168th Regimental Combat Team and the 1st Armored Division’s Combat Command A with defending the city. @TheRedBulls @1stArmoredDiv
To that end, the forces were positioned on raised “islands” which will ultimately set them up for failure.
Fearing that the Americans and Allies might launch an attack from the Eastern Dorsal, held by the US II Corps and French XIX Corps forces, Rommel ordered Arnim to attack at the Faid Pass, about 12 miles northeast of Sidi Bou Zid, on 30 JAN 1943.
French XIX Corps forces were holding the Faid Pass but they were relatively underequipped. General Arnim attacked the French positions around the Eastern Dorsal and, despite their fierce resistance, captured the Faid Pass that day.
The French commander had attempted to reach LTG Fredendall to get help sent from the US II Corps, but American decisions were slow and the panzers were fast. Suffering many casualties, the French XIX Corps was forced to give up the Faid Pass.
Now the Faid Pass was in Axis hands, with the American forces split between two hills to defend Sidi Bou Zid, and Fredendall was still far from the front.
“The mission of the Axis Forces was to cut through the Dorsals… continue northward to the Mediterranean, isolating the Allied forces facing Tunis and Bizerte.”
“The 10th Panzer was to attack Sidi Bou Zid directly through Faid Pass. The 21st Panzer would emerge from Maizila Pass, swing behind the US positions at Sidi Bou Zid and strike from the rear.”
On 14 FEB 1943, 80 years ago today, four battle groups consisting of about "140 tanks from the German 10th Panzer Division and 21st Panzer Division rushed through Faid Pass and Maizila Pass toward Sidi Bou Zid under the cover of a sand storm” around 4am.
By 10am, the Axis commander sent half his forces to each of the two hills, fighting off American resistance along the way. When one of the hills was encircled, among those captured was LTC John K. Waters, Patton’s son-in-law.
“By the end of the day, most of the American fighting vehicles had been driven west or destroyed, leaving infantrymen atop the hills… with no support.”
A counterattack was launched on 15 FEB by American General Orlando Ward. They “suffered great casualties in the face of German aircraft strafing and bombing and then German tank attacks…”
“… at the cost of 46 medium tanks, 9 self-propelled guns, and a number of other vehicles” the Americans captured Djebel el Hamra*.
*(I think it's circled, based on the associated number, but I couldn't find a labeled map.)
The following are quotes from the @USArmyCMH book “Tunisia”:
“While Eisenhower struggled to contain squabbles on the Allied side, the Germans refueled their tanks and continued west. On the 14th (FEB) they hit Sidi Bou Zid, ten miles beyond Faid. With over 200 tanks on both sides, a huge, drawn-out battle appeared in the making.”
“But American armor was spread too thin, and the panzers punched through in only one day.”
“An ineffective counterattack the next day and the stunning capture of some 1400 troops forced the Americans to undertake a major withdrawal. As the @1stArmoredDiv fell back, enemy pressure eased.”
“On the 16th the panzers resumed their westward push, seizing Sbeitla, 25 miles beyond Sidi Bou Zid. Again the Americans scrambled back to establish a new defensive position, this time at Kasserine Pass.”
“Four days of successive defeats cost II Corps dearly. The Americans lost 2546 missing, 103 tanks, 280 vehicles, 18 field guns, 3 antitank guns, and 1 antiaircraft battery.”
“Even service and medical companies, miles behind the infantry and armor, had been reached by the onrushing panzers.”
“The succession of II Corps defeats did not end with the loss of Sbeitla. Rommel saw the opportunity to keep his battered adversary reeling with a push for an even bigger prize: Kasserine Pass, gateway to Algeria.”
Northwest Africa: Seizing the Initiative in the West @USArmyCMH
history.army.mil/html/books/006…
Kasserine Pass Battles: Maps and Sketches @USArmyCMH @1stArmoredDiv
history.army.mil/books/Staff-Ri…
CSI Battlebook: The Battle of Sidi Bou Zid
apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fullte…
Kasserine Pass: German Offensive, American Victory by @MarkCalhoun47
nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/k…
Battle of Faid Pass and Sidi Bouzid – 30 JAN 1943 to 17 FEB 1943
ww2db.com/battle_spec.ph…
If you are just tuning in or you miss any of the threads, you can find them all saved on this website along with links to other content from this year’s Why We Fight ~ 1943 series and the previous two series.
motheroftanks.com/why-we-fight-1…
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