The Battle of Kasserine Pass was a major battle of the North African theater of World War II that saw the German Afrika Korps assault group under Erwin Rommel - reinforced by the Italian Centauro Armored Division and two panzer divisions from the 5th Panzer Army - defeat elements of the US II Corps and the British 6th Armored Division at the Kasserine Pass in Tunisia. The action was the first encounter between the American and German forces during the war, and the Germans defeated the Allied Powers in a short-lived triumph. After the battle, General George S. Patton assumed command over American forces in North Africa, and he would lead the Americans to victory in the theater.
Background[]
In November 1942, the United States and United Kingdom launched a two-pronged offensive against the Axis Powers in North Africa. One of these offensives came from Morocco and Algeria, with Allied forces landing at several key ports and forcing the inexperienced forces of Vichy France to sign an armistice. The other attack came by way of northern Egypt, where Bernard Montgomery and the British Eighth Army broke out of Egypt at the Second Battle of El Alamein and rapidly pushed the Axis forces back into Tunisia. This brought an end to both the Western Desert and French North Africa theatres, and it led to the Allied Powers pushing the Axis forces into Tunisia. The commander of the German Afrika Korps, Erwin Rommel, decided to lead a counterattack against the Allies in western Tunisia as the Eighth Army was held back at the Mareth Line, and the Afrika Korps, two panzer divisions of the 5th Panzer Army, and elements of the Centauro Armored Division attacked the US II Corps and the British 6th Armored Division.
Battle[]
A Sherman tank at Kasserine
Bedouin scavenging at the Kasserine battlefield
The 21st Panzer Division was dispatched from Sbeitla to attack through Kasserine Pass with Hans-Jurgen von Arnim sending Kampfgruppe von Broich to back up the panzer division. The defending British and US troops laid mines and repelled the 21st Panzer Division's attack on 20 February 1943, but a night attack by the Germans and some units from their Italian allies resulted in the Allied positions being overwhelmed. At Djebel el-Hamra on the afternoon of 21 February, generals Paul McDonald Robinett and Terry de la Mesa Allen Sr. led their US soldiers in a strong defense against the Wehrmacht's attacks, and US infantry and tanks launched a counterattack that broke the German and Italian positions and captured 400 soldiers. Rommel attempted to cut off the US 9th Infantry Division at Thala, but the defenses held, forcing Rommel's attacks to cease. However, he rested with the fact that he had inflicted heavy losses in his attacks, and Albert Kesselring authorized the offensive to be called off and for the Germans to return to their start positions. On 23 February, the US Air Force bombed German positions and hastened their retreat, and by 24 February Feriana, Sidi Bou Zid, and Sbeitla had been recaptured by the Allies. The Axis offensive was defeated, but Rommel succeeded in inflicting heavy losses on the Allied forces, leading to the Allied leadership replacing some of its inefficient commanders and armaments.
Aftermath[]
The Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower replaced the American commander Lloyd Fredendall with the able corps commander George S. Patton, who had proven himself worthy during the Operation Torch landings. The Allied forces would launch a reinvigorated assault on Axis positions, defeating Rommel's thurst at the Battle of El Guettar and forcing the Axis forces to retreat to Cap Bon. On 13 May 1943, the last Axis forces surrendered at Cap Bon, and the German victory at Kasserine Pass was negated.