Battle of El Guettar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Battle of the El Guettar | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of The Battle of Tunisia | |||||||
|
|||||||
| Combatants | |||||||
| United States | Germany, Italy | ||||||
| Commanders | |||||||
| George Patton | Jürgen von Arnim | ||||||
The Battle of El Guettar was a World War II battle that took place during the larger Battle of Tunisia, fought between the Deutsches Afrika Korps under Jürgen von Arnim and the American II Corps under George Patton in south-central Tunisia. It was the first battle in which US forces were able to defeat the experienced German tank units, but the followup to the battle was inconclusive.
Contents |
[edit] Background
American forces first encountered the Deutsches Afrika Korps (DAK) and were badly mauled in a series of battles that culminated in the disastrous Battle of the Kasserine Pass in late February. Rommel, poised on the threshold of a complete tactical victory, turned from the battle to return to his defenses at the Mareth Line when he heard of the approach of Bernard Montgomery's British 8th Army. Thus the battle concluded with the US forces still in the field, but having lost ground and men, and with little confidence in some key commanders.
The American command reacted to their failure against the German forces with a prompt and sweeping series of changes in command, discipline, and tactics. A major change was the adoption of more flexible artillery communications, allowing all batteries within range of a target to respond to a single call for fire. Previously each battery could fire only on the direct command of its dedicated observers, spread out over the lines and using different frequencies to communicate back to the battery. Also, large units were kept massed rather than being broken up into smaller, unsupported elements as had been done under Fredendall. Coordination with air support was improved, but did not reach satisfactory levels until later in the war.
On March 6, 1943, George Patton took command of the US II Corps from Lloyd Fredendall, who had been in command before and during the disaster at Kasserine. His first move was to organize his US II Corps for an offensive back toward the Eastern Dorsal chain of the Atlas Mountains. At the time the DAK was in position in the Mareth Line, about to be attacked by the 8th Army; a US force on their right rear would make their positions untenable.
On 17 March the US 1st Infantry Division moved forward into the almost abandoned plains, taking the town of Gafsa and starting to set it up as a forward supply base for further operations. On the 18th the 1st Ranger Battalion led by Colonel William O. Darby pushed ahead, and occupied the oasis of El Guettar, again meeting with little opposition. The Italian defenders instead retreated, and took up positions in the hills overlooking the town and thereby closing the pass (of the same name) leading south out of the interior plains. Another operation by the Rangers took one of the Italian positions and 700 prisoners on the night of the 20th, after scaling a sheer cliff and passing ammunition and equipment up hand-over-hand. They were now in an excellent position for an offensive.
[edit] El Guettar
The DAK had become aware of the US movements and decided that the 10th Panzer Division should "take care of it". Rommel had flown to Germany before the battle, leaving von Arnim in control of the newly-named Panzer Armee Afrika. von Arnim held Rommel's opinion on the low quality of the US forces, and felt that a show of force would be enough to clear them from the Eastern Dorsals again.
At 6am on 23 March 1943, fifty tanks of Broich's 10th Panzer emerged from the pass into the El Guettar valley, followed by Marders and Panzergrenadiers. The Germans quickly overran front line infantry and artillery positions. General Allen was threatened when two Panzers came near his headquarters, but he shrugged off suggestions of moving, "I will like hell pull out, and I'll shoot the first bastard who does."
German efforts took a turn for the worse when they ran into a minefield. When they slowed to clear the field, US artillery and anti-tank guns opened up on them, including 31 deadly M10 Wolverine tank destroyers which had recently arrived. Over the next hour 30 of the 10th Panzer's were knocked out, and by 9am they retreated from the valley.
A second attempt was made in the late afternoon starting at 4:45pm, after waiting for the infantry to form up. Once again the US artillery was able to seriously disorganize the attack, eventually breaking the charge and inflicting heavy losses. Realizing that further attacks were hopeless, the rest of the 10th dug in on hills to the east or retreated back to German HQ at Gabès.
[edit] Patton Attacks
On the 19th the British 8th Army launched their attack on the Mareth Line, at first with little success. However on the 26th a force sent via an inland route arrived to the north of the Line, and the defenses became untenable. A full retreat started to a new line set up at Wadi Akarit, near Gabès. This made the US position even more valuable, as the road through El Guettar led directly into Gabès.
Over the next week the US forces slowly moved forward to take the rest of the interior plains and set up lines across the entire Eastern Dorsals. German defenses were heavy, and the progress was both slow and costly. However by the 30th they were in position for an offensive south from El Guettar. In order to start a breakout, the two original Italian strongpoints on Hill 369 and Hill 772 had to be taken, one after the other.
The US plan involved the 1st and 9th Infantry Divisions, and one "Combat Command" (1/3rd) of the 1st Armored Division, collectively known as "Benson Force". This force attacked Hill 369 on the afternoon of 30 March, but ran into mines and anti-tank fire, losing 5 tanks. The tanks were removed and the 1st and 9th attacked again the next day at 6am, moving up and taking several hundred prisoners. However an Italian counterattack drove them back from their newly gained positions, and by 12:45pm they were back where they started with the loss of 9 tanks and 2 tank destroyers. A further attempt the next day on the 1st of April also failed, after barely getting started.
At this point Patton received orders to start the attempt on Hill 772, even though 369 was still under Italian control. The 9th was moved to 772, leaving the 1st on 369. By the 3rd the 1st had finally cleared 369, but the battle on 772 continued. The Italian commander, General Messe, then called in support from the 21st Panzer division, further slowing progress. The tempo of the operations then slowed, and the lines remained largely static.
On 6 April the British 8th Army once again overran the German lines, and a full retreat started. On the morning of 7th, Benson Force moved through the positions held by the 1st and 9th, and raced down the abandoned El Guettar-Gabès road, where it met the lead elements of the 8th Army at 5pm.
[edit] Aftermath
With the DAK's last line of defense in the south of Tunisia broken, they made a run to join the other Axis forces in the north. It was only a matter of time before Tunisia finally fell in early May.
The results of the El Guettar operations were mixed. The US showed they were able to fight the Germans successfully in a defensive operation during the opening stages, but also demonstrated a real lack of power when starting offensive operations of their own.
