Operation Vulcan

Operation Vulcan Part of the Tunisia Campaign of World War II British troops advance through a captured Tunisian town in the final offensive, 8 May 1943. Date 6–12 May 1943[1] Location Tunis, Cap Bon, and Bizerte, Tunisia 34°N 09°E / 34°N 9°E / 34; 9Coordinates: 34°N 09°E / 34°N 9°E / 34; 9 Result Allied victory Belligerents  United Kingdom  United States  Germany  Italy Commanders and leaders Kenneth Anderson Omar Bradley Jürgen von Arnim Giovanni Messe

Tunisia Campaign Run for Tunis Sidi Bou Zid Kasserine Pass Ochsenkopf Medenine Mareth Line El Guettar Wadi Akarit Longstop Hill Hill 609 Vulcan Flax Retribution North African Campaign Western Desert Campaign Invasion of Egypt Compass Sidi Barrani Bardia Beda Fomm Giarabub Kufra Sonnenblume Bardia raid Tobruk Brevity Skorpion Battleaxe Twin Pimples Flipper Crusader Gazala Bir Hakeim 1st Alamein Camouflage Bertram Alam Halfa Agreement Caravan 2nd Alamein El Agheila Torch Casablanca Reservist Terminal Port Lyautey Tunisia Run for Tunis Sedjenane Sidi Bou Zid Kasserine Pass Medenine Mareth Line El Guettar Wadi Akarit Longstop Hill Hill 609 Vulcan Flax Retribution

During the Second World War, Operation Vulcan was the final ground attack against German forces in Tunis,^[2] Cap Bon, and Bizerte, Tunisia, the last Axis toeholds in North Africa. German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel believed that the Axis position in Tunisia was untenable, and he had recommended the evacuation of all German troops to Italy, where he believed they could be more useful. His advice was rejected by Hitler. In addition, the Germans did not actually have the sea shipping capability or the control of the air to do this.

The fighting was heavy, with German units in well-prepared and dug-in defences. In the advance on Tunis, the British 4th Infantry Division was confronted by paratroopers of the elite Hermann Göring Parachute Division. The British attack was costly, and previous attacks had been repulsed with heavy losses.

At the "Cactus Farm", the British infantry was faced by fierce defensive fire from well-concealed German paratroopers. Consequently, Churchill tanks of the 12th Royal Tank Regiment advanced without any infantry support, and the tanks were assaulted by the defenders using Molotov cocktails and sticky "teller" anti-tank mines. Twelve tanks were destroyed and in some cases, their crews were rescued from the burning wrecks by the German defenders.

On 6 May 1943, at the culmination of Operation Vulcan, the British army took Tunis and American troops reached Bizerte. By 13 May, all of the Axis forces in Tunisia surrendered. By the close of the operation, nearly 240,000 German and Italian troops were captured.

In April, a major Allied air force effort (Operation Flax) had cut off Axis supplies to North Africa. The United States Army forces surrounded the last defenders at Enfidaville, ending the Axis effort in North Africa. Operation Retribution and the control of the air and of the sea prevented any large-scale evacuation of Axis troops to Italy.

See also

• North African Campaign timeline
• List of World War II Battles

Footnotes

References