"Battle of Kasserine Pass The Battle of Kasserine Pass was a battle of the Tunisia Campaign of World War II that took place in February 1943. Kasserine Pass is a gap in the Grand Dorsal chain of the Atlas Mountains in west central Tunisia. The Axis forces, led by ""Generalfeldmarschall"" Erwin Rommel, were primarily from the ""Afrika Korps"" Assault Group, elements of the Italian ""Centauro"" Armoured Division and two Panzer divisions detached from the 5th Panzer Army, while the Allied forces consisted of the U.S. II Corps (Major General Lloyd Fredendall), the British 6th Armoured Division (Major-General Charles Keightley) and"
"at Kasserine may have been paradoxically advantageous. With North Africa in Allied hands, plans quickly turned to the invasion of Sicily and Italy. Joseph Goebbels wrote that it was on the same scale as the defeat in the Battle of Stalingrad; ""Tunisgrad"" was coined for the defeat. A Victory March was held in Tunis on May 20, 1943, in which units of the First and Eighth Armies and representative detachments of the American and French forces marched past, with bands playing and generals Eisenhower, Alexander and Giraud taking the salute. Allied casualties of 76,020 include the losses incurred by the"
"with some bitterness the reinforcements, including the 10th Panzer Division, arriving in Tunisia following the Allied invasion of Morocco. Having reached Tunisia, Rommel launched an attack against the U.S. II Corps which was threatening to cut his lines of supply north to Tunis. Rommel inflicted a sharp defeat on the American forces at the Kasserine Pass in February, his last battlefield victory of the war, and his first engagement against the United States Army. Rommel immediately turned back against the British forces, occupying the Mareth Line (old French defences on the Libyan border). While Rommel was at Kasserine at the"
"little for his own situation, it would seriously upset any possible American actions from that direction. On 19 February 1943, Rommel launched what would become the Battle of Kasserine Pass. After two days of advances through the American defences, the ""Afrika Korps"" and the Italians had suffered few casualties, while the American forces lost 16,000 men and two-thirds of their tanks. During the battle the Italian 131st ""Centauro"" Armoured Division captured more than 3,000 American soldiers. On the night of 21 February 1943, the 6th Armoured and 46th Infantry Divisions, arrived to bolster the American defence, having been pulled from"
"for a second front against the Germans. General Dwight Eisenhower commanded the assault on North Africa, and Major General George Patton struck at Casablanca. The United States did not have a smooth entry into the war against Nazi Germany. Early in 1943, the U.S. Army suffered a near-disastrous defeat at the Battle of the Kasserine Pass in February. The senior Allied leadership was primarily to blame for the loss as internal bickering between American General Lloyd Fredendall and the British led to mistrust and little communication, causing inadequate troop placements. The defeat could be considered a major turning point, however,"
"during a series of battles that culminated in the disastrous Battle of the Kasserine Pass in late February 1943. Erwin Rommel—poised on the threshold of a complete tactical victory—turned from the battle to return to his eastward-facing defenses at the Mareth Line when he heard of the approach of Bernard Montgomery′s British 8th Army. Thus the battle concluded with the U.S. forces still in the field, but having lost ground and men, and with little confidence in some key commanders. In the last week of January 1943, despite a massive artillery bombardment, the Italian 14th Bersaglieri Battalion of the 131st"
"World War II battles claimed a disproportionate number of soldiers from Red Oak (although the final casualty statistics tend to disprove the oft-repeated statement that Red Oak suffered more losses per capita than any other American community). In the Battle of the Kasserine Pass in February 1943, forty-five soldiers from Red Oak alone were captured or killed. At the time more than 100 telegrams arrived in Red Oak saying that its soldiers were missing in action. In recognition of Red Oak's extraordinary sacrifice, the city's name was given to a ""victory ship"". The SS ""Red Oak Victory"" has become a"
"significant and pivotal battles of that war, during the North African campaign. At the Battle of the Kasserine Pass, the Germans first faced the military of the United States. When modern Islamic countries gained their independence in North Africa, often following serious warfare (such as during the Algerian War of Independence against the French), the Arab–Israeli conflict became the main focus of significant battles. During the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the Egyptian army broke through the Bar Lev Line, invading the Israeli-held Sinai Peninsula, resulting in UN cease-fire after United Nations Security Council Resolution 338, 339 and 340, which finally"
"War II where they deployed as an integral part of the North African Invasion. After shedding blood during the landing at Algeria and the desert reaches of Bizente, Tunisia, and Kasserine Pass, the rookie unit forged itself into the decisive force that defeated Rommel's Afrika Corps. Following victory, the unit pushed north into Italy and fought as part of the US Fifth Army's primary strike force. The battles were bitter, with the opposed beachheads at Anzio, an unrelenting stalemate at Monte Cassino, and the tenacious defense of the Gothic Line. After the war, the unit’s status changed several times over"
"the other was the greater concentration of German troops that the smaller defended area produced. First Army in particular received stinging blows from Rommel at the Battle of Kasserine Pass. Rommel's veteran formations slammed into II Corps and the green American troops did not perform well. It was only after reinforcements of more experienced troops and quantities of artillery had been rushed in that the situation was stabilised. Following the Kasserine Pass engagement and an Allied consolidation, a fresh attack was launched. First Army led the main attack, with Eighth Army providing support along the eastern coast of Tunisia. That"
"in late 1942. On 13 December, during the Battle of El Agheila, the Centauro - along with a strong formation from the 132nd Armoured Division Ariete- forced the British 7th Armoured Division to retreat. Rommel gave significant praise of Italian conduct during this action. They were involved in several actions in Tunisia and, according to US historian Brian John Murphy, overran a part of the US forces defending Highway 13 during the Battle of the Kasserine Pass: ""Axis forces also made a breakthrough on Highway 13, where the Italians of the Centauro Division spearheaded the attack. In the early morning"
"from Youks-les-Bains, Algeria on 13 December 1942. 47th Group A-20s provided valuable tactical support to US and British ground forces, especially during and after the allied defeat at the Battle of the Kasserine Pass. Though undermanned and undersupplied, the group flew eleven missions on 22 February to attack the advancing Nazi armored columns and thus to help stop the enemy’s offensive-an action which helped save the day, and eventually the Germans were forced back into a small perimeter in Tunisia. For these actions, the group was awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation. The 47th remained active in combat during March and"
"American troops to raise their morale, focusing in particular on the value placed on winning by American society. Following the humiliating American defeat at the Battle of the Kasserine Pass in 1943, Patton is placed in charge of the American II Corps in North Africa. Upon his arrival, he immediately starts enforcing discipline among his troops. Patton is then summoned to a meeting with Air Marshal Coningham of the Royal Air Force, where he claims that the American defeat was caused by lack of air cover. Coningham promises Patton that he will see no more German aircraft – but seconds"
"tanks. The combat vehicles that remained were in poor condition after their long overland journey to the front lines. At the Battle of Kasserine Pass in February 1943, the first major battle between the Americans and Germans during World War II, elements of the 1st Armored Division were sent reeling back by a series of sudden enemy offensive thrusts. The dispersal of the 1st Armored Division into separate combat commands across the front by British Lieutenant General Kenneth Anderson, commanding the British First Army, with the connivance of his immediate superior, Major General Lloyd Fredendall, the U.S. II Corps commander,"
"equipped with Valentine Mk III and Crusader Mk III tanks, the regiment saw action in the Tunisia Campaign for some time, including taking heavy losses defending Thala in the Battle of Kasserine Pass in February 1943 during which fourteen tanks were put out of action. After this, the regiment was withdrawn and refitted with M4A2 Sherman tanks. In April, the regiment attempted to take the Fondouk Pass during which thirty-two tanks were put out of action. The campaign in Tunisia came to an end in May 1943, with the surrender of almost 250,000 German and Italian soldiers who subsequently became"
"February 1943, after the ""Afrika Korps"" had been driven into Tunisia, the Germans took the offensive and pushed through the Kasserine Pass before being stopped with the help of both Ninth and Twelfth Air Force units in the battle. The Allies drove the enemy back into a pocket around Bizerte and Tunis, where Axis forces surrendered in May. Thus, Tunisia became available for launching attacks on Pantelleria (Operation Corkscrew), Sicily (Operation Husky), and mainland Italy. At the time of Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily on 10 July 1943, Ninth Air Force Headquarters was still based at Cairo in Egypt"
"Zid. II Corps was again decisively defeated in February 1943 during the Battle of Kasserine Pass by veteran troops under ""Generalfeldmarschall"" Erwin Rommel. The defeats were compounded by American inexperience, poor senior leadership, and lack of armor comparable to that in the German panzer forces, as well as the highly effective German high-velocity 88 mm anti-tank guns, which were used in screening tactics to destroy American tanks lured into pursuit of German armored forces In March 1943, after a change of command to Major General George Patton, II Corps recovered its cohesion and fought well for the rest of the"
"At the Battle of the Kasserine Pass his forces gave the Allies a beating, but in the end strong Allied resistance and a string of Axis errors stopped the advance. Kesselring now concentrated on shoring up his forces by moving the required tonnages of supplies from Sicily but his efforts were frustrated by Allied aircraft and submarines. An Allied offensive in April finally broke through, leading to a collapse of the Axis position in Tunisia. Some 275,000 German and Italian prisoners were taken. In return, Kesselring had, however, held up the Allies in Tunisia for six months, forcing a postponement"
"the biggest and bloodiest land battle of World War II, the Battle of Monte Cassino, where an estimated third of a million lives were lost through the first five months of 1944. He was also one of the soldiers who reached the demolished abbey, having been directly involved in the final, and decisive assault on German forces ensconced in the Benedictine Monastery. In August 1944, he landed with allied forces on the beaches around Saint-Tropez, France, as part of Operation Dragoon which launched a 25-mile front onto the German invasion forces in Provence. He survived through another year of battle,"
"the seat of an ancient bishopric, suffragan of the Archdiocese of Carthage. It was the site of a battle which took place in February 1943, part of the Tunisian Campaign of World War II. This battle began on 14 February 1943 at nearby Faid Pass when the German 10th and 21st Panzer Divisions attacked elements of the US 1st Armored Division and 168th Infantry. This Battle of Sidi Bou Zid was the opening act in what became known as the Battle of Kasserine Pass. On 17 December 2010, clashes occurred in Sidi Bouzid between residents and the police following the"
"desperate as they drove the Americans back through Kasserine Pass. To reinforce the badly shot up XII Bomber Command of Twelfth Air Force, the flight crews of the 61st and 62nd Bomb Squadrons of the 12th Bomb Group were dispatched immediately from RAF Gambut, Libya, to Berteaux Airfield, Algeria, where they were attached to the 310th Bombardment Group for rations and administration on 3 February 1943. These two squadrons contributed substantially to Rommel's defeat at Kasserine, and continued operating under the Twelfth Air Force until the fall of Tunis in May, when they were returned to the Ninth Air Force."
"Corps (a second British Corps headquarters was activated in April). In the second half of February, in eastern Tunisia, Rommel and von Arnim had some successes against the mainly inexperienced French and US troops, most notably in routing the US II Corps commanded by Major General Lloyd Fredendall at the Battle of Kasserine Pass. By the beginning of March, the British Eighth Army—advancing westward along the North African coast—had reached the Tunisian border. Rommel and von Arnim found themselves in an Allied ""two army"" pincer. They were outflanked, outmanned and outgunned. The British Eighth Army bypassed the Axis defence on"
"the deteriorating Allied situation in Tunisia and Algeria, and to assist where needed. His on-site reporting and interventions during the Kasserine Pass battles in February 1943 helped stabilize and reorganize the U.S. II Corps, which had been thrown into disorder after the initial German attack. During the fighting, Harmon had opportunity to observe Major General Lloyd Fredendall, commander of II Corps, as well as his superior, the British Lieutenant General Kenneth Anderson, commander of the British First Army. Anderson was in overall control of the Allied front in eastern Algeria, commanding British, American, and French forces. Harmon noticed that the"
"No. 105, Air Phase of the North African Invasion, November 1942"", Thomas J. Mayock) The 31st deployed to a forward base at Thelepte, Tunisia, which it temporarily evacuated during the German breakthrough at the Battle of the Kasserine Pass. Thyng won a second Silver Star attacking German armored forces during the battle and was shot down twice, once by British anti-aircraft fire. Suffering a broken ankle during his recovery from the shoot down by the latter, Thyng continued flying with the aid of a sling rigged by his crew chief to enable him to operate the Spitfire's rudder. Thyng officially"
"duties for the next two-and-a-half years. In early 1943 the battalion, now commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Douglas Kendrew, together with the rest of the 46th Division, was sent to French North Africa where it became part of the British First Army and fought in the Tunisian Campaign, notable in the final stages of the Battle of Kasserine Pass in late February, until the campaign ended in mid-May, with the battalion capturing thousands of Axis soldiers. After spending three months resting, refitting and training, the battalion then, in early September 1943, took part in the Allied invasion of Italy, suffering very"
"of filmmaking as a ""director's medium"") of bringing together ""Pyle, his stories, the actors, and the Army to create a uniquely realistic movie."" Pyle covered the 1st Infantry Division, including the 18th Infantry, in Tunisia from January to May 1943, and wrote a column on the American defeat at Kasserine Pass. He also landed with the 1st Division during the invasion of Sicily in July 1943. However, after the Sicilian campaign, which is mentioned but not portrayed in the film, the 18th Infantry moved to England to prepare for the Allied invasion of France, while the film's ""Company C"" is"
"precise location can not be determined. Montesquieu Airfield Montesquieu Airfield was a World War II military airfield in Algeria, located in the mountains near M'Daourouch, about 112 km southeast of Constantine. Its precise location is undetermined. It was built by the US Army Corps of Engineers and was used by the United States Army Air Force Twelfth Air Force during the North African Campaign against the German Afrika Korps. When the Americans moved east to Tunisia in June 1943, the airfield was dismantled and abandoned. There are several possible locations of the field visible in aerial photography in the mountains"
"During World War II, Tunis was held by Axis forces from November 1942 to May 1943. It was their last base in Africa, as they retreated towards Sicily after being surrounded by Allied forces from Algeria to the west and from Libya to the east. On 7 May 1943, at about 15:30 in the afternoon, Tunis fell to troops of British 1st Army and the U.S. 1st Army, which had defeated the German 5th Panzer Army guarding the city. At midday on 20 May 1943, the Allies held a victory parade on Avenue Maréchal Galliéni, and Avenue Jules Ferry, to"
"well as General Messe's forces on the Mareth defences (renamed Italian First Army), launched what would become the Battle of Kasserine Pass. Hoping to take the inexperienced defenders by surprise, he sent the light armour of the 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion racing into the pass. Colonel Alexander Stark's ""Stark Force"", a brigade group made up of US and French units, was responsible for the defence of the pass. It had not had time to organise properly but was able to direct heavy artillery fire from the surrounding heights which brought the ""Afrika Korps"" battlegroup's leading mechanised units to a halt. Before"
"1944, when the 2nd French Armoured Division under Leclerc's command liberated Strasbourg. On November 22, 1944, the hard-fighting French 2nd Armored Division, along with the French First Army, had been assigned the capture of Strasbourg by Allied Supreme Command. That same day, the 2nd Armored moved up to the vital pass at Saverne, which had been taken by the Americans, about 40 km northwest of Strasbourg. This Saverne ""gap"" is the historic gateway through the barrier of the Vosges Mountains, opening a line of advance on Strasbourg. On November 23, 1944, units of the French 2nd Armored Division entered the"
"rushed to Tunisia after Operation ""Torch"" (1942) and spent six months in that theatre, where it engaged both British and American forces. It caused severe losses to the ""green"" US Army in some of their first encounters with the Germans under Field Marshal Erwin Rommel at the Battle of Kasserine Pass (1943). It was later lost in the general Axis surrender in North Africa in May 1943 and officially disbanded in June 1943. The division was never rebuilt. In honour of notable members of the 10th Panzer Division being part of the German Resistance and the failed 20 July Plot"
"After training in the United States for several months he led the division overseas, landing in French North Africa on November 8, 1942 as part of Operation Torch, where it fought in the subsequent Allied campaign in North Africa, and the 9th Division played a large role in the Battle of Kasserine Pass in February 1943. The campaign came to an end in May 1943, with the surrender of almost 250,000 Axis soldiers. He later led the 9th Division in Operation Husky, codename for the Allied invasion of Sicily, in August 1943. In November the 9th Division was sent to"
"George Juskalian George Juskalian (; June 7, 1914 – July 4, 2010) was a decorated member of the United States Army who served for over three decades and fought in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Following graduation from Boston University, Juskalian entered the army as a second lieutenant in June 1936. During World War II, he served with the infantry during the North African Campaign and took part in Operation Torch. At the Battle of the Kasserine Pass, he was captured by German troops and became a prisoner of war (POW) for twenty-seven months. During"