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Tunisia
Tag
(18)
1941
May
19
The Gabès pogrom
On 19–20 May 1941 a pogrom in Gabès, Vichy Tunisia, left seven Jews dead and about twenty wounded.
1942
November
15
The run for Tunis
In mid-November 1942 the British First Army set off from Algeria to forestall the Germans in Tunisia. By late November it was 20–30 km from Tunis, and stuck.
December
02
The Battle of Tebourba
On 1–4 December 1942 the German 10th Panzer Division counter-attacked at Tebourba and drove the Allies back from Tunis. The Axis took the initiative in Tunisia.
22
The Battle of Longstop Hill
On 22–25 December 1942 British and US troops fought for Longstop Hill near Tunis. The Germans retook it on Christmas Day; Eisenhower postponed his offensive.
1943
February
02
Rommel on the Mareth Line
In early February 1943 Rommel's army fell back from Libya behind the old French Mareth Line in Tunisia. The Eighth Army entered Tunisia on 4 February.
11
Eisenhower becomes Supreme Commander in North Africa
On 11 February 1943 Eisenhower was promoted to full general and confirmed as Allied Commander-in-Chief in North Africa, with British deputies under him.
13
The Battle of Sidi Bou Zid
On 14 February 1943 Arnim's panzer divisions routed the Americans at Sidi Bou Zid, and Rommel took abandoned Gafsa. US II Corps fell back to the Western Dorsal.
19
The fighting at the Kasserine Pass
On 19–22 February 1943 Rommel broke through the Kasserine Pass and routed the Americans, but was stopped at Thala and Djebel Hamra. The Axis withdrew.
March
06
The Battle of Medenine
On 6 March 1943 three German panzer divisions attacked the Eighth Army at Medenine and lost dozens of tanks in a single day. Rommel’s last battle in Africa.
20
The Battle of the Mareth Line begins
On the evening of 20 March 1943 the Eighth Army attacked the Mareth Line. The frontal assault over the Wadi Zigzaou failed; the New Zealanders swung west.
23
The Battle of El Guettar
On 23 March 1943 the US 1st Infantry Division beat off two attacks by the German 10th Panzer Division at El Guettar – the first clear US success in Tunisia.
26
Breaking the Mareth Line
On 26 March 1943 the New Zealanders and 1st Armoured Division, backed by aircraft, broke through at the Tebaga Gap. Messe’s army had to quit the Mareth Line.
April
07
The Battle of Wadi Akarit
On 6 April 1943 the Eighth Army broke the Axis position on the Wadi Akarit, and on 7 April its patrols met Americans of II Corps on the road to Gabès.
10
The Eighth Army in Sfax
On 10 April 1943 the Eighth Army took Sfax, Tunisia’s second-largest city, and Sousse two days later. The Axis forces fell back to Enfidaville.
18
The Palm Sunday massacre
On 18 April 1943 US P-40s and British Spitfires shattered a Ju 52 formation off Cape Bon. The Axis air bridge to Tunisia began to collapse.
26
The capture of Longstop Hill
After four days of fighting, on 26 April 1943 the British 78th Division took Longstop Hill, the last great natural barrier on the Medjerda valley road to Tunis.
May
07
The capture of Tunis and Bizerte
On 7 May 1943 British armour of the First Army entered Tunis and Americans of II Corps entered Bizerte. The Axis front in Tunisia broke into isolated groups.
13
Key event
The Axis surrender in Africa
On 13 May 1943 Messe's Italian First Army, the last Axis force in Tunisia, surrendered. Some quarter of a million men were captured; the war in Africa was over.