Tebourba Gap

While the Allied annies massed outside of the Axis bridgehead in Tunisia, Luftwaffe Marshal Kesselring ordered 10 Panzer Division to make a spoiling attack. The Allied spearhead, Blade Force, a combined British and American armored brigade group, and the British …

1942-12-02

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While the Allied annies massed outside of the Axis bridgehead in Tunisia, Luftwaffe Marshal Kesselring ordered 10 Panzer Division to make a spoiling attack. The Allied spearhead, Blade Force, a combined British and American armored brigade group, and the British 11 Infantry Brigade, lay only 15 miles from Tunis, between the towns of Tebourba and Djedeida. On 1 December 1942 the German panzers slammed into the east and north of the unprepared Allies in a devastating pincers assault. Allied ínfantry hastily dug in, and Combat Command A of the US 1st Armored Division was quickly rushed to reinforce the area. By the morning of 2 December, 1st Armored's 1/13 Tank Battalion and the British 17/21 Lancers covered the northern routes to Tebourba to counter the German offensive. Gruppe Leuder and Gruppe Hudel, the two northern German columns, were to make & bold attack on Tebourba while Gruppen Djedeida and Koch assaulted from the east and south. During the ensuing engagement, the first full scale battle between American and German soldiers, the Allies suffered immeasurably. Stuarts ranged out into the open unsupportcd against German antitank guns, field artillery units were overrun and captured, logistics turned into a nightmare. Without the seasoned and desert worthy British units interspersed amongst the American units, the Allied line would have folded.

Tebourba, Tunisia

The Tunisian campaign was a series of battles that took place in Tunisia during the North African campaign of the Second World War, between Axis and Allied forces. The Allies consisted of British Imperial Forces, including a Greek contingent, with American and French corps. The battle opened with initial success by the German and Italian forces but the massive supply interdiction efforts led to the decisive defeat of the Axis. Over 250,000 German and Italian troops were taken as prisoners of war, including most of the Afrika Korps.

Wikipedia: Tunisian campaign

German

American / British Commonwealth