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Title
A Bridgehead Too Wet
Description
When the British 8th Army began crossing the Mareth Line, one of the obstacles encountered was the wide, steep-sided Wadi Zigzaou. The first units to make their way across the wadi were accompanied by some 40 Valentine tanks, used because …
Subject
Publisher
Date
1943-03-22
Scenario#
26
Scenario Description
When the British 8th Army began crossing the Mareth Line, one of the obstacles encountered was the wide, steep-sided Wadi Zigzaou. The first units to make their way across the wadi were accompanied by some 40 Valentine tanks, used because they were lighter than Shermans which were too heavy to cross. The tanks so damaged the fascine-improved crossing points that no other vehicles - and thus no AT guns - could cross. This would soon have dire consequences, as the 15 Panzer Division counterattacked on the afternoon of March 22nd. Supported by intense artillery fire, the panzers rolled forward to positions beyond the effective range of the Valentines, most of which carried the obsolete 2 pdr. The British tanks were picked off one-by-one, leaving the infantry in the all-too-familiar predicament of having to face an armored assault while lacking sufficient AT protection. Moreover, the massive air support normally available to the British was grounded by foul weather. In bitter fighting, 15th Panzer slowly but relentlessly compressed the bridgehead, unit at about 0200 hours the remaining British infantry and few surviving tanks were ordered to withdraw across the wadi to safety.
Location
Wadi Zigzaou, Tunisia
Battle Narrative
The Battle of the Mareth Line or the Battle of Mareth was an attack in the Second World War by the British Eighth Army (General Bernard Montgomery) in Tunisia, against the Mareth Line held by the Italo-German 1st Army (General Giovanni Messe). It was the first big operation by the Eighth Army since the Second Battle of El Alamein 4+1⁄2 months previously. On 19 March 1943, Operation Pugilist, the first British attack, established a bridgehead but a break-out attempt was defeated by Axis counter-attacks. Pugilist established an alternative route of attack and Operation Supercharge II, an outflanking manoeuvre via the Tebaga Gap was planned. Montgomery reinforced the flanking attack, which from 26 to 31 March, forced the 1st Army to retreat to Wadi Akarit, another 40 mi (64 km) back in Tunisia.
Narrative Source
Combatants
British
German

Geolocation