DK - World War II Map by Map

160 TURNING THE TIDE 1943–1944

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Thala

Sbiba

Sbeitla

Enfidaville

Fondouk

Gabes

Medenine

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Gafsa

Kasserine

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Bizerta

Sedjenane

Sidi Bou Zid

Bir El Hafey

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Maknassy

Allied1st Army

British 8th Army

French

19th Corps

US 2nd

Corps

US 5th

Corps

German 5th Panzer Army

German Afrika Korps

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Afrika Korps

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May 6 , 1943
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Feb 15
Operation
Morning Air advances toward the Kasserine Pass.
May 13
The Axis 1st Army
surrenders, the last Axis army to do so in Tunisia.
Mar 28
Chased
by the Allies, the
Germans begin
retreat to Enfidaville.
Apr 20–21
A German
counteroffensive
is beaten back.
May 7
Allied
May 7 forces enter Tunis.
German forces
surrender Bizerta.
Feb 18
Rommel takes
Kasserine but loses the town to the Allies by February 24.
Feb 14
Operation
Spring Wind is launched toward Sidi Bou Zid.
Feb 22 Rommel is forced to withdraw.
THE AXIS SURRENDER MAY 6–13, 1943As the Allies advanced, Axis troops started
to surrender en masse after May 6, with whole armies surrendering after May 8. The Axis
1st Army, under Italian general Messe, was the
last to surrender its 80,000 men on May 13.
Six days after the fall of Tunis, the last Axis resistance in Africa ended, by which time more than 238,000 Axis troops had surrendered. THE FINAL ASSAULTS APRIL 20–MAY 7, 1943With the Axis forces now hemmed in around
the coastal plain in the north-east corner of
Tunisia, the Allies planned a final assault. An Axis counteroffensive around Goubellat and Medjez el Bab on April 20–21 was repelled before the Allied 1st Army attacked on April 22. Progress was slow, but after bloody hand-to-hand combat, the Allies entered Bizerta and Tunis on May 7.
5 4
Cities captured by Allied forces
△
Victory in Africa
An American correspondent traveling in an army
Jeep is welcomed in Porto Farina, Tunisia, after the surrender of Axis forces in Africa in May 1943.
THE BATTLE OF KASSERINE PASS
FEBRUARY 14–24, 1943Determined to take the initiative, General Hans-Jürgen von Arnim, commander of the German 5th Panzer Army, launched Operation Spring Wind on February 14, pushing west toward Sidi Bou Zid. A day later, the Afrika Korps under Field Marshal Rommel began Operation Morning Air, a push through Gafsa and on to Kasserine to threaten the flank of the Allied 1st Army. After much bitter fighting, Axis troops were forced to retreat.
1
Allied advancesAxis counteroffensive
Axis retreat
Operations Spring
Wind and Morning AirInitial Allied retreatAllied counteroffensive
Axis retreatBattle of
Kasserine Pass
Feb 19–22
Battle
of Kasserine Pass.
US_160-161_Victory_in_desert.indd 160 19/03/19 7:28 PM