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153-720: After the Battle of Kasserine Pass (19–24 February) , the Axis created Army Group Africa ( Heeresgruppe Afrika / Gruppo d'Armate Africa ) as a command headquarters for the 5th Panzer Army and the Italian 1st Army in Tunisia. Adolf Hitler and the German General Staff Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW) believed that Generaloberst Hans-Jürgen von Arnim should assume command but Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring

306-452: A Semovente group from Centauro and 15 Panzer) launched another assault on the U.S. position on the morning of February 22 toward Bou Chebka Pass. Although the American defenders were pressed hard the line held and, by mid-afternoon, the U.S. infantry and tanks launched a counterattack that broke the combined German and Italian force. More than 400 Axis prisoners were taken as the counterattack

459-585: A defile about 24 km (15 mi) north-east of Béja. The 128th Infantry Brigade had support from seventy-two 25-pounders, fifteen 5.5 inches (140 mm) medium guns and two squadrons of Churchill MK IIIs of the North Irish Horse. A tank-killing zone had been prepared with minefields, anti-tank guns, hull-down Churchill tanks and direct fire areas for medium and heavy artillery. A cab rank of Hurricane Mk IID fighter-bombers, equipped with 40 mm Vickers S guns, circled overhead in communication with

612-760: A 2-mile-wide (3.2 km) gap in the Grand Dorsal chain of the Atlas Mountains in west central Tunisia . It was a part of the Tunisian campaign of World War II . The Axis forces , led by Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel , were primarily from the Afrika Korps Assault Group, the Italian Centauro Armored Division and two Panzer divisions detached from the 5th Panzer Army , while

765-652: A French company of Miners was captured and taken into service of the Republic. France also made extensive use of Free Companies and Legions. At the Battle of Fontenoy , deployment of the British attack column was hampered by the French 'Harquebusiers de Grassins'. After the Battle of Lauffelt, French light troops pursued the retreating allies, but were engaged in a bloody guerilla war with Austrian and Dutch light troops and Free Companies for

918-604: A blow at the Eighth Army, catching them off balance while still assembling its forces. He at least had the consolation that he had inflicted heavy losses on his enemy and that the Allied concentrations in the Gafsa – Sbeitla area had been destroyed. At a meeting at Rommel's Kasserine HQ on February 23, Kesselring and his Chief of Staff Siegfried Westphal tried to change Rommel's mind, arguing that there were still possibilities for success. Rommel

1071-411: A counter-attack in which forty Germans were killed and sixty captured. Further along the road towards Sidi Nsir, artillery broke up another German attack. Eight Tiger Is had been immobilized by mines and had to be blown up by their crews to avoid capture. A British tank officer went forward to investigate, saw no sign of Germans, reached the tanks and found the turrets open and the crews gone. On 2 March,

1224-705: A kind of commando or guerrilla force. Throughout the 19th century, these anti-Napoleonic Freikorps were greatly praised and glorified by German nationalists, and a heroic myth built up around their exploits. This myth was invoked, in considerably different circumstances, in the aftermath of Germany's defeat in World War I . The anti-Napoleonic movements in Germany, Russia and Spain in the early 1810s also produced their own style of poetry, hussar poetry or Freikorps poetry , written by soldier-poets. In Germany, Theodor Körner , Max von Schenkendorff and Ernst Moritz Arndt were

1377-522: A lesser extent, German youth who were not old enough to have served in World War I enlisted in the Freikorps in hopes of proving themselves as patriots and as men. Regardless of reasons for joining, modern German historians agree that men of the Freikorps consistently embodied post- Enlightenment masculine ideals that are characterized by "physical, emotional, and moral 'hardness'". Described as "children of

1530-547: A number of "Vrij compagnieën"(Free Companies), raised between 1745 and 1747 and made up of volunteers and French deserters, such as the Walloon Grenadier Company. Although mostly used for reconnaissance and harassing enemy columns, the companies were organised into a battalion and engaged at the engagement at Wouw and the Battle of Lauffelt . Some companies were accompanied by a company of Dragons or Hussars, such as Roodt's Company and Cornabé's Legion. And in late 1747,

1683-854: A rapidly evolving tactical situation. Efforts were made to improve the integration of immediate artillery and air support, which had been poorly coordinated. While U.S. artillery response times improved dramatically, coordinating close air support was not achieved until Operation Overlord over a year later. American anti-aircraft artillery began reforms, having learned that, while Stuka dive bombers were vulnerable to .50 BMG rounds fired from vehicles, field units needed dedicated autocannon to protect them from aerial attack: in one division, 95 percent of air attacks were concentrated on its artillery. Corps Francs d%27Afrique Freikorps ( German: [ˈfʁaɪˌkoːɐ̯] , "Free Corps " or "Volunteer Corps " ) were irregular German and other European paramilitary volunteer units that existed from

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1836-402: A screen of German anti-tank guns, and sustained heavy casualties. A U.S. forward artillery observer whose radio and landlines had been cut by shellfire recalled, It was murder. They rolled right into the muzzles of the concealed eighty-eights and all I could do was stand by and watch tank after tank blown to bits or burst into flames or just stop, wrecked. Those in the rear tried to turn back but

1989-787: A section leader and quartermaster. Reich Farmers' Leader and Minister of Food and Agriculture Richard Walther Darré was part of the Berlin Freikorps. Reinhard Heydrich , future chief of the Reich Security Main Office (including the Gestapo , Kripo , and SD ) and initiator of the Final Solution , was in Georg Ludwig Rudolf Maercker 's Freikorps as a teenager. Leader of the SS Heinrich Himmler enlisted in

2142-579: A sense of belonging in the Freikorps. Jason Crouthamel notes how the Freikorps' military structure was a familiar continuation of the frontlines, emulating the Kampfgemeinschaft (battle community) and Kameradschaft (camaraderie), thus preserving "the heroic spirit of comradeship in the trenches". Others, angry at Germany's sudden, seemingly inexplicable defeat , joined the Freikorps to fight against communism and socialism in Germany or to exact some form of revenge on those they considered responsible. To

2295-450: A thick fog fell across the valley, which hampered RAF sorties. The Germans attacked again and in the fog, D Company was surprised and a platoon was overrun but the rest of the attack was repulsed by artillery-fire and infantry of the 1/4th Hampshires. The fog lifted and immediately the RAF made eight sorties into the valley and caught German supply columns as artillery concentrations were directed by

2448-461: A withdrawal from Sbeitla and Feriana. The U.S. II Corps was able to concentrate at the Kasserine and Sbiba Passes, on the western arm of the mountains. U.S. casualties were 2,546 men, 103 tanks, 280 vehicles, 18 field guns, three anti-tank guns and an anti-aircraft battery . At this point, there was some argument in the Axis camp about what to do next; all of Tunisia was under Axis control, and there

2601-734: The 18th Army Group , commanded by General Sir Harold R. L. G. Alexander , to tighten the operational control of the three Allied nations involved and improve their coordination. Major General Lloyd Fredendall was relieved by Eisenhower and sent home. Training programs at home had contributed to U.S. Army units in North Africa being saddled with disgraced commanders who had failed in battle and were reluctant to advocate radical changes. Eisenhower found through Major General Omar Bradley and others, that Fredendall's subordinates had lost confidence in him and Alexander told U.S. commanders, "I'm sure you must have better men than that". Fredendall took

2754-590: The 21st Panzer Division . Facing the German armored advance was the British 6th Armoured Division (less the 26th Armoured Brigade which except for the tanks of the 16/5th Lancers had been sent to Thala). Also in the line was the 18th Regimental Combat Team from the U.S. 1st Infantry Division ; and three battalions of infantry from U.S. 34th Infantry Division . There were also three U.S. Field Artillery battalions, elements of two British anti-tank regiments and some French detachments. The Germans made little progress against

2907-413: The 501st Heavy Panzer Battalion and motorised infantry from the 10th Panzer Division. The rest of the 10th Panzer Division was to attack once the objectives were achieved and advance westwards, about 25 mi (40 km) south of Medjez. The area was held by the 128th (Hampshire) Infantry Brigade and numerous batteries of artillery. On 26 February, the northern attack of Ochsenkopf commenced and

3060-691: The Allied forces were from the U.S. II Corps ( Major General Lloyd Fredendall ), the British 6th Armoured Division ( Major-General Charles Keightley ) and other parts of the First Army ( Lieutenant-General Kenneth Anderson ). The battle was the first major engagement between U.S. and Axis forces in Africa. The initial handful of American battalions suffered many casualties and were successively pushed back over 50 miles (80 km) from their original positions west of Faïd Pass, until they met an advancing brigade of

3213-561: The Comando Supremo in Rome. At 13:30 on February 19, Rommel received the Comando Supremo ' s agreement to a revised plan. He was to have 10th and 21st Panzer Divisions transferred from Arnim's 5th Panzer Army to his command and attack through the Kasserine and Sbiba passes toward Thala and Le Kef to the north, clearing the Western Dorsale and threatening the 1st Army's flank. Rommel

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3366-592: The Corps Francs d'Afrique (CFA) (African Corps Franc) was raised in French Morocco within the Free French Forces by General Giraud . Giraud drew the members of the all-volunteer unit from residents of Northern Africa of diverse religious backgrounds (Christian, Jew, and Muslim) and gave them the title of Vélite , a name inspired by the elite light infantry of Napoleon's Imperial Guard , who were named after

3519-1015: The Darlan Deal wherein Vichy French forces came over to the Allied side. Darlan was later assassinated by Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle , an early member of the Corps Francs d'Afrique. They functioned as the Free French equivalent to the British Commandos . The Corps also included many Spanish and International old combatants of the Spanish Republican Army , which had sought refuge in Northern Africa in 1939. The Corps Francs d'Afrique, under command of Joseph de Goislard de Monsabert , went on to fight Rommel's Afrikakorps in Tunisia with

3672-521: The Gorlitz Freikorps under Lieutenant Colonel Faupel, and two Swabian divisions from Württemberg under General Haas and Major Hirl as well as the largest Freikorps in Bavaria commanded by Colonel Franz Ritter von Epp . While they were met with little Communist resistance, the Freikorps acted with particular brutality and violence under Noske's blessing and at the behest of Major Schulz, adjutant of

3825-753: The Groupes Francs Motorisé de Cavalerie (GFC) who played a storied role in the delaying operations and last stands of the Battle of France , notably in the defenses of the Seine and the Loire . Between April – September 1944, the Corps Franc de la Montagne Noire unit operated as part of the French Resistance . On 25 November 1942, in the immediate aftermath of the Allied Invasion of Vichy French North Africa

3978-643: The King's German Legion , who had fought for Britain in French-occupied Spain and mainly were recruited from Hanoverians, the Lützow Free Corps and the Black Brunswickers . The Freikorps attracted many nationally disposed citizens and students. Freikorps commanders such as Ferdinand von Schill , Ludwig Adolf Wilhelm von Lützow or Frederick William, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel , known as

4131-713: The Lincolnshire Regiment , the DLI and Churchill tanks of the North Irish Horse drove the Germans back in determined fighting. The British position became untenable due to withdrawals by the French further west in the Medjez area, when Axis troops occupied high ground dominating the town. The French commander had thought his position was being outflanked and ordered a withdrawal. The German penetration towards Béja and Medjez along with

4284-514: The Lützow Freikorps , who reminded his men that it "[was] a lot better to kill a few innocent people than to let one guilty person escape" and that there was no place in his ranks for those whose conscience bothered them. On 5 May 1919, Lieutenant Georg Pölzing, one of Schulz's officers, travelled to the town of Perlach outside of Munich . There, Pölzing chose a dozen alleged communist workers—none of whom were actually communists, but members of

4437-635: The Maginot Line during the period known as the Phoney War (Drôle de Guerre) . They were tasked with attacking German troops guarding the Siegfried Line . Future Vichy collaborationist , Anti-Bolshevik and SS Major Joseph Darnand was one of the more famous participants in these commando actions. In May 1940, the experience of the Phoney War-era Corps Franc was an influence in creating

4590-580: The Napoleonic Wars , Austria recruited various Freikorps of Slavic origin. The Slavonic Wurmser Freikorps fought in Alsace . The combat effectiveness of the six Viennese Freikorps (37,000 infantrymen and cavalrymen), however, was low. An exception were the border regiments of Croats and Serbs who served permanently on the Austro- Ottoman border. During Napoleon's 1812 invasion of Russia ,

4743-723: The Nazis beginning in 1923. The rise of the Nazi Party led to a resurgence of Freikorps activity, as many members or ex-members were drawn to the party's marrying of military and political life and extreme nationalism by joining the Sturmabteilung (SA) and Schutzstaffel (SS). Unlike in the German Revolution of 1918–19 or their involvement in Eastern Europe, the Freikorps now had almost no military value and were instead utilized by

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4896-932: The Nazis in their rise to power. The first Freikorps appeared during the War of the Austrian Succession and especially during the Seven Years' War, when France, Prussia, and the Habsburg monarchy embarked on an escalation of petty warfare while conserving their regular regiments. Even during the last Kabinettskrieg , the War of the Bavarian Succession , Freikorp formations were formed in 1778. Germans, Hungarians, Poles, Lithuanians, and South Slavs , as well as Turks, Tatars and Cossacks , were believed by all warring parties to be inherently good fighters. The nationality of many soldiers can no longer be ascertained as

5049-673: The Roman Velites . Much of the Corps was drawn from Henri d'Astier de la Vigerie and José Aboulker 's Géo Gras French Resistance Group which had been responsible for the Algiers Insurrection where the Resistance seized control of Algiers on the night of 8 November 1942 in coordination with the Allied landings happening that same night. In taking over Algiers, they managed to capture both Admiral Darlan and General Juin , which led to

5202-639: The Social Democratic Party —and shot them on the spot. The following day, a Freikorps patrol led by Captain Alt-Sutterheim interrupted the meeting of a local Catholic club, the St Joseph Society, and chose twenty of the thirty members present to be shot, beaten, and bayoneted to death. A memorial on Pfanzeltplatz in Munich commemorates the incident. Historian Nigel Jones notes that as a result of

5355-603: The V Corps ( Charles Allfrey ) sector on 26 February. Unternehmen Ochsenkopf was a plan to penetrate the British defences on 26 February, with Korpsgruppe Weber (General Friedrich Weber ) of the 334th Infantry Division , elements of the Luftwaffe Hermann Göring Division which had recently arrived and the parts of the 10th Panzer Division not involved in Unternehmen Frühlingswind (Operation Spring Storm), in three groups or horns, in

5508-657: The Weimar Republic , the tenuous German government under Friedrich Ebert , leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany ( Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands , SPD), used the Freikorps to quell socialist and communist uprisings. Minister of Defence and SPD member Gustav Noske also relied on the Freikorps to suppress the Marxist Spartacist uprising , culminating in the summary executions of revolutionary communist leaders Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg on 15 January 1919. The Bavarian Soviet Republic

5661-458: The barbed wire and the defenders were soon overwhelmed and destroyed. Djebel Djaffa, further west, held by a battalion of French Colonial troops was attacked simultaneously by the paratroopers. The French were surprised and swiftly overrun, most being captured. A hasty counter-attack by the Surreys on Fort MacGregor was attempted but was stopped just forward of the start line and the Surreys withdrew with many casualties. British artillery bombarded

5814-421: The forward observation officers and air observation post observers. The German tanks and infantry suffered many casualties; the serpentine road which the Axis transport was using was turned into a wilderness of bomb craters and burning vehicles, which forced a withdrawal. The 2/4th Hampshires held on to their last positions as the Germans tried to advance along a wadi to the south. The British surprised them with

5967-501: The "Black Duke", led their own attacks on Napoleonic occupation forces in Germany. Those led by Schill were decimated in the Battle of Stralsund (1809) ; many were killed in battle or executed at Napoleon's command in the aftermath. The Freikorps were very popular during the period of the German War of Liberation (1813–15), during which von Lützow, a survivor of Schill's Freikorps , formed his Lützow Free Corps. The anti-Napoleonic Freikorps often operated behind French lines as

6120-430: The "Thousand of Marsala", which landed in Sicily in 1860. Even before the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71, Freikorps were developed in France that were known as franc-tireurs . After World War I , the meaning of the word Freikorps changed compared to its past iterations. After 1918, the term referred to various—yet, still, loosely affiliated— paramilitary organizations that were established in Germany following

6273-768: The 18th to the early 20th centuries. They effectively fought as mercenaries or private military companies , regardless of their own nationality. In German-speaking countries , the first so-called Freikorps ("free regiments", Freie Regimenter ) were formed in the 18th century from native volunteers, enemy renegades, and deserters . These sometimes exotically equipped units served as infantry and cavalry (or, more rarely, as artillery); sometimes in just company strength and sometimes in formations of up to several thousand strong. There were also various mixed formations or legions. The Prussian von Kleist Freikorps included infantry, jäger , dragoons and hussars . The French Volontaires de Saxe combined uhlans and dragoons. In

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6426-524: The 1st Armored Division would be trapped between the 10th Panzer Division and its supporting units moving north along the second road to Tebessa. The combined force fought a costly delaying action in front of Thala, retreating ridge by ridge to the north until by dark, the force held the German attacks just south of the town. The divisional artillery (48 guns) of the 9th Infantry Division and anti-tank platoons, that had moved from Morocco on February 17, 800 mi (1,300 km) west, dug in that night. Next day,

6579-415: The 26th Armoured Brigade some 10 miles (16 km) further back. The Afrika Korps Assault Group began moving along the Hatab River valley towards Haidra and Tebessa in the early afternoon of February 21 and advanced until they met defenders consisting of the U.S. 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division and Combat Command B of the U.S. 1st Armored Division at Djebel el Hamra. The German–Italian force

6732-612: The 34th Division totalled 50 killed, 200 wounded and 250 missing. Regarding Allied personnel captured, Rommel and Ziegler claimed 3,721 prisoners captured but in a consolidated report of February 24 they reported 4,026 Allied prisoners of war. Materiel losses of the US II Corps were 183 tanks, 104 half-tracks, 208 guns and 512 trucks and motor vehicles were lost, some of them captured by the Germans. The Allies also lost supplies and fuel, since over 215 m (57,000 US gal) of gasoline and lubricants were seized along with 45 tons of ammunition. Rommel had hoped to take advantage of

6885-400: The 504th Heavy Panzer Battalion, while the 501st repaired 25 of its tanks bringing it back up to quarter strength. However, Ochsenkopf was to be the last major Axis offensive by the 5th Panzer Army in Africa. On 25 March, General Alexander ordered a counter-attack. On 28 March, the 46th Infantry Division attacked with the 138th Infantry Brigade, keeping the 128th Infantry Brigade in reserve and

7038-428: The 56th Reconnaissance Regiment , Valentine tanks of the 17th/21st Lancers , elements of the 51st Royal Tank Regiment (51st RTR) and the North Irish Horse. The next day almost as soon as they arrived, the Surreys and the Valentines of the 17/21st Lancers counter-attacked Djebel Djaffa, which was recaptured after some resistance. The 334th Division struck at Tally Ho corner just before midnight, surprised and overran

7191-417: The Allied defense. Tanks and Bersaglieri from the Centauro Division advanced along Highway 13 and overran the 19th Combat Engineer Regiment. The U.S. survivors made a disorganized retreat up the western exit from the pass to Djebel el Hamra, where Combat Command B of the 1st Armored Division was arriving. On the exit to Thala, Gore Force slowly leapfrogged back, losing all its tanks in the process, to rejoin

7344-408: The Allies on 1 April. On 7 April, Anderson ordered the 78th Infantry Division to clear the Béja–Medjez road. With artillery and close air support, the division methodically advanced 16 km (10 mi) through difficult mountain terrain for ten days on a 16 km (10 mi) front. The 4th Infantry Division moved up on the left of the 78th Infantry Division and pushed towards Sidi Nisr. With

7497-404: The Battle of Kasserine. Until 1 March, the British conducted expensive but successful counter-attacks, which delayed the Axis advance on the hamlet. On 2 March, a Durham Light Infantry (DLI) counter-attack was a costly failure and the battalion was withdrawn to a wooded area outside Sedjenane; more German attacks on Sedjenane that day and the next were defeated. A counter-attack by a battalion of

7650-411: The British advanced and mopped up halfway along the road to Steamroller Farm, held by about 2,000 men from two battalions of the Hermann Göring Division, elements of a panzergrenadier regiment, 5 cm Pak 38 and 88 mm anti-tank guns. A squadron of the 51st RTR in Churchill Mk III tanks and a company of Coldstream Guards set off just before midday on 28 February and by 4:00 p.m. they were in sight of

7803-454: The East, the Freikorps launched a campaign of propaganda that falsely positioned themselves as protectors of Germany's territorial hegemony over Lithuania , Latvia , and Estonia as a result of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and as defenders against Slavic and Bolshevik hordes that "raped women and butchered children" in their wake. Historian Nigel Jones highlights the Freikorps's "usual excesses" of violence and murder in Latvia which were all

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7956-536: The Freikorps and carried a flag in the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch . Rudolf Höss joined the East Prussian Volunteer Freikorps in 1919 and eventually became commander of the Auschwitz extermination camp . Ernst Röhm , eventual leader of the SA , supported various Bavarian Freikorps groups, funnelling them arms and cash. Although many high-ranking National Socialists were former Freikorps fighters, recent research shows that former Freikorps fighters were no more likely to be involved in National Socialist organisations than

8109-412: The Freikorps as a nuisance and possible threat to his consolidation of power. During the Night of the Long Knives in 1934, an internal purge of Hitler's enemies within the Nazi Party , numerous Freikorps members and leaders were targeted for killing or arrest, including Freikorps commander Hermann Ehrhardt and SA leader Ernst Röhm . In Hitler's Reichstag speech following the purge, Hitler denounced

8262-466: The Freikorps as lawless "moral degenerates...aimed at the destruction of all existing institutions" and as "pathological enemies of the state...[and] enemies of all authority," despite his previous public adoration of the movement. Numerous future members and leaders of the Nazi Party served in the Freikorps. Martin Bormann , eventual head of the Nazi party Chancellery and Private Secretary to Hitler, joined Gerhard Roßbach's Freikorps in Mecklenburg as

8415-416: The Freikorps radicalized Western and German norms of male self-control into a perpetual war against feminine-coded desires for domesticity, tenderness, and compassion amongst men. Historians Nigel Jones and Thomas Kühne note that the Freikorps' displays of violence, terror, and male aggression and solidarity established the beginnings of the fascist New Man upon which the Nazis built. The extent of

8568-429: The Freikorps' autonomy and strength steadily declined as Hans von Seeckt , commander of the Reichswehr, removed all Freikorps members from the army and restricted the movements' access to future funding and equipment from the government. Von Seeckt was successful, and by 1921 only a small yet devoted core remained, effectively drawing an end to the Freikorps until their resurgence as far-right thugs and street brawlers for

8721-402: The Freikorps' involvement and actions in Eastern Europe , where they demonstrated full autonomy and rejected orders from the Reichswehr and German government , left a negative impression with the state. By this time, the Freikorps had served Ebert's purpose of suppressing revolts and communist uprisings. After the failed Kapp-Lütwitz Putsch in March 1920 that the Freikorps participated in,

8874-463: The Freikorps' violence, Munich's undertakers were overwhelmed, resulting in bodies lying in the streets and decaying until mass graves were completed. The Freikorps also fought against communists and Bolsheviks in Eastern Europe, most notably East Prussia , Latvia , Silesia , and Poland . The Freikorps demonstrated fervent anti-Slavic racism and viewed Slavs and Bolsheviks as "sub-human" hordes of "ravening wolves". To justify their campaign in

9027-411: The French 75 mm (2.95 in) guns, which caused heavy casualties among the German infantry, the defenders were easily forced back. U.S. artillery and tanks of the 1st Armored Division then entered the battle, destroying some enemy tanks and forcing the remainder into what appeared to be a headlong retreat. This was, however, a trap, and when the 1st Armored Division gave chase it was engaged by

9180-446: The French withdrawal had caught the 139th Infantry Brigade in a salient and two companies of Sherwood Foresters were overrun. On 4 March, the British retreated 24 km (15 mi) from Sedjenane toward Djebel Abiod to stabilise the front. The Axis attack on Djebel Abiod was delayed for five days by the defence of Sedjenane and it was not captured. The southern horn of the operation was to be conducted by Kampfgruppe Audorff with

9333-460: The German Oberbefehlshaber Süd (OB Süd, Commander-in-Chief South) argued for Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel , who was appointed to command the new Army Group Africa on 23 February. Comando Supremo , the Italian General Staff, ordered Rommel to end the attack at Kasserine, in view of the Allied reinforcement of the Tebessa area, to conduct a spoiling offensive against the Eighth Army (General Bernard Montgomery ) as it approached

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9486-412: The German advance, but all three combat commands found that each defensive position they tried to occupy had already been overrun, and they were attacked by German troops with heavy losses. On February 2, the 1st Armored Division was ordered to end its attacks and concentrate to form a reserve. The Germans captured most of Tunisia, and the entrances into the coastal lowlands were blocked. The Allies held

9639-528: The Germans quickly captured the Sidi Nsir hamlet and railway station, where the road and railway connecting Béja and Mateur diverged, the road east into the hills and the railway along the easier north-east route. The 172nd Field Regiment RA, with three batteries of 25-pounder gun-howitzers , and 155 Battery, with eight 25-pounders, were dug in around a farm, with the 5th Battalion Hampshire Regiment . They were to monitor German movements but most were poorly-trained, with no battle experience. At Hampshire Farm,

9792-662: The Germans was the sturdy M3 armored half-track , and for some time after the battle, German units deployed large numbers of captured U.S. vehicles. The Allies studied the results equally seriously. Positioned by senior commanders who had not personally reconnoitered the ground, U.S. forces were often located too far from each other for mutual support. It was also noted that U.S. soldiers tended to become careless about digging in, exposing their positions, bunching in groups when in open view of enemy artillery observers, and positioning units on topographic crests, where their silhouettes made them perfect targets. Too many soldiers, exasperated by

9945-470: The Germans withdrew, having lost over forty tanks and nearly sixty other armoured vehicles; two out of the four German infantry battalions were taken prisoner, in addition to the killed and wounded. Many of the prisoners had been on the Eastern Front and claimed that they had never experienced such a weight of bombardment. The offensive had failed to achieve the main objectives and Arnim called off further attacks. Anderson had considered abandoning Medjez, until

10098-442: The Hermann Göring Parachute Division, the 334th Infantry Division and supporting panzer battalions. Protecting this area was a British force known as Y Division, an ad hoc force, which had been formed from the 38th (Irish) Brigade, a mixture of commandos, Grenadier and Coldstream Guards , elements of the 1st Parachute Brigade and Churchill tanks of C Squadron 142 (Suffolk) Regiment under command. The kampfgruppe attacked on

10251-513: The Kasserine Pass by 24 February. Anderson was subsequently criticised by his contemporaries for, among other things, dispersing the three combat commands of the 1st Armored Division, despite the objections of the divisional commander, Major-General Orlando Ward . As a result of lessons learned in this battle, the U.S. Army instituted sweeping changes in unit organization and tactics, and replaced some commanders and some types of equipment. U.S. and British forces landed at several points along

10404-425: The Kasserine Pass. The 21st Panzer Division at Sbeitla was ordered to attack northward through the pass east of Kasserine which led to Sbiba and Ksour. The Kampfgruppe von Broich , the battlegroup released by Arnim from 10th Panzer Division, was ordered to concentrate at Sbeitla, where it would be ready to exploit success in either pass. The Sbiba area was attacked by Battle Groups Stenkhoff and Schuette, remnants of

10557-407: The Nazis as thugs to engage in street brawls with communists and to break up anarchist, communist and socialist meetings alongside the SA to gain a political edge. Moreover, the Nazis elevated the Freikorps as a symbol of pure German nationalism, anti-communism, and militarized masculinity to co-opt the lingering social and political support of the movement. Eventually, Adolf Hitler came to view

10710-426: The North Irish Horse stopped the Germans until dusk. B Company was ordered to withdraw after a platoon was overrun and a second was in danger of collapse. C Company was overrun by German infantry and armour later in the day but the attackers were unable to advance further. The next day Lang found he was only 10 mi (16 km) from Hunt's Gap but was down to six operational tanks. The 2/5th Leicesters arrived and

10863-438: The U.S. 5th Army . They fought alongside the British 139th Brigade at Kassarine and Sidi Nasr , where they famously conducted a heroic bayonet charge, facing two to one odds, against the Italian 34th Battalion of the 10th Bersaglieri near the mountain of Kef Zilia on the road to Bizerte , taking 380 prisoners, killing the Italian battalion commander, and capturing the plans for Operation Ausladung . They participated in

11016-466: The U.S. 1st Armored Division. British forces were also driven back, losing all eleven of their tanks in the process. After the initial reversal, Allied reinforcements with strong artillery support stopped the Axis advance, and an American counterattack recaptured the mountain passes in western Tunisia, defeating the Axis offensive. The Axis force was overextended and pinned down by the Allied artillery. Facing counterattacks and airstrikes, they withdrew from

11169-556: The accompanying combined Axis armored units poured through the pass routing U.S. forces with the 1st Armored Division into one of the worst U.S. defeats of the Tunisian Campaign. The Italian regiment was complimented by General Bülowius , commander of the DAK Assault Group, who cited their action as the instrumental event of the Axis victory. At 1:00 pm Rommel committed two battalions from 10th Panzer Division, which overcame

11322-509: The aftermath of World War I and during the German Revolution of 1918–19 , Freikorps , consisting partially of World War I veterans, were raised as paramilitary militias. They were ostensibly mustered to fight on behalf of the government against the German communists attempting to overthrow the Weimar Republic . However, many Freikorps also largely despised the Republic and were involved in assassinations of its supporters, later aiding

11475-739: The aftermath of the Napoleonic era , Freikorps were set up with varying degrees of success. During the March 1848 riots, student Freikorps were set up in Munich. In First Schleswig War of 1848 the Freikorps of von der Tann , Zastrow and others distinguished themselves. In 1864 in Mexico, the French formed the so-called Contreguerrillas under former Prussian hussar officer, Milson. In Italy , Giuseppe Garibaldi formed his famous Freischars , notably

11628-401: The afternoon. On February 20 during the opening attack on key American positions of the town of Djebel, the 5th Bersaglieri Regiment made a frontal assault on U.S. positions that lasted most of the morning and finally carried the position, losing the regimental commander Colonel Bonfatti in the process. This action cracked open the Allied defenses, opening the road to Thala and Tebessa. By midday

11781-514: The allies to withdraw and delay a further advance, while Rommel prepared the attack of the 1st Italian Army (the former German-Italian Panzer Army) from the Mareth Line defences against the Eighth Army. The subsidiary Unternehmung Ausladung began on the morning of 26 February, to outflank the British in Sedjenane and the high ground opposite Green Hill, with an attack on the hilly coastal strip to

11934-409: The area. The depleted Hermann Göring Regiment had suffered many more casualties; its commander had assumed that the tank sortie was from a much bigger formation and sent a message to Fliegerführer Afrika that he had been attacked by a "mad tank battalion which had scaled impossible heights" and "compelled his ultimate withdrawal". Kampfgruppe Lang had 77 tanks, including twenty Tigers of

12087-455: The attached 36th Infantry Brigade , 1st Parachute Brigade and French units (including a tabor of specialist mountain Goumiers ). The division was supported by the field artillery of two divisions, medium and heavy guns. In four days, the 46th Infantry Division recaptured the ground lost to Division von Manteuffel and took 850 German and Italian prisoners. Sedjenane was re-captured by

12240-409: The attack of the 1st Italian Army on the Eighth Army were delayed for a week by the failure of Unternehmen Ochsenkopf and the Battle of Medenine was a costly failure. Allfrey was promoted to major-general on 9 March. An Axis success would have meant the loss of Béja and the retirement of the Allied line along the northern sector, including a withdrawal from Medjez el Bab, which would have prolonged

12393-467: The attack was delayed for a week until agreement was reached to mount Operation Frühlingswind , a thrust by the 5th Panzer Army through the U.S. communications and supply center of Sidi Bou Zid. Rommel's forces, 60 miles (97 km) to the south-west, would conduct Operation Morgenluft to capture Gafsa and advance on Tozeur. On February 14 the 10th and 21st Panzer divisions began the Battle of Sidi Bou Zid , about 10 mi (16 km) west of Faïd, in

12546-494: The attempt. The Allied build-up continued, more aircraft became available and new airfields in eastern Algeria and Tunisia were built. The Allies reduced the flow of Axis troops and equipment into Tunis and Bizerta , but a sizable Axis force was already ashore. On January 23, 1943, the Allied Eighth Army took Tripoli , Erwin Rommel 's main supply base. Rommel had anticipated this, switching his line of supply to Tunis with

12699-579: The average male population in Germany. During World War II , there existed certain armed groups loyal to Germany that went under the name "Freikorps". These include: In France , a similar group (but unrelated to the Freikorps) were the "Corps Franc". Starting in October 1939, the French Army raised a number of Corps Franc units with the mission of carrying out ambush, raid, and harassing operations forward of

12852-482: The battle and the Allied command, instructed the 9th divisional artillery to stay behind. On the morning of February 22 an intense artillery barrage from the massed Allied guns forestalled the resumption of the 10th Panzer Division attack, destroying armor and vehicles and disrupting communications. Broich, the battle group commander, decided to pause and regroup but Allied reinforcements continued to arrive. Under constant fire, 10th Panzer waited until dark to retire from

13005-472: The battlefield, limiting effective Allied air reconnaissance and allowing relentless German bombing and strafing attacks that disrupted Allied attempts at deployment and organization. Attacks by the Luftwaffe in close support of German ground offensives often neutralized U.S. attempts to organize effective defensive artillery fire. General Dwight D. Eisenhower began restructuring the Allied command, creating

13158-620: The battlefield. Overextended and with supplies dwindling, pinned down by the Allied artillery in the pass in front of Thala and now facing U.S. counterattacks along the Hatab River, Rommel realized his strength was spent. At Sbiba, along the Hatab River and now at Thala, the efforts of the German and Italian forces had failed to make a decisive break in the Allied line. With little prospect of further success, Rommel judged that it would be wiser to break off to concentrate in South Tunisia and strike

13311-694: The battles of Krasnoi and the Berezina . Freikorps in the modern sense emerged in Germany during the course of the Napoleonic Wars. They fought not so much for money but for patriotic reasons, seeking to shake off the French Confederation of the Rhine . After the French under Emperor Napoleon had either conquered the German states or forced them to collaborate, remnants of the defeated armies continued to fight on in this fashion. Famous formations included

13464-433: The blame but Anderson, the First Army commander, was judged to be at fault for the failure to concentrate Allied armored units and keep forces concentrated, that later disintegrated into individual units. When Fredendall disclaimed all responsibility for the poorly equipped French XIX Corps and denied French requests for support, notably when under pressure at Faïd, Anderson allowed the request to go unfulfilled. Anderson

13617-501: The brutal and deadly beatings of suspected communists and particularly communist women. Freikorps ranks were composed primarily of former World War I soldiers who, upon demobilization , were unable to reintegrate into civilian society having been brutalized by the violence of the war physically and mentally. Combined with the government's poor support of veterans, who were dismissed as hysterical when suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder , many German veterans found comfort and

13770-512: The campaign and interfered with Allied plans for the Allied invasion of Sicily . The Germans lost 71 panzers —nearly 90 per cent of the tanks used—while sixty other vehicles were destroyed or captured. The Germans suffered nearly 2,800 casualties and another 2,200 men, who could not be easily replaced, were captured. The British suffered 1,800 casualties and lost 2,300 prisoners, 16 tanks, 17 guns, 13 anti-tank guns and forty other vehicles. On 17 March, Axis forces were reinforced by

13923-745: The capture of Bizerte in May 1943. For its actions, the Corps Franc d'Afrique was awarded the Croix de Guerre . The CFA formally was dissolved on 9 July 1943, with its members and equipment forming the corps of the newly created African Commando Group (GCA) on 13 July 1943 in Dupleix , Algeria , today seen as a forebear to the postwar Parachutist Shock Battalions and the modern day 13th RDP . The GCA went on to fight at Pianosa , Elba , Salerno , Provence , Belfort , Giromagny , Alsace , Cernay , Guebwiller , Buhl , and

14076-764: The coast of French Morocco and Algeria on November 8, 1942, during Operation Torch . This came only days after the breakthrough of the British Eighth Army ( Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery ) following the Second Battle of El Alamein . In response, German and Italian troops were ferried in from Sicily to occupy Tunisia, one of the few easily defended areas of North Africa and only one night's sail from bases in Sicily. This short passage made it very difficult for Allied naval vessels to intercept Axis transports, and air interdiction proved equally difficult, because

14229-421: The combined firepower of the defending force which had also laid minefields. The 21st Panzer Division was checked and then driven back by February 20. Defending the pass was a force consisting of the U.S. 1st Battalion, 26th Regimental Combat Team , the U.S. 19th Combat Engineer Regiment, the 6th Field Artillery Battalion , a tank destroyer battalion and a battery of French artillery. On the hills to their west

14382-606: The commando garrison, whose survivors were rescued by Churchill tanks. The Germans pressed on to a small ridge 6 mi (9.7 km) to the east of El Aroussa, where two battalions of the Hermann Göring Division and a supporting panzer company assaulted a position defended by the Churchill tanks of Suffolk Squadron, 142nd Regiment RAC. Firing from hull down positions, the Churchill tanks knocked out four Panzer IVs , disabled three Panzer IIIs and destroyed an 88 mm gun for

14535-400: The defeat in World War I. Of the numerous Weimar paramilitary groups active during that time, the Freikorps were, and remain, the most notable. While numbers are difficult to determine, historians agree that some 500,000 men were formal Freikorps members with another 1.5 million men participating informally. Amongst the social, political, and economic upheavals that marked the early years of

14688-496: The defences of the Mareth Line from the east. The villages of Gafsa, Metlaoui and Tozeur were to be held by mobile troops and most of the attack group was to return to the 1st Italian Army. The 10th Panzer Division had retired from Thala by early on 23 February and the 21st Panzer Division ended its attack on Sbiba on 24 February. The divisions were to refit and also rejoin the 1st Italian Army, ready for an attack in early March,

14841-403: The defenders were to absorb the first shock of an Axis attack on Béja, to give the defenders between Medjez and Beja at Hunt's Gap time to prepare. It was estimated the Germans attacked with thirteen infantry battalions, c.  13,000 men, with the supporting troops of two divisions c.  (30,000 men) on the northern front. During the night, Verey light signals began to go up in

14994-502: The eastern arm of the mountains, an excellent position to thrust east to the coast, split the Axis forces in southern Tunisia from the forces further north, and cut the line of supply to Tunis. Elements of the 5th Panzer Army, headed by General Hans-Jürgen von Arnim , reached the Allied positions on the eastern foot of the Atlas Mountains on January 30. The 21st Panzer Division met French troops at Faïd, and, despite excellent use of

15147-408: The eighty-eights seemed to be everywhere. The 21st Panzer Division resumed its advance towards Faïd. American infantry casualties were exacerbated by the practice of digging shallow shell scrapes instead of foxholes , as German tank drivers could easily crush a man inside a scrape by driving into it and simultaneously making a half-turn. Several attempts were made by the 1st Armored Division to stop

15300-579: The ethnic origin was often described imprecisely in the regimental lists. Slavs (Croats, Serbs) were often referred to as "Hungarians" or just "Croats", and Muslim recruits (Albanians, Bosnians, Tatars) as "Turks". Inspired by the Slavic troops in Austrian service, France, the Dutch Republic and other nations began employing "Free Troops", usually consisting of infantry and cavalry units. The Dutch Republic employed

15453-472: The evening of 25 February, their first objectives being Tally Ho corner, an important road junction and a knoll nicknamed Fort MacGregor. The Luftwaffe had attacked the British positions and shot up transport behind the front. At Fort MacGregor, D Company of the East Surreys were attacked by the paratroopers of the Hermann Göring Division. After two German attacks were repulsed, paratroopers blew holes in

15606-534: The farm. German artillery-fire was directed at them and shortly afterwards they were attacked by Junkers Ju 87 ( Stuka ) dive bombers, losing five Churchills. The 1st Troop pressed forward into the farm area with the Coldstream Guards but were pinned down. Another Churchill tank, commanded by Second Lieutenant J. C. Renton, arrived and two tanks made a 1,500 yd (1,400 m) dash across an exposed causeway covered by an 88 mm gun. At 20 yd (18 m)

15759-527: The free infantry which consisted of various military branches (such as infantry, hussars, dragoons, jäger ) and were used in combination. They were often used to ward off Maria Theresa 's Pandurs. In the era of linear tactics , light troops had been seen necessary for outpost, reinforcement and reconnaissance duties . During the war, eight such volunteer corps were set up: Because, some exceptions, they were seen as undisciplined and less battleworthy, they were used for less onerous guard and garrison duties. In

15912-595: The front and to keep command posts well forward, unlike Fredendall who had rarely visited the front line. (Ward was sent home, where he trained troops and then commanded the 20th Armored Division in Europe.) On 6 March, Major General George Patton was temporarily removed from planning for the Allied invasion of Sicily to command the II Corps . Bradley was appointed assistant corps commander and moved up to command of II Corps when Patton returned to planning for Sicily. Fredendall

16065-609: The front was held mostly by British infantry, with exceptionally strong backing by unified U.S. and British artillery, under Brigadier General Stafford LeRoy Irwin , the U.S. artillery commander. The British had 36 guns, supported by armoured cars of the Derbyshire Yeomanry and Valentine and Crusader tanks of the 17th/21st Lancers . Anderson ordered the 9th Infantry Division and its artillery support to Le Kef to meet an expected German attack but U.S. Major General Ernest N. Harmon , who had been sent by Eisenhower to report on

16218-412: The goal of blocking the southern approach to Tunisia from Tripoli at Gabès. The Mareth Line , which the French had built to protect against an Italian attack from Libya , was ... a line of antiquated French blockhouses, which in no way measured up to the standards required by modern warfare.... Allied troops had already crossed the Atlas Mountains and set up a forward base at Faïd , in the foothills on

16371-408: The ground, waiting for targets. On 28 February, Rommel ordered Oberst Rudolf Lang to hurry up and he ordered a pre-dawn attack by about ten Panzer IVs and lorried infantry after an artillery bombardment against the positions of B Company, 2/4th Hampshires. Churchill tanks knocked out four Panzer IVs, which halted the attack. The Germans then attacked again and penetrated C Company but the tanks of

16524-509: The gun fired and grazed the turret, before the crew fled and the Churchill flattened the gun; the Churchills then reached the summit of the pass and surprised the Germans there. The tanks came across German transport and shot them up as they went by, then knocked out two Panzer IIIs and two anti-tank guns as they tried to deploy. The Germans fled and as dusk fell the column was destroyed. Hollands and Renton were ordered to rejoin their squadron but

16677-565: The hill for several hours with all the medium and heavy guns and when the Surreys attacked again, it was empty save for six shell-shocked Germans. The paratroopers had been devastated by the shelling and had no choice but to withdraw. The summit was no bigger than a football pitch and was strewn with human remains, mostly German but also the British dead of D Company. Allfrey sent forward the Lancashire Fusiliers , 600 men of No. 6 Commando ,

16830-407: The hills around Sidi Nsir, and at 6:30 a.m. next morning, German mortars began firing on the British guns. After 45 minutes, German tanks drove down the road from Mateur and four of the 25-pounders opened fire. No. 1 gun had been specially placed at the top of a slope to cover the approach from Mateur and fired over open sights. The leading German tanks ran onto mines, were damaged and withdrew with

16983-543: The hills held by the Free French between Cap Serrat , the railway and Sedjenane . The French managed to repulse an Italian attack but were then overrun and many were taken prisoner. On 27 February, elements of the 139th Infantry Brigade of the 46th Infantry Division and attached No. 1 Commando , supported by the 70th Field and 5th Medium regiments RA , moved up to counter the German advance but lacked air support and were short of artillery ammunition, after taking part in

17136-413: The hussar Denis Davydov , a warrior-poet , formed volunteer partisan detachments functioning as Freikorps during the French retreat from Moscow . These irregular units operated in conjunction with Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov 's regular Russian Imperial Army and Ataman Matvei Platov 's Cossack detachments, harassing the French supply lines and inflicting defeats on the retreating Grande Armée in

17289-597: The immediate interwar era . Although World War I ended in Germany's surrender, many men in the Freikorps nonetheless viewed themselves as soldiers still engaged in active warfare with enemies of the traditional German Empire such as communists and Bolsheviks , Jews, socialists , and pacifists . Prominent Freikorps member Ernst von Salomon described his troops as "full of wild demand for revenge and action and adventure...a band of fighter...full of lust, exultant in anger." In 1977, German sociologist Klaus Theweleit published Male Fantasies, in which he argues that men in

17442-559: The inexperience of the new Allied commanders but was opposed by Arnim who, wanting to conserve strength in his sector, ignored Kesselring's orders and withheld the attached heavy tank unit of 10th Panzer. Rommel felt that most U.S. units and commanders had shown their inexperience, losing sight of the broader picture. Rommel was later impressed with how quickly U.S. commanders came to understand and implement mobile warfare and also praised U.S. equipment: "British experience has been put to good use in American equipment". Of particular interest to

17595-526: The infantry. At 11:00 a.m. the Germans made another attempt on the left flank, but F Troop opened fire and hit four German tanks, setting them ablaze. German infantry engaged B Company with small-arms fire, but were repulsed. Around midday, the Germans prepared to attack again, but massed British artillery fire broke up the attack before it began. By 1:00 p.m., thirty German tanks, self-propelled guns and infantry had worked round both flanks and were within 600 yd (550 m). The highest observation post

17748-465: The interior of the roughly triangular Atlas range, but with the exits blocked this was of little advantage to the Allies. For the next two weeks, Rommel and the Axis commanders further north debated what to do next. Rommel did not consider the Eighth Army a serious threat because, until Tripoli was open, Montgomery could maintain only a small force in south Tunisia. Ships commenced unloading on February 9 but

17901-467: The interior plain of the Atlas Mountains. The U.S. tanks were defeated and the infantry, poorly sited on three hills and unable to give mutual support, was isolated. A counterattack the next day was easily repulsed and on February 16 the Germans advanced towards Sbeitla . After the success at Sidi Bou Zid, Rommel ordered the Afrika Korps Assault Group to attack Gafsa on February 15, but, on

18054-403: The leading tank stalled and had to be given a tow start . The tank sortie destroyed two 88 mm, two 75 mm, and two 50 mm anti-tank guns, four smaller anti-tank guns, 25 wheeled vehicles, two 3-inch mortars and the two Panzer IIIs and inflicted nearly 200 casualties. The next day the French owner of the farm arrived at El Aroussa to say that the Germans had gone and the British occupied

18207-457: The loss of a Churchill. The German infantry suffered many casualties and the survivors withdrew after determined resistance by the British infantry supported by massed artillery. The British received reinforcements and counter-attacked after another bombardment, pushing the Germans back from Tally Ho corner into the hills east of the Medjez-El-Bab to El-Aroussa road during the night. After dark,

18360-421: The more unrestrained since they were fighting in a foreign land versus their own country. Hundreds were murdered in the Freikorps' Eastern campaigns, such as the massacre of 500 Latvian civilians suspected of harbouring Bolshevik sympathies or the capture of Riga which saw the Freikorps slaughter some 3,000 people. Summary executions via firing squads were most common, but several Freikorps members recorded

18513-520: The most famous soldier-poets from the Freikorps. Their lyrics were for the most part patriotic, republican, anti-monarchical and anti-French. In Russia, the leader of the guerrilla army, Davydov, invented the genre of hussar poetry, characterised by hedonism and bravado. He used events from his own life to illustrate such poetry. Later, when Mikhail Lermontov was a junker ( cadet ) in the Russian Imperial Army, he also wrote such poetry. Even in

18666-473: The moves to be covered by minor operations on the 5th Panzer Army front. On 24 February, Arnim flew to Rome without consulting Rommel and advocated an offensive towards Béja, being convinced that the British First Army (General Kenneth Anderson ), had sent reinforcements south from the northern front to save Sbiba and Thala . Arnim gained the approval of Kesselring for an attack on a wide front against

18819-519: The nearest Allied airbase to Tunisia, at Malta , was over 200 mi (320 km) away. The Run for Tunis in November and December 1942 is the term for an attempt to reach Tunis before German and Italian reinforcements could arrive. Because of the poor road and rail communications, only a small, division -sized Allied force could be supplied and due to the excellent defensive terrain, small numbers of German and Italian troops were sufficient to defeat

18972-505: The night before, Anderson ordered the defenders to evacuate Gafsa and make the main defence line the hills around Feriana , as he believed Gafsa should not be defended against a large attack. The next day, because of the threat to the southern flank, Anderson obtained Eisenhower's agreement and ordered a withdrawal from the Eastern Dorsale, to the line of the Western Dorsale from Feriana northwards. Early on February 17, Fredendall ordered

19125-546: The north between the town and Cap Serrat. The area was lightly held by poorly-equipped French troops of the Corps Francs d'Afrique . Division von Manteuffel led the attack with elite troops of the Luftwaffe Fallschirmjäger Regiment (motorized) "Barenthin" (Major Rudolf Witzig ) and the Italian 10th Bersaglieri Regiment . The Axis forces, with air support from the Luftwaffe made good progress across

19278-403: The north was the regrouping 1st Armored Division although only Combat Command B was fit for combat. The positions in the pass had been placed under Colonel Alexander Stark, commander of the 26th RCT, on the night of February 18 and the command named Stark Force. An attempt to surprise the Kasserine defenses by the 33rd Reconnaissance Unit into the pass failed and a battalion of Panzer grenadiers

19431-408: The objective of the road junction at El Aroussa . In the north, the improvised Division von Broich/von Manteuffel (Division von Manteuffel), in the subsidiary Unternehmen Ausladung (Operation Disembarkation), was to defeat the British in the Sedjenane valley, cut the communications from Jefna to Djebel Aboid and cover the northern flank of Korpsgruppe Weber . The operations would force

19584-554: The port was not fully operational until the end of the month. Rommel made a proposal in early February to Comando Supremo (Italian High Command in Rome) to attack with two battlegroups, including detachments from the 5th Panzer Army, toward two U.S. supply bases just to the west of the western arm of the mountains in Algeria. A quick thrust could capture the supplies and disrupt a U.S. attempt to concentrate forces near Tebessa. Arnim objected and

19737-550: The remainder of the campaign. For Prussia, the Pandurs , who were made up of Croats and Serbs , were a clear model for the organization of such "free" troops. On 15 July 1759, Frederick the Great ordered the creation of a squadron of volunteer hussars to be attached to the 1st Hussar Regiment (von Kleist's Own). He entrusted the creation and command of this new unit to Colonel Friedrich Wilhelm von Kleist. This first squadron (80 men)

19890-593: The remaining guns began; seven tanks were hit but one by one, the remaining British guns were hit by tank-gun and machine-gun fire. By nightfall, only one 25-pounder and several Bren guns remained, engaging the German tanks at ranges of from 10–20 yd (9.1–18.3 m). "Tanks are on us" was the last wireless message and Newham ordered the evacuation of battalion headquarters. When the battle began, there had been nine officers and 121 other ranks; nine men reached British lines, seven of whom were wounded. The defence of Sidi Nsir gained time to prepare defences at Hunt's Gap,

20043-429: The rocky soil of Tunisia, were still digging shallow slit trenches instead of deep foxholes. The 1st Armored Division was on the receiving end of German anti-tank and screening tactics and had not learned about those tactics from experienced British armored units. Others in the U.S. Army were well aware of the German deception tactics. The Allies were also unable to prevent the Germans from attaining air superiority over

20196-423: The salient at Medjez relieved and lateral roads in the V Corps area cleared, Anderson began to prepare the big attack scheduled for 22 April to take Tunis. Within three weeks the Axis front collapsed and the 230,000 remaining troops in Tunisia surrendered. Books Journals Websites Battle of Kasserine Pass The Battle of Kasserine Pass took place from 18-24 February 1943 at Kasserine Pass ,

20349-489: The shape of a bull's head. The northern horn, with most of the tanks, was to advance on the route from Mateur from the north-east, to capture Béja 40 km (25 mi) west of Medjez. The second group was to attack from Goubellat towards Sloughia and Oued Zarga to envelop the British at Mejez El Bab and the third group was to carry out a pincer attack in the Bou Arouda valley, then advance through El Aroussa to Gafour, with

20502-505: The so-called "petty wars", the Freikorps interdicted enemy supply lines with guerrilla warfare . In the case of capture, their members were at risk of being executed as irregular fighters. In Prussia the Freikorps , which Frederick the Great had despised as "vermin", were disbanded. Their soldiers were given no entitlement to pensions or invalidity payments. In France, many corps continued to exist until 1776. They were attached to regular dragoon regiments as jäger squadrons . During

20655-444: The southern flank by infiltrating forward under cover of a hill. At 3:00 p.m., German infantry commenced small-arms fire at close range and a column of tanks led by a Tiger moved along the road into the battery position, as thirteen more tanks gave covering fire from hull-down positions. The British gunners switched to armour piercing shot and knocked out three tanks, which blocked the road. At 5:30 p.m., another German attack on

20808-450: The success of the defence of Hunt's Gap, the no retreat order issued by General Harold Alexander (commander of the 18th Army Group ) and the end of the German attack, which saved the village. By 5 March, 2/4th Hampshires had lost 243 men killed or missing and were relieved by the 8th Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders , of the 36th Infantry Brigade, 78th Division. Weber ordered Lang to fall back to defensive positions; Rommel

20961-423: The trenches, spawned by war" and its process of brutalization, historians argue that Freikorps men idealized a militarized masculinity of aggression, physical domination, the absence of emotion (hardness). They were to be as "swift as greyhounds, tough as leather, [and] hard as Krupp steel" so as to defend what remained of German conservatism in times of social chaos, confusion, and revolution that came to define

21114-423: The war, 14 " free infantry " ( Frei-Infanterie ) units were created, mainly between 1756 and 1758, which were intended to be attractive to those soldiers who wanted military "adventure", but did not want to have to do military drill. A distinction should be made between the Freikorps formed up to 1759 for the final years of the war, which operated independently and disrupted the enemy with surprise attacks, and

21267-437: Was French General Welvert's Task Force Welvert comprising a U.S. Ranger and infantry battalion, three French infantry battalions, two U.S. field artillery battalions, four French artillery batteries and engineer and anti-aircraft detachments. Furthest west was Task Force Bowen (consisting of the 3rd Battalion of the 26th Regimental Combat Team), blocking the track from Feriana towards Tebessa. Between Task Force Bowen and Tebessa to

21420-451: Was a short-lived and unrecognized socialist-communist state from 12 April – 3 May 1919 in Bavaria during the German Revolution of 1918–19 . Following a series of political revolts and takeovers from German socialists and then Russian-backed Bolsheviks, Noske responded from Berlin by sending various Freikorps brigades to Bavaria in late April totalling some 30,000 men. The brigades included Hermann Ehrhardt's second Marine Brigade Freikorps,

21573-857: Was adamant; Kesselring finally agreed and formal orders from the Comando Supremo in Rome were issued that evening calling off the offensive and directing all Axis units to return to their start positions. On February 23 a massive American air attack on the pass hastened the German retreat and by late February 24 the pass had been reoccupied, Feriana was in Allied hands; Sidi Bou Zid and Sbeitla followed soon after. German losses at Kasserine were 201 killed, 536 wounded and 252 missing, totalling 989 casualties. In materiel , Germans lost 20 tanks, 67 vehicles and 14 guns. Allied forces captured 73 German and 535 Italian soldiers. American losses totalled 300 killed, 3,000 wounded, and 3,000 missing. Losses were so high that an additional 7,000 replacements were needed to recover units to their original strength. The French losses on

21726-577: Was also blamed for dispersing the three combat commands of the U.S. 1st Armored Division, despite the objections of Major General Orlando Ward , the divisional commander. U.S. Brigadier General Irwin later became commander of the 5th Infantry Division in Europe and went on to higher command, as did British Brigadier Nicholson, who later commanded the 2nd Infantry Division in India. Allied commanders were given greater scope for initiative and to keep forces concentrated. They were also urged to lead their units from

21879-424: Was appalled; the plan dispersed Axis forces and, through the passes, would expose their flanks. A concentrated attack on Tébessa, while entailing some risk, could yield badly needed supplies, destroy Allied potential for operations into central Tunisia and capture the airfield at Youks-les-Bains, west of Tébessa. In the early hours of February 19, Rommel ordered the Afrika Korps Assault Group from Feriana to attack

22032-449: Was attacked, its wireless transmitter destroyed and telephone lines cut. Eight Messerschmitt Bf 109s fighters strafed each gun in turn all day, inflicting casualties and also attacked rear areas. Several of the British vehicles on the road to Hunt's Gap were hit, and ammunition had to be salvaged at risk by the gunners. Bivouacs and ammunition dumps were also hit and left burning. Just after 2:30 p.m., German lorried infantry turned

22185-491: Was dismayed when he heard that 19 Tigers had been destroyed. Major Hans-Georg Lueder, commander of Schwere Panzer Abteilung 501 (Heavy Tank Battalion 501) was severely wounded and the detachment lost so many tanks that it ceased to be an effective fighting force. None of the Axis operational objectives were met, despite gaining some ground in the west. The battle cost the Germans the initiative; at best they had only slightly delayed an Allied offensive. The divisions needed for

22338-584: Was given command of Nickforce , all units north-west of the pass. During the night, the American positions on the two shoulders overlooking the pass were overrun and at 8:30 am German panzer grenadiers and Italian Bersaglieri resumed the attack. At 10:00 am Dunphie judged that Stark Force was about to give way and ordered Gore Force to the Thala side of the pass as elements of the Centauro Division launched their attack towards Tebessa and continued it during

22491-407: Was halted and, despite heavy pressure including air attacks, failed to dislodge the American defenders. Having brought the Axis drive towards Tebessa to a halt, General Paul Robinett and General Terry Allen now turned their attention to planning a counterattack that was to take place the next day, February 22. Plans made by both sides were upset by the battle, and the Axis forces (5th Bersaglieri,

22644-652: Was little to do until the Eighth Army arrived at Mareth. Rommel decided to attack through the Kasserine Pass into the main force of the U.S. II Corps at Tébessa to capture U.S. supplies on the Algerian side of the western arm of the mountains, eliminate the Allied ability to attack the coastal corridor linking Mareth and Tunis and threaten the southern flank of the First Army. On February 18, Rommel submitted his proposals to Albert Kesselring , who forwarded them with his blessing to

22797-438: Was ordered into the floor of the pass and another onto Djebel Semmama, the hill on its eastern flank and slow progress was made against artillery fire. The tanks of 1/8th Panzer Regiment were committed at noon but little further progress resulted against stubborn defense. Rommel decided to commit his units from the 10th Panzer to the Kasserine Pass the next morning in a coordinated attack with the Afrika Korps Assault Group, which

22950-466: Was pressed into the Afrika Korps position. Rommel had stayed with the main group of the 10th Panzer Division on the route toward Thala, where the 26th Armoured Brigade and remnants of the U.S. 26th Infantry Regiment had dug in on ridges. If the town fell and the southern of two roads from Thala to Tebessa was cut, the U.S. 9th Infantry Division to the north would be cut off and Combat Command B of

23103-593: Was raised in Dresden and consisted mainly of Hungarian deserters. This squadron was placed under the command of Lieutenant Johann Michael von Kovacs. At the end of 1759, the first four squadrons of dragoons (also called horse grenadiers) of the Freikorps were organised. They initially consisted of Prussian volunteers from Berlin, Magdeburg, Mecklenburg and Leipzig, but later recruited deserters. The Freikorps were regarded as unreliable by regular armies, so they were used mainly as sentries and for minor duties. . During

23256-705: Was reassigned to the United States and several other commanders were removed or promoted out of the way. Patton was not known for hesitancy and did not bother to request permission when taking action to support his command or other units requesting assistance. During the advance from Gafsa , Alexander, the 18th Army Group commander, had given detailed orders to Patton, afterwards changing II Corps' mission several times. Once beyond Maknassy, Alexander again gave orders Patton considered excessively detailed. From then on, Patton simply ignored those parts of mission orders he considered ill-advised on grounds of military expediency and/or

23409-512: Was to be joined by elements of the Italian 131st Armored Division Centauro . British reinforcements from the 26th Armoured Brigade ( 6th Armoured Division ) had been assembling at Thala and Brigadier Dunphie, making forward reconnaissance, decided to intervene. The First Army headquarters restricted him to sending Gore Force, a small combined-arms group of a company of infantry, a squadron of 11 tanks, an artillery battery and an anti-tank troop. Brigadier Cameron Nicholson (6th Armoured Division)

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