Rommel's victory in North Africa depended on an
army of bumbling Yanks as an enemy. Turns out
the GIs learned quickly from their rookie mistakes.
The vaunted Afrika Korps was stalled outside Tebessa
and 21st Panzer was stuck, well short of its objective,
Sbiba. Both pinned down by Allied fire.
It's Sunday and time had run out.
Rommel's final move was 10th Panzer to take Thala.
The breakthrough must be here and now or this
entire adventure would be a colossal waste.
It's either stampede the Yanks or be caught in a vise,
ground down between two imposing Allied armies.
10th Panzer was too big to be stopped.
Troops defending Thala worked frantically to get
their men and equipment in place and ready.
They needed more time.
General Dunphie's orders were to slow Rommel down.
Make the panzers pay dearly for every foot they advanced.
Dunphie's Valentine tanks would have to go toe-to-toe,
exchanging blows with German tanks that were a
few armored classes better than Dunphie's best.
Buying time meant sacrificing the tankers manning
those Valentines.
The Yanks were a worthy opponent, according to
Rommel. Not as good as the Brits, but they were
learning. Even as American GIs were running
from him at Kasserine, Rommel marveled at
the equipment they abandoned. He was positively
jealous, and concerned. He had no idea the Yankee
military could be so well stocked. And with quality
equipment, as well. He'd never seen anything like it.
He remarked about knocking out 40 Sherman tanks
and in a couple of days they had all been replaced.
It was like his victory counted for nothing.
Here was a general frustrated.
He had no answer for this onslaught of military plenty.
It was a soggy experience for everyone at Kasserine.
You were doused by heavy rains and you slogged
your way through thick mud daily.
That held true for Sunday - day of the final assault
on Thala. Dunphie's armor did battle and fell back
throughout the day, until they reached the Allied
final line of defense. Dunphie's jeep was the last
vehicle through. That should be it. But wait.
Here comes a Valentine up the road.
Must be stragglers. Let them in.
Big mistake.
It's the old Trojan Horse ploy.
They were waved on through.
The Nazis captured this Valentine, then drove it
right through the Allied defense. Rommel's
armor quickly followed. A melee erupted.
It was chaotic, with tanks and soldiers running about,
firing point blank into one another. All the while brilliant
flairs drifted down from above giving the view below
a stark light of almost black and white. After three hours
both sides retreated from the fight, exhausted.
The battle was a draw.
Thala held.
The clouds parted on Monday.
Rommel looked upward and saw overhead hundreds
of Allied planes flying about blue skies,
busy bombing and strafing his men.
Kasserine was over. Rommel needed to get his troops
to Mareth. There was no time to lose.
The map shows why Mareth was so important.
The front line was both fortified and narrow.
Any flanking attempt by Montgomery would be
channeled through a roundabout pass that should
be easily defended. But for how long? Time was
still Rommel's enemy. Each day new troops, tanks
and planes arrived to strengthen the Allied position
in Tunisia. Rommel got driblets and empty promises
by comparison, because Germany had problems
with their war in Russia.
Hitler was losing.
Arnim was right. Rommel's plan was too ambitious.
The fuel and supplies wouldn't be there for all
he wanted to do. Rommel knew this but that just
made his venture a longshot. Unfortunately,
every strategy available to the Axis in North Africa
required some longshot maneuver to avoid defeat.
That maneuver was lost at Kasserine.
In Rommel's mind North Africa was gone.
Italy would be the next battlefield.
Imagine how that would go over with
Mussolini or Hitler.
Rommel was just naive enough to take on
that task.
* * * * *
OVER EASY
