Battle of Kasserine Pass (1943): America's First Defeat in Africa

The Battle of Kasserine Pass, fought in west-central Tunisia from 19 to 24 February 1943, was the US Army’s first large-scale engagement with German forces in the Second World War. Troops under Field Marshal Erwin Rommel broke through American positions and drove them back some 80 km, before the advance was stopped near Thala.

The defeat shocked the United States, but it also prompted rapid changes in command, training and tactics that helped American forces win later in Tunisia and in Europe.

Background

In November 1942 Anglo-American forces landed in Morocco and Algeria in Operation Torch and raced east towards Tunis. Germany and Italy rushed troops into Tunisia and halted them in the hills short of the capital.

At the same time, Rommel’s German-Italian army was retreating west across Libya after its defeat at the Second Battle of El Alamein. By early 1943 it had reached the Mareth Line in southern Tunisia. The Axis now held a bridgehead facing the British Eighth Army in the south-east and the Allied First Army, including the US II Corps, in the west.

The US II Corps, commanded by Major General Lloyd Fredendall, held the southern part of the western front along the Eastern Dorsal mountains. Its units were green, scattered and often split into small detachments.

Sidi Bou Zid and the road to Kasserine

On 14 February 1943, German armour under General Hans-Jürgen von Arnim attacked American positions at Sidi Bou Zid. US troops on isolated hills were surrounded, and counter-attacks by the 1st Armored Division were destroyed piecemeal. Within days, the Americans had lost large numbers of tanks and men and had to abandon Gafsa, Sbeitla and the airfields at Thelepte.

Rommel then urged a deeper thrust through the Western Dorsal to threaten the Allied supply base at Tébessa in Algeria. The Axis command approved a more limited attack, and on 19 February Rommel’s forces struck at Kasserine Pass and at Sbiba to the north.

The battle

The pass was held by a mixed and hastily assembled force of US infantry, engineers and artillery, with French support. Fighting went on through 19 February, and on 20 February German and Italian units, including Afrika Korps veterans, broke through. Many Americans were overrun or retreated in disorder, abandoning equipment.

Beyond the pass the Axis advance split. One thrust moved towards Tébessa, where US armour and artillery checked it. The main thrust went north towards Thala, defended by a small British armoured force, the 26th Armoured Brigade, which fought a costly delaying action on 21 February.

That night, artillery of the US 9th Infantry Division arrived after a long forced march from Algeria and joined the defence of Thala. On 22 February their massed fire, together with British resistance, halted the attack. Short of fuel and facing growing Allied strength, Rommel ordered a withdrawal, and by 24–25 February the Allies had reoccupied the pass.

Key people

• Erwin Rommel (1891–1944), commander of the German-Italian Panzer Army, who conceived the drive on Tébessa.
• Hans-Jürgen von Arnim (1889–1962), commander of the 5th Panzer Army in northern Tunisia, who led the opening attack at Sidi Bou Zid.
• Lloyd Fredendall (1883–1963), commander of US II Corps, criticised for remote command from a large bunker headquarters far behind the front.
• Kenneth Anderson (1891–1959), British commander of the Allied First Army.

Losses and lessons

US casualties in the fighting from Sidi Bou Zid to Kasserine are generally put at about 6,000, including several thousand taken prisoner. The Americans lost around 180 tanks and many guns and vehicles. Axis losses were much smaller, usually estimated at under 2,000 men.

The US Army learned quickly. General Dwight D. Eisenhower replaced Fredendall with Major General George S. Patton on 6 March 1943, with Omar Bradley as his deputy. Units were concentrated instead of dispersed, artillery fire control improved, and air and ground forces were better coordinated.

Kasserine also exposed friction in the Allied command. Rommel and von Arnim disagreed over objectives, which weakened the Axis attack, while on the Allied side British, American and French units had fought under a confused, overlapping chain of command. A reorganisation soon placed General Harold Alexander in overall charge of Allied ground forces in Tunisia.

Timeline

• 1942, 8 November: Operation Torch lands Allied forces in Morocco and Algeria.
• 1943, 14 February: German attack at Sidi Bou Zid overwhelms US positions.
• 1943, 19 February: Rommel’s forces attack Kasserine Pass and Sbiba.
• 1943, 20 February: Axis troops break through the pass.
• 1943, 21–22 February: British and US forces halt the advance before Thala.
• 1943, 22–23 February: Rommel orders a withdrawal.
• 1943, 6 March: Patton takes command of US II Corps.
• 1943, 13 May: Axis forces in Tunisia surrender.

Why it matters

Kasserine Pass exposed the inexperience of the US Army in its first major battle against Germany. The defeat was costly but limited, and the reforms that followed made American forces far more effective in the final victory in Tunisia, the Allied invasion of Sicily and beyond.