The Pursuers
A dangerous retreat
for the Panzerarmee Afrika.
Once more Panzergruppe Afrika recovered,
this time getting ready for the unavoidable enemy offensive which, as everybody
knew, would be launched with overwhelming resources. On 20 October 1942
Panzergruppe Afrika combat units' rations strength was 48,854, with the
following breakdown: 15.Panzer Division 9,368, 21.Panzer Division 9,517,
90.leichte Afrika Division 6,269, 164.leichte Afrika Division 9,623, 19.Flak
Division der Luftwaffe 6,302, Luftwaffe Jäger Brigade 1 (formerly the Ramcke Brigade) 4,706, Höhere Artillerie Kommandeur Afrika 3,069. Actual infantry combat
strength was 12,147, mostly with 164.Division (5,076) and the Luftwaffe Jäger Brigade (2,380). Panzergrenadier Regiment 104's combat strength
was 1,792, while Panzergrenadier Regiment 115's was 1,393. Tank strength
included 12 PzKpfw II, 38 PzKpfw III, 43 PzKpfw III Sp, two PzKpfw IV and 15
PzKpfw IV Sp with Panzer Regiment 8, plus another 18 PzKpfw II, 43 PzKpfw III,
43 PzKpfw III Sp, six PzKpfw IV and 15 PzKpfw IV Sp with Panzer Regiment 5.
The British offensive at EI Alamein started
on 23 October, and the battle eventually ended on 4 November 1942 with Rommel's
decision to withdraw, which marked the first, real defeat of the DAK. By 26
October Panzer Regiment 8's tank strength was down to eight PzKpfw II, 16
PzKpfw III, 16 PzKpfw III Sp, one PzKpfw IV and six PzKpfw IV Sp. It decreased
steadily until the end of October (on the 30th it was six PzKpfw II, 11 PzKpfw
III, 15 PzKpfw III Sp, one PzKpfw IV and four PzKpfw IV Sp), until Operation Supercharge
was launched. On 4 November Panzer Regiment 8's tank strength was three PzKpfw
III, one PzKpfw III Sp, one PzKpfw IV and one PzKpfw IV Sp. By 8 November it no
longer possessed a single Panzer. On 18 November DAK's strength, inclusive of
both 15. and 21.Panzer Divisions, was 17,767 (15.Panzer Division's combat
strength on 21 November was 1,125, its rations strength 6,923). Army, corps and
supply troops added 14,650 more. DAK's weapons inventory included 541 MGs, 14
mortars, 12 Paks, 35 Panzers, 16 armoured cars and 14 various guns. 90.leichte
Afrika Division's strength was 5,118 (the division had 322 MGs, 22 mortars, 31
Paks, four armoured cars and seven guns). 164.leichte Afrika Division's
strength was 4,935 (the division only had 127 MGs, 30 mortars and two Paks).
The long road back had begun.
On 31 October, Montgomery renewed the
attack with strong support from the Royal Air Force. Critically short of fuel
and ammunition, Rommel was forced to disengage on 3 November. The following
day, the 1,400-mile Axis withdrawal to Tunisia began.
For the next three months, Montgomery
followed rather than aggressively pursued Rommel and the Axis forces across the
northern coast of Africa. Rommel reached the Tunisian border at the end of
January 1943. By the time he got there, however, another Allied force was
waiting for him.
On 8 November 1942, four days after Rommel
began his long withdrawal, the British and Americans initiated Operation TORCH,
the invasion of Northwest Africa. U.S. Lieutenant General Dwight D. Eisenhower
had overall command. In a coordinated series of landings, the Western Task
Force under Major General George S. Patton Jr. landed on the Atlantic coast
near Casablanca; the Center Task Force under Major General Lloyd Fredendall
landed just inside the Mediterranean around Oran; and the Eastern Task Force
under Major General Charles Ryder landed near Algiers. Although all the landing
sites were in Vichy French territory, the ultimate objectives of the operation
were the Tunisian city of Tunis and the port and airfield complex at Bizerte.
Once Rommel’s Panzerarmee Afrika crossed
into southern Tunisia, it occupied positions in the old French fortifications
of the Mareth Line. Rommel’s 10 divisions were well below half strength, with a
total of only 78,000 troops and 129 tanks. Before he had to face Montgomery,
rapidly closing from the rear, Rommel intended to eliminate the threat of the
British First Army to his north. On 14 February, the Germans launched the first
leg of a two-pronged offensive, with von Arnim’s forces attacking through the
Faid Pass for Sidi Bou Zid. The following day, Rommel in the south attacked
toward Gafsa. The bulk of Rommel’s forces, however, remained along the Mareth
Line. By 18 February, the Kasserine Pass was in Axis hands, and the U.S. Army
had suffered its first major defeat at the hands of the Germans. Rommel tried
to advance north through the Kasserine Pass on 19 February, but he did not get
the support he expected from von Arnim. Hampered by a divided German command structure
and the rapidly massing Allied reinforcements, the attack stalled.
The Allies recaptured Kasserine Pass on 25
February. Rommel returned to the Mareth Line and prepared to face Montgomery.
When the Eighth Army reached Tunisia, the Allies reorganized their command
structure along the lines agreed to at the Casablanca Conference. General
Eisenhower became the Supreme Commander of all Allied forces in the
Mediterranean west of Tripoli. Alexander became Eisenhower’s deputy and
simultaneously commander of the 18th Army Group, which controlled the First and
Eighth Armies, and the now separate U.S. II Corps commanded by Patton. On 24
February, the Axis powers also realigned their command structure, with Rommel
becoming the commander of Armeegruppe Afrika, which included the Afrika Korps,
von Arnim’s Fifth Panzer Army, and the Italian First Army under General
Giovanni Messe. For the first time, the Axis powers had a unified command
structure in Africa.
Montgomery’s units crossed into Tunisia on
4 February, reaching Medenine on 16 February. Hoping to catch the British off
balance, Rommel on 6 March attacked south from the Mareth Line. Warned by
ULTRA, Montgomery was ready. Immediately following the failure of the Medenine
attack, Rommel returned to Germany on sick leave.
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