Battle of El Guettar

Battle of El Guettar
Part of the Tunisia Campaign of World War II
An American soldier hands out cigarettes to captured Bersaglieris of the Centauro Division near El Guettar in March 1943.
Date 23 March – 3 April 1943 Location El Guettar, Tunisia Result Indecisive
Belligerents
United States	Germany  Italy
Commanders and leaders
George S. Patton	Jürgen von Arnim Giovanni Messe
Casualties and losses
35–55 tanks lost 4,000–5,000 killed or wounded	40+ tanks lost 4,000–6,000 killed or wounded in 3 weeks

The Battle of El Guettar was a battle that took place during the Tunisia Campaign of World War II, fought between elements of the Army Group Africa under General Hans-Jürgen von Arnim, along with Italian forces under General Giovanni Messe, and U.S. II Corps under Lieutenant General George Patton in south-central Tunisia. It was the first battle in which U.S. forces were able to defeat the experienced German tank units, but the followup to the battle was inconclusive.

The U.S. II Corps had been badly mauled in their first encounter with Axis forces in Tunisia in a series of battles that culminated in the disastrous Battle of the Kasserine Pass in late February 1943. Erwin Rommel—poised on the threshold of a complete tactical victory—turned from the battle to return to his eastward-facing defenses at the Mareth Line when he heard of the approach of Bernard Montgomery′s British 8th Army. Thus the battle concluded with the U.S. forces still in the field, but having lost ground and men, and with little confidence in some key commanders.

In the last week of January 1943, despite a massive artillery bombardment, the 14th Bersaglieri Battalion of the 131st Armoured Division Centauro dug in near Djebel Rihana. Harold V. Boyle, an Irish war correspondent, wrote that a second attack was required using grenades and bayonets in order to evict the Italians:

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