Battle of Kasserine Pass

Part of the Tunisia Campaign of World War II

Men of the 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. 1st Infantry Division march through the Kasserine Pass and on to Kasserine and Farriana, Tunisia February 26, 1943.

Date	February 19–24, 1943
Location	Kasserine Pass, Tunisia
Result	Axis victory

Belligerents

United States

United Kingdom

Free France

Germany

Italy

Commanders and leaders

Lloyd Fredendall

Kenneth Anderson

Erwin Rommel

Strength

30,000

22,000

Casualties and losses

Including Sidi Bou Zid:
10,000 (including 6,500 Americans)
183 tanks

Including Sidi Bou Zid:
2,000
34 tanks

The Battle of Kasserine Pass was a battle of the Tunisia Campaign of World War II that took place in February 1943. Kasserine Pass is a 2 mi (3.2 km) wide gap in the Grand Dorsal chain of the Atlas Mountains in west central Tunisia. The Axis forces, led by Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel, were primarily from the Afrika Korps Assault Group, elements of the Italian Centauro Armoured Division and two Panzer divisions detached from the 5th Panzer Army, while the Allied forces consisted of 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 big engagement between American and German forces in World War II. Inexperienced and poorly led American troops suffered many casualties and were quickly pushed back over 50 miles (80 km) from their positions west of Faïd Pass. After the early defeat, elements of the U.S. II Corps, with British reinforcements, rallied and held the exits through mountain passes in western Tunisia, defeating the Axis offensive. As a result of the battle, the U.S. Army instituted sweeping changes of unit organization and replaced commanders and some types of equipment.

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