Battle of Longstop Hill (1943)

Battle of Longstop Hill (1943)
Part of The Tunisia Campaign of the Second World War
British troops bring down wounded during the attack on Longstop Hill; a Churchill tank is in the background,
Date 22–23 April 1943 Location Djebel el Ahmera, Djebel Rhar, Tunisia 34°N 09°E / 34°N 9°E / 34; 9Coordinates: 34°N 09°E / 34°N 9°E / 34; 9 Result British victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom	Germany
Commanders and leaders
Vyvyan Evelegh	Ernst-Günther Baade
Strength
78th Division	999th Light Afrika Division
Casualties and losses
400 casualties	500 casualties 600 captured

The 2nd Battle of Longstop Hill or the Capture of Longstop Hill took place in Tunisia during the Tunisia Campaign from 21 to 23 April 1943. The battle was fought for control over the heights of Djebel el Ahmera and Djebel Rhar, together known as Longstop Hill and vicinity, between the British forces of the First Army and German units of the 5th Panzer Army. The infantry of the 78th Battleaxe Division and Churchill tanks of the North Irish Horse captured Longstop Hill after bitter fighting, in which the tanks created a measure of tactical surprise by driving up the hill, a manoeuvre that only Churchill tanks could achieve. The attackers broke through the German defences, which were the last great natural barrier on the road to Tunis.

The Run for Tunis, an Allied effort to capture Tunis in late 1942 following Operation Torch had failed and since the end of the year, a stalemate had settled on the theatre as both sides paused to re-build their strength. The 5th Panzer Army (Hans-Jürgen von Arnim) defending Tunisia was being strengthened as was the Allied First Army (Kenneth Anderson).

In January 1943, the German-Italian Panzer Army (Erwin Rommel) confronting the Eighth Army (Bernard Montgomery) had withdrawn westwards and joined the 5th Panzer Army. Army Group Africa was formed, with the two Axis armies under command of Rommel. In March, the Army Group was defeated by the Eighth Army at the Battle of Medenine and the Battle of the Mareth Line which fell after Rommel's return to Germany. In the central west, north of Medjez el Bab and some 30 miles (48 km) from Tunis, the First Army continued to fight for the dominating, German-held peaks, in the Medjerda Valley. This included a massif with the hills known as Djebel Ahmera and Dejebel Rhar.

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