Kasserine Pass

1014 Words3 Pages

After the Allies were pushed through the city of Feriana by Rommel on the February 17, he followed them through, straight into an ambush. The Allies, while retreating had moved a second tank outfit into place along the path that the Allies were falling back on. This way when Rommel came through with his Panzer division, the Allies had the element of surprise, and were able to destroy a large number of the attacking German tanks (Painton 1). The Germans prevailed however and took the valuable pass at Kasserine. From there it was up to the Allies to hold the other side of the pass and to retake it from the Germans. This would require heavy use of aircraft considering that this was one advantage that the Allies had over the Germans. Both sides used artillery extensively and to great effect. Mainly the artillery on both sides were comparable, the Allies were firing one-hundred-five millimeter shells while the Germans were using eighty-eights. The Germans, however had eighty-eight millimeter guns on their tanks too, while the Allies only had seventy-fives mounted on half tracks (Newton).

The Allied plan for retaking Kasserine pass on February 22, involved many complicated parts that all had to fit together well and be well coordinated in order to work and push the Afrika Corps back through the pass. The pieces to be utilized included an artillery barrage followed by a massive low-level air strike and then an advance of tanks and anti-tank mobile guns supported by what infantry was left after Rommel’s offensive (Painton 2-3). The first measure was to pound the Germans with a massive artillery strike combined with an air attack, but the weather would not permit an air strike, so the Allies had to rely on their one hundre...

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.../ 3033536.html?page=1&c=y>.

Painton, Frederick C. "Comeback at Kasserine Pass." Saturday Evening Post 215 (1943): 20-84. EBESCO Host. Furman University. 26 Nov. 2007 .

Philipsborn, Martin, Jr., and Milton Lehman. "The Untold Story of Kasserine Pass." Saturday Evening Post 220 (1948): 23-106.

Pimlott, John. The Atlas of World War II. Philadelphia, PA: Running Press, 2006.

Trueman, Chris. Kasserine Pass. 29 Nov. 2000. Ask.com. 27 Nov. 2007 .

Temple, Truman. "Kasserine Pass and the Proper Application of Air Power." Joint Force Quarterly 20 (1999): 71-8. EBSCO Host. Furman University. 27 Nov. 2007 .

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