British V Corps The British V Corps began with a preliminary attack on 21 April, aimed at retaking the heights of Djebel el Ahmera, Sidi Ahmed ridge and Djebel Rhar, known collectively as Longstop Hill. The hill had been lost to the Germans four months earlier. The hill was defended by the reinforced
999th Light Afrika Division which was composed of the 962nd
Afrika-Schützen-Regiment and the III/754th Grenadier Regiment. Infantry of the
78th (Battleaxe) Division and Churchill Mk III tanks of the
North Irish Horse assaulted the position. Djebel Ahmera was seized on 24 April by the
Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and the
East Surrey Regiment after severe fighting. Later that day an attempt was made by East Surreys and a squadron of tanks, to clear Sidi Ahmed ridge just north of Longstop Hill and that too was captured and held. , with a Churchill tank of the
North Irish Horse in the background, during the attack on Longstop Hill (Djebel Rhar), 23 April 1943. The main hill, Djebel Rhar was attacked on 26 April, when the
Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) along with Churchill tanks stormed up the hill. With gradients of 1:3 the Churchills managed to creep over the crest of the hill and breached the German defences, much to the surprise of the defenders. The Buffs and Argylls then cleared the German positions - some 650 prisoners were taken during the battle. Longstop was the last great natural barrier barring movement towards Tunis. Once Longstop had been taken the 24th Guards Brigade launched an attack against Djebels Assoud and Bou Aoukaz on 27 April - two dominating positions approaching
Tebourba. Advancing some 2,000 yards through the Gab Gab Gap they took the
Irish Guards took Djebel Assoud while the
Grenadier Guards took Djebel Bou Aoukaz despite heavy casualties. The Germans counter attacked and managed to regain the left flank of Djebel Bou Aoukaz. The
Scots Guards attempted to regain the positions, but eventually the hill became isolated by 29 April due to heavy bombardments and exposure to machine gun and mortar fire. In this time, Von Arnim, desperate to plug gaps had formed all remaining armoured units into one force -
Kampfgruppe Irkens, commanded by Oberst Josef Irkens. By May 1 the Irish Guards were finally relieved on Djebel Assoud with only 80 survivors. Up to 700 German dead were counted in front of them. In this action the 24th Guards Brigade won two
Victoria Crosses. The right flank of V Corps attack was made by the
1st Infantry Division and the
4th Infantry Division in the Medjerda valley and Medjez el Bab. 1st Division's objective was Point 174 (Gueriat el Atach), a ridge near
Crich-El-Oued and Medjez El Bab. On 22 April, the attack began with 45 tanks of the
142nd Regiment Royal Armoured Corps and the
2nd Infantry Brigade backed by massed artillery. The 2nd
North Staffords, seized the nearby Points 151 and 156, holding both against German counter attacks. The
Loyal Regiment then led the assault on Point 174 that was captured in a costly success; while digging in they were ejected by a German counter-attack. The next day, the
3rd Infantry Brigade with support of Churchill tanks from
48th Royal Tank Regiment and
147 Regiment Royal Armoured Corps launched a new attack. The 2nd Battalion
Sherwood Foresters without tank support, (who were late arriving), had managed to capture a position near Point 174 and in an assault finally seized the whole objective. Following it capture, the following day the Germans again counter-attacked with tanks including Tigers from the 504th Heavy Panzer Battalion (schwere Panzer-Abteilung 504). The leading platoon was almost overrun with only
PIAT and mortar fire to defend against the Tigers. Churchill tanks and anti-tank guns were brought up on time and the counterattack was repelled with the Germans in retreat. A number of German tanks were taken out, including a Tiger tank (
Tiger 131) which was captured intact with only light damage. The crew had abandoned the tank failing to destroy it, and this would prove valuable. By the end of April, it had taken V Corps eight days to penetrate and capture most of the Axis defensive positions. The battle had drawn the Axis reserves of armour south, away from the central front.
British IX and French XIX Corps On the morning of 22 April, the 46th Division attacked on the IX Corps front, aiming for the hills northeast of
Bou Arada held by elements of elite
Division Hermann Göring. It was hoped that a gap would be created for the 6th Armoured Division to pass through by nightfall, followed by 1st Armoured Division into the Goubellat plain. After a heavy artillery bombardment the 46th struck and in heavy fighting took its objectives, but took two days to fully clear and thus was not quick enough to forestall the creation of a strong anti-tank screen. The 6th Armoured Division managed to pierce the German defences but were unable to break out quick enough. The 17/21st Lancers took a key position known as 'Two Tree Hill' taking out the anti-tank defences on 23 April. The following day as the tanks moved further on, deep
Wadis and broken ground held up the advance, and fierce tank on tank engagements took place over the next two days around Djebel es Srassif. 6th Armoured nevertheless overcame the German armour having lost three Shermans while they had knocked out some fourteen tanks (one Tiger and thirteen MKIII & MKIVs). By 24 April, 6th Armoured Division had advanced to the next line of hills and into the gap by the lake of
Sebkhet el Kourzia. This however was as far as they got as Axis reinforcements began to tell bringing the British armour to a halt. Crocker by this stage had realised that it was too late for a break out attempt. The next day 1st Armoured was switched to 6th Armoured's positions, but the former could make little headway against Djebel Kournine, a well defended hill position. By the middle of Operation Vulcan, the British and French were holding onto their objectives despite counter attacks. Both sides suffered heavy losses, but these were more crippling to the Axis, who could not afford them - 10th Panzer Division had less than 25 operational tanks left and there were none left for resupply. Von Arnim, realising 6th Armoured's deep advance, ordered reinforcements immediately from 1st Italian Army and the 10th Panzer Division as the southern wing of the Hermann Göring division began to buckle. French XIX Corps meanwhile attacked through the Kebir River valley and had penetrated to within sight of
Djebel-el-Zaghouan and indented the flanks at Pont-du-Fahs. Further advances however were checked with heavy losses and so the French advance came to a halt. The attacks by the British and French meant that the Germans were forced to withdraw to shorten their defence line. On 24 April, the 4th Infantry Division went to attack three features around Peter's Corner, Sidi Abdullah, Cactus Farm and 'Point 133'. Once captured, it was then hoped that 10th and
21st Tank Brigades would storm through beyond the sheltered village of Ksar Tyr. The fighting was costly against German units in well-prepared and dug-in defences. They were opposed by German
Fallschirmjager (paratroops) of the elite Division
Hermann Göring. At Cactus Farm, the British infantry was faced by extensive defensive fire from well-concealed German paratroopers. Churchill tanks of the
12th Royal Tank Regiment (21st Tank Brigade) advanced without infantry support and the tanks were attacked with
Molotov cocktails and sticky
Teller anti-tank mines. Twelve tanks were destroyed and in some cases, their crews were rescued by the Germans. On 30 April another attack went in again, but the Germans had already evacuated the farm having to shorten their defence line, due to attacks elsewhere. Seeing that no further progress was likely, Anderson withdrew the 6th Armoured Division and most of the 46th Infantry Division into army reserve.
II US Corps II US Corps commanded by Major General
Omar Bradley attacked on two areas in the North and the South. The Northern attack began on 23 April with the
Corps francs d'Afrique, a mixed force of French escapees from
Vichy France, Moroccan
Tabors,
Berber tribesmen, Spanish Loyalists and other political refugees in support. They had been trained and equipped by the British earlier in the year. Avoiding the valleys the Americans took the more strenuous task of attacking along the ridges sometimes with
mule trains. Despite heavy casualties the objectives were taken by 25 April and held against counter attacks. armoured car in Tunisia, 21 April 1943 manned by US troops The
9th Infantry division next to them moved towards
Jefna with Djebel Anchouna and the Hills beyond - 432 ('Bald') and 438 ('Green') as their objectives. By 30 April after heaving fighting Djebel Anchouna's crests were taken, and after a heavy artillery bombardment the Germans abandoned Jefna. The Americans then captured 'Green' and 'Bald' Hills which opened up the Jefna-Mataur road and leaving Axis forces hanging on the edge of the Mateur plain. Meanwhile the Southern attack was directed against Hill 609 (Djebel Tahent) which was the last commanding height on the German defensive line in front of them. It was thus heavily defended and was one of the most difficult objectives in Tunisia due to its steep slopes. The hill was flanked by two others Hill 490 and Hill 531. On 26 April the attack commenced -
34th Infantry Division was ordered to take the hill backed by II US Corps artillery. After bitter resistance from the German defenders which included a German paratroop unit (Barenthin), the attack stalled over the next two days with severe casualties. Hearing of the failure thus far Anderson requested that hill should be bypassed, but Bradley angrily turned this down. The attack went in again and Hill 490 was won on 28 April, but attempts on Hill 531 and 609 again stalled. German flanking fire made the assault costly. Further attempts resulted in heavy losses and by 29 April, US units had gained Hill 531 but attacks on Hill 609 had again been repelled. By this point US losses were 183 killed, 1,594 wounded and some 676 captured or missing. On 30 April Bradley desperately wanted the hill seized and this time sent in Sherman tanks. With heavy artillery support, the Americans despite losing a number of tanks reached the hill and drove off the Germans. The expected German counter-attack came in the next day, but the Americans, having dug in on the plateau, held on to their positions.
Final attacks On 29 April, a final attempt was made on the Eighth Army front to capture Djebels Srafi and Terhouna in the hope to break out to the Cape Bon peninsula. The responsibility for keeping the left flank of Montgomery was to fall on the
2nd New Zealand Division and the 201st Guards Brigade, while the main coastal assault was to be led by the 4th Indian Division. The attack went in - capturing Djebel Terhouna, a strategic high ground five miles north of Enfidaville. The hill was held and Axis counterattacks were repelled the following day. This was followed by an attack by the
169th Infantry Brigade of
56th (London) Infantry Division. The division was inexperienced, and had only been on the front for 48 hours having just arrived after a journey from
Syria. They were to attack Djebel Srafi a hill that lay just before the area of
Hammamet which were held by the
German 90th Light Infantry Division. The attack went in and succeeded in taking the position, but a German counterattack combined with British artillery attempting to fend of the attack caused panic forcing the brigade to retreat having suffered less than 250 casualties. The result of this convinced Montgomery and Alexander that an Eighth Army attack north from Enfidaville, into strongly-held and difficult terrain, would not succeed. By 1 May, the seizure of Hill 609 forced the Germans to retreat to a defensive line near the Garaet Achkel salt lake only from Bizerte. Kef en Nsour was taken on 2 May which overlooked the Mateur plain. Mateur itself was taken and US forces came within thirteen miles of Bizerte, north of Achkel, as the Axis forces moved south on Tunis attempting to find refuge at Cape Bon. ==Aftermath==