CHAPTER 8: A BITS AND PIECES WAR

"Goats Set Out to Lure a Tiger"

The almond trees: Robinett, Armor Command, 15255 (panniers heaped and grave markers); Moorehead, 109 (veiled women peered); Henry E. Gardiner, ts, n.d., USMA Arch, 120 (its brakes stuck).

As a first line of defense: Anthony Clayton, Three Marshals of France, 74 ("British senior officers"); Adrian Clements Gore, "This Was the Way It Was," ts, 1987, IWM, 90/29/1 ("a comic-opera soldier").

The French possessed almost no: Truscott, Command Missions, 135; Anderson, "Operations in North West Africa," June 7, 1943, London Gazette; Ankrum, 207, 225; Liebling, Mollie & Other War Pieces, 92 ("goats set out"); msg, Advance AFHQ to AFHQ, Feb. 3 and 4, 1943, NARA, AFHQ micro, R-100-D, 319.1 ("somewhat discouraged").

"This past week": "Memo for diary," Jan. 19, 1943, Chandler, 909; Three Years, 24243 ("one of the world's greatest"), 244, 245 ("Mud is a silly alibi"), 250; DDE to J. T. McNarney, Jan. 19, 1943, Chandler, 914 ("There is no use").

The abrupt scuttling: DDE to GCM, Jan. 30, 1943, Chandler, 932 ("We must keep"); DDE to CCS, Feb. 3, 1943, Chandler, 934 ("offensively defensive"); Butcher diary, Jan. 18, 1943, DDE Lib, A-161 ("I don't want anything").

In this the Germans: NWAf, 377; memo, DDE to W. B. Smith, Jan. 11, 1943, and memo, L. W. Rooks to W. B. Smith, Feb. 11, 1943, NARA AFHQ micro, R-71 Special ("no action can be taken"); Rame, 221 ("retiring from crest to crest"); Anderson, "Operations in North West Africa" ("not hopeful").

General Anderson ordered: NWAf, 378, 382; "Report of Ousseltia Valley Campaign, 1929 January 1943," CCB, 1st AD, Feb. 12, 1943, NARA RG 407, E 427, 601-CCB-0.3 ("An excellent example"); Rame, 21819 ("a lake of morning mist"); "The French Army of North Africa in the Tunisian Campaign," lecture, 1943, Fort Hood, William S. Biddle Papers, MHI; Howe, The Battle History of the 1st Armored Division, 11113; Truscott, Command Missions, 138 (400 Germans).

French casualties: NWAf, 382, 386n, 387; "Report of Liaison Officer on French Troops," Jan. 24, 1943, LKT Jr. Papers, GCM Lib, box 9, folder 5 ("French can no longer"); memo, DDE, Jan. 19, 1943, Chandler, 909; "Personal Diary of Lt. Gen. C. W. Allfrey, the Tunisian Campaign," Jan. 13, 1943, Allfrey Collection, LHC; Anderson, "Operations in North West Africa" G-1 report, HQ II Corps, Feb. 14, 1943, NARA RG 492, MTOUSA, box 263; Eisenhower, Crusade in Europe, 489; DDE to Anderson, Jan. 26, 1943, Chandler, 922.

He had no sooner: Three Years, 24445, 255; DDE to W. B. Smith, Jan. 26, 1943, Chandler, 923 ("barracks used by our soldiers"); DDE to T. Handy, Jan. 28, 1943, Chandler, 927 ("As much as we preach").

Orlando Ward, who ostensibly commanded: Gugeler, ts, OW, MHI, X-62; diary, Jan. 23, 28, 1943, OW, MHI; Truscott, Command Missions, 142; NWAf, 38788; Fredendall to LKT Jr, phone transcript, Jan. 24, 1943, LKT Jr. Papers, GCM Lib, box 9, folder 5 ("Remember that force"); Howze, OH, Aug. 1976, Russell Gugeler, OW, MHI; "Report of Operation, 27 January3 February 1943," 1st AD, NARA RG 407, E 427, box 14767; Knickerbocker et al., 59, 82 ("bits and pieces").

General von Arnim duly noted: author visit, April 2000; Carell, 333 ("my nightmare"); Wilson, "The Operations of the 509th Parachute Battalion in North Africa" James B. Carvey, "Fad Pass," Infantry Journal, Sept. 1944, 8.

That was about to change: Howze, "The Battle of Sidi bou Zid," lecture, n.d., Cavalry School, MHI ("Do not fire"); Akers, OH, July 27, 1949, SM, MHI; Truscott, Command Missions, 150; Hansen, 2/80 ("the most important point"); Blumenson, "Kasserine Pass, 30 January22 February 1943," in Heller and Stofft, eds., 245.

Prompt, decisive action: "Narrative of Events from 23 January 1943 to 26 February," CCA, 1st AD, NARA RG 407, E 427, 601-CCA-0.3, box 14767; Blumenson, Kasserine Pass, 108.

McQuillin's nickname: R. E. McQuillin, Army biographical files, MHI; Robert Simons, OH, July 1976, Gugeler, OW, MHI ("As a man he was"); Howze, OH, Aug. 1976, OW, MHI.

Having granted the enemy: A. N. Stark, Jr., Army biographical files, MHI; author interviews, George Juskalian, Feb. 25, 2000 ("It was nerve-racking"), and Paul F. Gorman, Feb. 7, 2000; Akers, OH, July 27, 1949, G. F. Howe, SM, MHI; Truscott, Command Missions, 148; Blumenson, Kasserine Pass, 109; Raphael L. Uffner, "Recollections of World War II with the First Infantry Division," ts, n.d., MRC FDM, 24550 ("strongly rejected"); "History of the 26th Infantry in the Present Struggle," MRC FDM, 7/12; Robinett, Armor Command, 143.

Truscott and Ward drove: author visit, Apr. 2000; Jordan, Jordan's Tunis Diary, 175 ("that half-world"); Truscott, Command Missions, 14849.

The American force: "History of the 26th Infantry in the Present Struggle," 7/12; Laurence P. Robertson, ts, 1988, ASEQ, 1st AR, 1st AD, MHI (also, earlier draft in Laurence Robertson papers, USMA Arch); "Narrative of Events from 23 January 1943 to 26 February," CCA, 1st AD, NARA RG 407, E 427, 601-CCA-0.3, box 14767; G. C. Kelleher, Army biographical files, MHI; Uffner, 250 (French toast).

For Company H: Robertson, ts, MHI, 184 ("The velocity" and heavy black bread); Truscott, Command Missions, 149; Uffner, 248; "Catalogue of Standard Ordnance Items, Volume I," in "Kasserine Pass Battles," vol. II, part 3, CMH.

The failed counterattack: "Narrative of Events from 23 January 1943 to 26 February," CCA, 1st AD, NARA RG 407, E 427, box 14767; OW to McQuillin, Jan. 31, 1943, 2115 hrs., NARA RG 407, E 427 ("I am counting on you"); "History of the 26th Infantry in the Present Struggle," 7/23 ("held their fire"); NWAf, 39394;E. C. Smith, Feb. 14, 1943, MCC, YU ("shook us"); AAR, CCA, Feb. 1, 1943, and S-2 report, CCA, Feb. 1, 1943, NARA RG 407, E 427, box 14767.

Fad Pass was gone: NWAf, 392 (scathing message), 394n (more than 900); Heller and Stofft, eds., 246 (McQuillin bitterly); Hansen, 2/80 ("To retake it"); Howe, The Battle History of the 1st Armored Division, 135; Rudolf Lang, "Battles of Kampfgruppe Lang in Tunisia," 1947, FMS, D-173; Carell, 331 ("It will soon be over").

"This Can't Happen to Us"

Fredendall's attention: Liebling, Mollie & Other War Pieces, 76 ("draw the pucker string"); NWAf, 39296.

Infantrymen from the 1st Battalion: Edwin L. Powell, Jr., OH, 1982, Lynn L. Sims, CEOH, 102107 ("Sunday School picnic"); author interview, Aurelio Barron, Oct. 19, 1999 ("All down the road"); "History of the 168th Infantry," Jan. 31, 1942, NARA RG 407, E 427, boxes 957577; Rame, 229; Rolf, 79 ("It was the most terrible thing"); AAFinWWII, 142; Lauren E. McBride, "The Battle of Sened Station," Infantry Journal, Apr. 1945, 30 ("Maimed and twisted").

Three different colonels: Stewart, "The 'Red Bull' Division: The Training and Initial Engagements of the 34th Infantry Division, 194143," 1; Dennis B. Dray, "Regimental Commander of the 168th Infantry, Colonel Thomas Davidson Drake: Battle of Sened and Sidi bou Zid, Tunisia," ts, Nov. 1977, Iowa Military Academy, Iowa GSM; memo, Jan. 12, 1943, in William F. Beekman, "A Diary of World War II as Observed Through the Eyes, Ears, and Mind of Bill Beekman," ts, n.d., Iowa GSM ("Neither will good table manners"); Green and Gauthier, eds., 76 (Quack-Quack).

As his 1st Battalion huddled: Thomas D. Drake, "Factual Account of Operations, 168th Infantry," Apr. 1945, Charles W. Ryder Collection, DDE Lib, container 4; Ankrum, 174; Curtiss, ed., 276.

But first, Sened Station: Drake, "Factual Account of Operations, 168th Infantry" "History of the 168th Infantry," NARA RG 407, E 427, Moynihan, ed., 57.

a cakewalk: author interview, Aurelio Barron ("Go on up there!"); Ankrum, 174 ("all those bees"); Hougen, The Story of the Famous 34th Infantry Division; McBride, "The Battle of Sened Station" ("I saw his canteen"); Drake, "Factual Account of Operations, 168th Infantry" ("Men were dying everywhere").

At midafternoon: Berens, 5, 47 ("Kill them all!"); "168th African History," in "168th Infantry Publications," Iowa GSM; Rame, 235.

Fredendall was considerably less charmed: NWAf, 397 (contradictory orders); "Historical Record, HQ," March 1, 1943, CCD, NARA RG 407, E 427, 601-CCD 0.3 ("Too much time"); Carter, "Carter's War," CEOH, IV-13 ("There has been a breakthrough!"); Drake, "Factual Account of Operations, 168th Infantry" Camp, ed., 55 ("A sort of hysteria"); Powell, OH, CEOH, 110 ("hightailing it"); letter, James McGuinness to parents, May 23, 1943, Co. F, 168th Inf, World War II Letters, 19401946, Western Historical Manuscript Collection, University of MissouriColumbia, Missouri ("Some of the fellows").

The American attack was spent: "History of the 168th Infantry," NARA RG 407, E 427 ("Your outfit"); AAR, 1st AD, Jan. 27Feb. 3, 1943, "Kasserine Pass Battles," vol. I, part I, CMH ("no decisive objective"); Howe, The Battle History of the 1st Armored Division, 129; NWAf, 398; Ankrum, 174.

"One of the things that gives me": DDE to Fredendall, Feb. 4, 1943, Chandler, 939; Truscott, Command Missions, 150 (Fredendall was too rash); Three Years, 254 ("futile rushing around"); diary, Feb. 8, 10, 1943, OW, MHI ("spherical SOB").

As recently as February 1: "Meeting, 1000 hours, 1 Feb. 1943," NARA, AFHQ micro, R-188-D; NWAf, 399.

"We could not help wondering": "701st Tank Destroyer Battalion: North African Campaign Diary, B Company," 1943, MHI.

"The Mortal Dangers That Beset Us"

At eight A.M. on February 12: David Irving, The Trail of the Fox, 267.

The trailer door: Fritz Krause, "Studies on the Mareth Position," n.d., FMS, D-046, MHI, 9 ("My dear young friend"); Kesselring, "The War in the Mediterranean," part II, "The Fighting in Tunisia and Tripolitania," 4950 ("The very last armored"); Forty, The Armies of Rommel, 176; B. H. Liddell Hart, ed., The Rommel Papers, 394 ("It's two years").

"Rommel, Rommel, Rommel!": Bryant, 450 ("What else matters"); Boatner, 461; Matthew Cooper, The German Army, 19391945, 352; Charles Douglas-Home, Rommel, 110; Macksey, Kesselring: The Making of the Luftwaffe, 101; Kesselring, "The War in the Mediterranean," part II, "The Fighting in Tunisia and Tripolitania," 4950 ("one good division"); James J. Sadkovich, "Of Myths and Men: Rommel and the Italians in North Africa, 19401942," International History Review, May 1991, 284; Bruce Allen Watson, Exit Rommel, 56, 15859 ("fugitive leading").

"Day and night": Liddell Hart, ed., The Rommel Papers, 39091; Bennett, Ultra and Mediterranean Strategy, 37374; Krause, "Studies on the Mareth Position," 9 ("a broken man").

Rommel understood: NWAf, 370, 372; Field Marshal the Viscount Alexander of Tunis, "The African Campaign from El Alamein to Tunis," 1948, supplement to London Gazette, 868; Anderson, "Operations in North West Africa."

Yet Rommel's German units: "Rommel to Tunisia," NARA RG 319, OCMH, box 227; war diary, Panzer Army Africa, Feb. 34 and Feb. 1017, 1943, in "Kasserine Pass Battles," vol. I, part 1, CMH; Hellmuth Greiner diary notes, Feb. 16, 1943, and personnel report, Panzer Armee Afrika, Feb. 1, 1943, NARA RG 319, OCMH, box 225; Kesselring, "Final Commentaries on the Campaign in North Africa, 19411943," 1949, FMS, #C-075, 17 ("hypnotic influence"); NWAf, 370.

True, Rommel's army included: Boog et al., 801n (350,000 Axis men); NWAf, 371; Anderson, "Operations in North West Africa."

Rommel increasingly blamed: Domenico Petracarro, "The Italian Army in Africa, 19401943: An Attempt at Historical Perspective," War & Society, Oct. 1991, 103 (tied bandannas); Enno von Rinteln, "The Italian Commmand and Armed Forces in the First Half of 1943: Their Situation, Intentions, and Measures," 1947, FMS, #T-1a, trans. Janet E. Dewey, MHI ("was in agony"); Westphal, The German Army in the West, 130; Kesselring, "Italy as a Military Ally," n.d., FMS, #C-015, 9 ("three fashionable passions"); war diary, Panzer Army Africa, Feb. 11, 1943, in "Kasserine Pass Battles," vol. I, part 1, CMH.

In these and other matters: Arnim, "Recollections of Tunisia," 4849 ("sober cal- culations" and "a second Stalingrad"); Greiner diary notes, Feb. 16 ("house of cards") and March 10, 1943 (brigade of homosexuals), and personnel report, Panzer Armee Afrika, Feb. 1, 1943, NARA RG 319, OCMH, box 225; Jackson, The Battle for North Africa, 415; Destruction, 274.

talk of decampment: Kesselring, "Final Commentaries on the Campaign in North Africa, 19411943," 28, 31; Kesselring, Memoirs, 143, 149; Warlimont, 310, 284 (restricted rations).

to avoid a similar diet: Alexander, "The African Campaign from El Alamein to Tunis," 868; Destruction, 273, 28384; OKW to Comando Supremo, Jan. 19, 1943, NARA RG 319, OCMH, box 225; Irving, The Trail of the Fox, 253 (English dictionary); Liddell Hart, ed., The Rommel Papers, 397 ("break up the American").