Little buoyancy: Mason, "Reminiscences and Anecdotes of World War II," MRC FDM ("head in hands"); These Are the Generals, 227 ("I like that man"); James R. Webb, "First Waltz with Rommel," ts, n.d., James R. Webb Papers, DDE Lib, box 1 ("If I were back home"); Michael Carver, ed., The War Lords: Military Commanders of the Twentieth Century, 603 ("I saw his attitude change"); Blumenson, Kasserine Pass, 280.

Fredendall repaired: "Diary Covering the Activities of General Fredendall and Supporting Players, Dec. '42-March '43," James R. Webb Collection, DDE Lib ("Dabney, open up the bottle"); Clift Andrus, notes on Omar Bradley's A Soldier's Story, n.d., MRC FDM ("Dinner!").

"I'm going to be": Hal Boyle, "Brass Seen at Fault at Kasserine Pass," Associated Press, Feb. 11, 1948, NARA RG 319, OCMH, box 225; Fredendall to DDE, Feb. 19, 1943, DDE Lib, PP-pres, box 42 ("Ward appears tired").

While Eisenhower pondered: NWAf, 45758; Robinett, Armor Command, 17577; Robinett, "The Axis Offensive in Central Tunisia, Feb. 1943," lecture; Robinett, letter to G. F. Howe, March 4, 1952, PMR, LOC MS Div., box 4; letter, Philipsborn to G. F. Howe, Feb. 18, 1952, PMR, LOC MS Div., box 4 ("There is no use"); Dunphie memo, forwarded to G. F. Howe from Cabinet Office historical section, Sept. 11, 1951, NARA RG 319, OCMH, box 229; Porter, SOOHP, MHI ("Get hold"); letter, F.A.V. Copland-Griffiths to A. F. Smith, March 19, 1943, 1st Guards Bde, PRO WO 175/186 ("the most perfect example").

Into the muddle: Alexander, "The African Campaign from El Alamein to Tunis," 869; DDE to Alexander, Feb. 7, 1943, NARA RG 331, AFHQ micro, R-5-C; Blaxland, 160; Alexander to DDE, Feb. 19, 1943, 1920 hrs., Alexander files, DDE Lib, box 3, folder 8; Alexander to Montgomery, Feb. 22, 1943, in Stephen Brooks, ed., Montgomery and the Eighth Army, 152 ("very shocked").

He cut a dashing: Austin, 105; Carver, ed., The War Lords, 33237 ("natural good manners" and "able more than clever"); Boatner, 45; Doherty, Irish Generals, 32, 36 ("At the worst crises"), 38 (Churchill's favorite); D'Este, Eisenhower: A Soldier's Life, 650 (mss) ("Our position is catastrophic"); Rupert Clarke, With Alex at War, xiixiii; Brian Holden Reid, in John Keegan, ed., Churchill's Generals, 105 ("archetypal Edwardian hero").

Some thought him stupid: Reid, in Keegan, ed., Churchill's Generals, 104 ("Wellington without the wit"), 108 ("empty vessel"), 109 ("Intellect was not"); Rolf, 25; Clarke, With Alex at War, xii (tap dancing); Dominick Graham and Shelford Bidwell, Tug of War: The Battle for Italy, 19431945, 36 ("the campaigns of Belisarius").

Brilliantly slow: Alexander, OH, n.d., G. F. Howe, SM, MHI ("solid soldier" and "allowing the Germans"); Hamilton, 166 ("The poor body"); Destruction, 304 ("Real fault" and "My Main anxiety"); "Reminiscences of Hanson Weightman Baldwin," OH, 1976, John T. Mason, Jr., USNI OHD ("old school tie"); Reid, in Keegan, ed., 114 ("quite useless").

First, Rommel's northern thrust: war diary, 10th Panzer Div., Feb. 19, 1943, "Kasserine Pass Battles," vol. I, part 2, CMH; Benjamin Caffey, OH, Feb. 1950, G. F. Howe, SM, MHI; NWAf, 45253; Johnson, One More Hill, 37 ("If they attack us"); Howard and Sparrow, 119; "18th Infantry, Draft Regimental Wartime History," Stanhope Mason Collection, MRC FDM; Camp, ed., 23 ("taking shoe boxes").

A renewed assault: author interview, Clem Miller, Jan. 4, 2000; author interviews, Edward Boehm, Nov. 26, 1999, and Jan. 4, 2000; Edward Boehm, "My Autobiography in WWII," ts, 1997, possession of Roger Cirillo, 36; "The Fragrance of Spring Was Heavy in the Air," account of 185th FA Bn, Trail Tales, Boone County (Iowa) Historical Society, No. 35, 1979, 37; Vernon Hohenberger, "Retracing My Footsteps in World War II," ts, n.d., Iowa GSM, 37; "The Tunisian Campaign, 34th Division," Iowa GSM, 5.

Checked on the right: AAR, 10th Bn, The Rifle Brigade, PRO, WO 175/518; Destruction, 297; Davis, "The Battle of Kasserine Pass," 22 ("like caterpillars dropping"); The Rifle Brigade in the Second World War, 19391945, 217; Austin, 90; D.G.A., "With Tanks to Tunis," Blackwoods, June 1945, 399 ("We were forced" and "as hard as stiff legs"); ffrench Blake, 118.

Rommel again held: Liddell Hart, ed., The Rommel Papers, 405; NWAf, 458, 460; Robinett, "Comments on Kasserine Pass by Martin Blumenson," PMR, MHI, 13, 16.

A reconnaissance report: author visit, Apr. 2000; NWAf, 461.

The scouts were wrong: Stanhope Mason and F. W. Gibb, OH, Apr. 26, 1951, G. F. Howe, SM, MHI; letter, Joseph T. Dawson to brother, Feb. 21, 1943, Dawson Collection, MRC FDM ("this is our sector"); Hazen, 104; Steven Clay, Blood and Sacrifice: The History of the 16th Infantry Regiment from the Civil War Through the Gulf War, 33 (mss); Edwin L. Powell, Jr., OH, 1982, Lynn L. Sims, CEOH, 130; Robinett, Armor Command, 181; letter, Philipsborn to G. F. Howe, Feb. 18, 1953, with PMR comments, PMR, LOC MS Div, box 4 ("simply written on the ground").

Anderson on this very Saturday: "Personal Diary of Lt. Gen. C. W. Allfrey, the Tunisian Campaign (with 5 Corps)," Feb. 21, 23, 1943, Allfrey Collection, LHC ("American fighting value"); Haggerty, "A History of the Ranger Battalions in World War II," Ph.D. diss, 121 ("a hairy-chested commander"); Altieri, The Spearheaders, 236 ("Onward we stagger").

The tanks came: Robinett, Armor Command, 183; NWAf, 46264; Howe, Battle History of the 1st Armored Division, 191; "Combat Command B, Operations Report, Bahiret Foussana Valley, 2025 February, 1943," "Kasserine Pass Battles," vol. I, part 2, CMH; II Corps, "report of operations," May 2, 1943, "Kasserine Pass Battles," vol. I, part 2, CMH; Clay, 35 (mss); Macksey, Crucible of Power, 166.

Repulsed on the right: NWAf, 46364; Robinett, "The Axis Offensive in Central Tunisia, Feb. 1943," lecture, LOC MS Div.

Undeterred, two grenadier battalions: Robinett, Armor Command, 185; Andrus, notes on Omar Bradley's A Soldier's Story, n.d., MRC FDM; Clay, 35 (mss); Robinett, "The Axis Offensive in Central Tunisia, Feb. 1943," lecture, LOC; Robinett, "Comments on Kasserine Pass by Martin Blumenson," PMR, MHI, 13; Blumenson, Kasserine Pass, 279; Rolf, 139 (Panic Sunday).

Yet something had hardened: Andrus, notes on Omar Bradley's A Soldier's Story, n.d., MRC FDM ("air was full" and "An artilleryman's dream"); Andrus biographical file, compiled by Albert H. Smith, MHI ("most skillful and practical").

A single battalion: "Combat Command B, Operations Report, Bahiret Foussana Valley, 2025 February, 1943," "Kasserine Pass Battles," vol. I, part 2, CMH; Gardiner, "We Fought at Kasserine," 8 ("A column of prisoners"); Robinett, Armor Command, 187 ("captured a whole flock").

"Lay Roughly on the Tanks"

As this action in the west: Messenger, 54; Irving, The Trail of the Fox, 274 ("He suddenly").

By midafternoon all euphoria: AAR, 2nd Bn, 19th Engineers, May 20, 1943, NARA RG 407, E 427, box 19248; Liddell Hart, ed., The Rommel Papers, 405 ("They did not seem"); 10th Panzer Div. intelligence report, "Re: the advance of the 10th Panzer Division through the Fad Pass to Thala," Feb. 25, 1943, NARA RG 319, OCMH, box 225; Hoffman, Stauffenberg, 172.

The British had: Cameron Nicholson, "The Battle of Kasserine, February 1943," Nicholson collection, IWM, micro DS/MISC 7, 4 ("no full-blooded orders" and "I found it difficult"); Dunphie memo, forwarded to G. F. Howe from Cabinet Office historical section, Sept. 11, 1951, NARA RG 319, OCMH, box 229; memo, S. L. Irwin to P. M. Robinett, June 23, 1949, NARA RG 319, OCMH, box 229 ("usual story"); Nigel Nicholson, Alex: The Life of Field Marshal Earl Alexander of Tunis, 176 ("He's right behind us").

Absent full-blooded orders: Dunphie memo; Blaxland, 163 ("beautiful to watch"); ffrench Blake, 119; NWAf, 465; D.G.A., "With Tanks to Tunis," 399 ("erect in his scout car").

Dunphie was a gunner: Dunphie memo; Nicholson, Alex, 176 ("empty but heavy"); author visit, Apr. 2000; Herman Walter Wright Lange, "Rommel at Thala," Military Review, Sept. 1961, 72.

Almost on Dunphie's heels: war diary, 2/5 Leicestershire Regiment, Feb. 1943, PRO WO 175/513; Blaxland, 163; C. Nicholson, "The Battle of Kasserine" ffrench Blake, 119; Hastings, 219 ("Keep away"); Macksey, Crucible of Power, 169; Tatigskeitbericht, 10th Panzer Div., Feb. 21, 1943, NARA RG 319, OCMH, box 225.

Two thousand yards: D.G.A., "With Tanks to Tunis" ("German tracers"); Dunphie memo ("tank fight in the dark"); AAR, F Battery, 12 (HAC) Regt, RHA, appendix C, and "The Battle of Thala (North Africa) with F Bty 12th (HAC) Regt," RHA, appendix E ("Lay roughly"), and war diary, "Operations of Nickforce, 2023 Feb. 1943," appendix D, all in Nicholson collection, micro, DS/MISC 7, IWM; Irwin memo to Robinett, June 23, 1949; war diary, 2/5 Leicestershire Regiment, Feb. 1943, PRO WO 175/513; Hastings, 219 ("alarms were many"); Watson, 143; Heller and Stofft, eds., 259; Blumenson, Kasserine Pass, 270, 275.

Dawn came: Dunphie memo ("Irwin himself"); memo, Irwin to Robinett, June 23, 1949 ("extremely critical"); Irwin, OH, Jan. 1950, G. F. Howe, SM, MHI; AAR, "Thala Engagement, 2124 Feb. 1943," 9th ID artillery, n.d., NARA RG 407, E 427, box 7424; AAR, 60th FA, n.d., NARA RG 407, E 427, box 7471; Phillips, Sedjenane: The Pay-off Battle, 28; Phillips, The Making of a Professional: Manton S. Eddy, USA, 91; William C. Westmoreland, A Soldier Reports, 20.

It served: Blumenson, Kasserine Pass, 275; Austin, 91 ("I'm sorry").

The field marshal had shot: NWAf, 469; Liddell Hart, ed., The Rommel Papers, 406407.

True to character: Kesselring, "The Events in Tunisia," 1949, FMS, #D-066, MHI, 510; AAR, Panzer Army Africa, Feb. 22, 1943, NARA RG 319, OCMH, box 225 (It appears futile); Watson, 169; Kesselring, "The War in the Mediterranean, Part II, The Fighting in Tunisia and Tripolitania," FMS, #T-3 P1, 38.

Thala would prove: "Narrative of Events, Thala Engagement, 2124 Feb. 1943," 9th ID artillery, March 4, 1943, "Kasserine Pass Battles," vol. I, part 1, CMH; Robinett, "Comments on Kasserine Pass," PMR, MHI ("toughest day"); Austin, 93 ("Gilbert and Sullivan"); Kesselring, "Final Commentaries on the Campaign in North Africa," FMS, #C-075, MHI, appendix, 14; AAR, Panzer Army Africa, Feb. 23, 1943, NARA RG 319, OCMH, box 225 ("The enemy follows"); Hoffman, 172; Liddell Hart, ed., 408 ("I've stood up").

On February 22: DDE to Fredendall, Feb. 22, 1943, Chandler, 980 ("every confidence"); Eisenhower, Crusade in Europe, 145 ("perfectly safe"); Hinsley, British Intelligence in the Second World War, vol. II, 59293; Howe, "American Signal Intelligence in Northwest Africa," U.S. Cryptologic History, series IV, vol. 1, NARA RG 457, NSA files, SRH 391, box 114, 2930; memo, B. A. Dixon, II Corps G-2, Apr. 19, 1943, NARA RG 407, E 427, box 3163 ("inability of most Arabs").

Several more convoluted: AAR, 1st AD, "Report of Operations, Bahiret Foussana Valley," Feb. 23, 1943, "Kasserine Pass Battles," vol. I, part 2, CMH; Blumenson, Kasserine Pass, 282; Robinett, "Comments on Kasserine Pass," PMR, MHI, 15; Gugeler, x-104; DDE to Fredendall, Feb. 22, 1943, Chandler, 982; Harmon, Combat Commander, 50 ("cobra without"), 112 ("make up your mind"), 116 ("Nobody goes back"); "Report of Gen. Harmon on taking command II Corps as deputy," n.d., LKT Jr. Papers, GCM Lib, box 9; C. Nicholson, "The Battle of Kasserine," 9 ("to fight this battle out"); Harmon, OH, Sept. 1952, G. F. Howe, SM, MHI (Concluding that the man and "a fucking bloody nose").

In a Thala cellar: letter, F.A.V. Copland-Griffiths to A. F. Smith, March 19, 1943, 1st Guards Bde, PRO WO 175/186 ("The Germans have gone!"); C. Nicholson, "The Battle of Kasserine," 9 ("Man cannot tell"); war diary, "Operations of Nickforce," Feb. 23, 1943, 1130 hrs ("not unduly").

"Our follow-up was slow": Harmon, OH, Sept. 1952, G. F. Howe, SM, MHI; Harmon, Combat Commander, 50, 11116; Nicholson, "The Battle of Kasserine," 9; Robinett, "Comments on Kasserine Pass by Martin Blumenson," PMR, MHI, 15; Hatfield diary, Feb. 23, 1943, OW, MHI ("feels very low").

Light snow fell: Robinett, Armor Command, 195 ("cluttered with wrecked"); Parris and Russell, 293, 296 (chewing gum); diary, C. M. Thomas; "Personal Diary of Lt. Gen. C. W. Allfrey," Feb. 23, 1943 (orders were issued); AAR, "The Tunisian Campaign, 34th Division," 5.

Even if Allied troops: "G-2 Report on Tunisian Campaign," 34th ID, June 12, 1943, Iowa GSM; "Report of Engineer Operations, II Corps, 15 March to 10 April 1943," NARA RG 338, box 147; letter, F.A.V. Copland-Griffiths to A. F. Smith, March 19, 1943, 1st Guards Bde, PRO WO 175/186 ("vehicles were blowing up"); Hendricks, "A Time of Testing: U.S. Army Engineers in the Tunisian Campaign of World War II," lecture, 7; Ralph Ingersoll, The Battle Is the Pay-off, 112 ("like caddies"); Howze, A Cavalryman's Story, 61; Beck et al., 106; Charles S. Schwartz, "The Field Operations of a Maintenance Battalion," ts, n.d., ASEQ, in papers of W. L. Rossie, 1st AD, MHI.

A precise tally: Heller and Stofft, eds., 261; NWAf, 47778; "Office, Division Inspector, 1st AD," Feb. 23, 1943; Destruction, 302; DDE to GCM, Feb. 24, 1943, Chandler, 984 ("not a child's game").

"The proud and cocky": Three Years, 268; NWAf, 479; Ellis, Brute Force, 253; Gugeler, x-99; Robinett, "Comments on Kasserine Pass," 14 ("one would have to search").

That error could be laid: Three Years, 265 ("full responsibility"); Eisenhower, Crusade in Europe, 146 ("had I been willing").

There were other: Three Years, 244; DDE to GCM, Feb. 24, 1943, Chandler, 984 (expressed surprise); Eisenhower, Crusade in Europe, 148; Chandler, 958n ("I am disturbed").

Certainly he had done: DDE to L. R. Fredendall, Feb. 22, 1943, Chandler, 981; DDE to Churchill, Feb. 17, 1943, Chandler, 960 ("We must be prepared"); DDE to J.S.D. Eisenhower, Feb. 19, 1943, Chandler, 965 ("It is possible").

Fratricide flourished: Semmens, "The Hammer of Hell," 122; Paul L. Williams, "Report of Operations, XII Air Support Campaign," Apr. 9, 1943; Eisenhower, Crusade in Europe, 145; Richard G. Davis, Carl A. Spaatz and the Air War in Europe, 199.

the hammer of typewriters: Ingersoll, 31.

CHAPTER 10: THE WORLD WE KNEW IS A LONG TIME DEAD

Vigil in Red Oak