Damir
Guest
My Friend Linza and I visited Tunisia in May. I am always trying to visit some military history sites, so Kasserine pass was included in our plans, but Gods of travel were against visiting this time. 
Full ride report is here: http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=107346
I didn't plan to visit Mareth Line, in fact I even didn't know that we will pass through Mareth. When I realized that we are approaching Mareth, I remembered reading about defensive line. Soon I noticed sign pointing towards museum. Museum is small, it is staffed with Tunisian Army personnel. We even got guided tour by NCO, he was very knowledgeable, and spoke very good English.
Here is what Wikipedia says:
The geography of northern Tunisia is dominated by the Atlas Mountains, while the southern half is largely flat. The primary feature in the south is the Matmâta hills, a range running north-south roughly parallel to the eastern coast. West from the hills the land is inhospitable desert, making the region between the hills and the coast the only easily navigable approach to the settled areas in the north. A smaller line of hills runs east-west along the northern edge of the Matmâta range, further complicating this approach. There is a small gap between the two ranges, the Tebaga Gap, at the extreme northern edit of the Matmâta hills.
The line broadly followed the Wadi Zigzaou for 35 km (22 miles) inland from the sea to the Matmâta hills, crossing the coastal road. The wadi provided a natural defence line, with steep banks some 70 feet high in places. It was reputed to be the most difficult military defence line in North Africa. The French view was that the hills were sufficiently impassable to discount any attempt to outflank on the landward side[1]. This was subsequently disproved in Operation Supercharge II.
Wartime history
After the Allied success at El Alamein, the German and Italian forces had conducted a fighting retreat across northern Libya and into Tunisia. General Bernard Montgomery's British Eighth Army paused at Medenine to prepare for the difficult assault on the Mareth Line and the Italian First Army (comprised of the remnants of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps and the Italian armies), now commanded by General Giovanni Messe, attempted a counter-attack. When this failed, the axis troops withdrew to the Mareth Line and awaited the attack.
Operation Pugilist
On 19 March 1943 the Eighth Army assaulted the line. The 50th Division successfully managed to penetrate the line near Zarat, but their pocket was destroyed by a counterattack from the 15th Panzer Division on 22 March.
Earlier reconnaissance by the Long Range Desert Group had confirmed that the Line could be outflanked. This would enable a force to force the Tebaga Gap from its western end and reappear on the coastal plain behind the Mareth Line - the "left hook". Montgomery, therefore, sent General Bernard Freyberg's reinforced New Zealand 2nd Division - now the New Zealand Corps - through the Matmâta hills. This attack was also stalled by determined defence.
Operation Supercharge II
Although the attacks by XXX Corps and the New Zealand Corps had been repulsed, allied forces were redistributed and fresh attacks began on 26th March. This "left hook" broke through the Tebaga Gap on 27 March and, combined with a fresh frontal assault, the Line was rendered untenable. However, Messe's forces were able to escape encirclement when X Corps was held up at El Hamma. The Axis forces retreated to a line at Akarit, 60 km to the north.
Pictures:
Full ride report is here: http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=107346
I didn't plan to visit Mareth Line, in fact I even didn't know that we will pass through Mareth. When I realized that we are approaching Mareth, I remembered reading about defensive line. Soon I noticed sign pointing towards museum. Museum is small, it is staffed with Tunisian Army personnel. We even got guided tour by NCO, he was very knowledgeable, and spoke very good English.
Here is what Wikipedia says:
The geography of northern Tunisia is dominated by the Atlas Mountains, while the southern half is largely flat. The primary feature in the south is the Matmâta hills, a range running north-south roughly parallel to the eastern coast. West from the hills the land is inhospitable desert, making the region between the hills and the coast the only easily navigable approach to the settled areas in the north. A smaller line of hills runs east-west along the northern edge of the Matmâta range, further complicating this approach. There is a small gap between the two ranges, the Tebaga Gap, at the extreme northern edit of the Matmâta hills.
The line broadly followed the Wadi Zigzaou for 35 km (22 miles) inland from the sea to the Matmâta hills, crossing the coastal road. The wadi provided a natural defence line, with steep banks some 70 feet high in places. It was reputed to be the most difficult military defence line in North Africa. The French view was that the hills were sufficiently impassable to discount any attempt to outflank on the landward side[1]. This was subsequently disproved in Operation Supercharge II.
Wartime history
After the Allied success at El Alamein, the German and Italian forces had conducted a fighting retreat across northern Libya and into Tunisia. General Bernard Montgomery's British Eighth Army paused at Medenine to prepare for the difficult assault on the Mareth Line and the Italian First Army (comprised of the remnants of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps and the Italian armies), now commanded by General Giovanni Messe, attempted a counter-attack. When this failed, the axis troops withdrew to the Mareth Line and awaited the attack.
Operation Pugilist
On 19 March 1943 the Eighth Army assaulted the line. The 50th Division successfully managed to penetrate the line near Zarat, but their pocket was destroyed by a counterattack from the 15th Panzer Division on 22 March.
Earlier reconnaissance by the Long Range Desert Group had confirmed that the Line could be outflanked. This would enable a force to force the Tebaga Gap from its western end and reappear on the coastal plain behind the Mareth Line - the "left hook". Montgomery, therefore, sent General Bernard Freyberg's reinforced New Zealand 2nd Division - now the New Zealand Corps - through the Matmâta hills. This attack was also stalled by determined defence.
Operation Supercharge II
Although the attacks by XXX Corps and the New Zealand Corps had been repulsed, allied forces were redistributed and fresh attacks began on 26th March. This "left hook" broke through the Tebaga Gap on 27 March and, combined with a fresh frontal assault, the Line was rendered untenable. However, Messe's forces were able to escape encirclement when X Corps was held up at El Hamma. The Axis forces retreated to a line at Akarit, 60 km to the north.
Pictures:
