March – May 1943
Allied Victory in Tunisia
Having put the Americans on the defensive in western Tunisia, Rommel withdrew east to face his old enemy, Montgomery’s British Eighth Army. However, by this time the German code had been broken, so Montgomery was more than prepared to meet the German assault. Rommel’s health problems soon reemerged, and the German commander left North Africa once and for all on 9 March.

Sensing that the Axis offensive had run out of steam, the British and Americans now coordinated an attack from multiple directions. Lieutenant-General George S. Patton led the U.S. II Corps in an assault from the west, defeating the Germans in a series of engagements in late March. Meanwhile Montgomery overwhelmed the Italians in mid-April, allowing the Allied forces in North Africa to link up for the first time by the end of the month. On May 6 the British and Americans launched their final offensive, capturing the cities of Bizerte and Tunis and forcing the surrender of all remaining Axis forces in North Africa. The Allies lost some 75,000 men in the operations in Tunisia, but the Axis lost far more—roughly 300,000, 240,000 of which were taken prisoner.

History:
Tunisia

Campaign Map:
Campaign in Northwest Africa, February – May 1943

Photograph:
Wounded German prisoners being loaded aboard a United States Army transport plane