The problem I suppose for us seventy odd years later is the amount of reading one has to do in order to get the fuller picture. [19] The U.S. II Corps was able to concentrate at the Kasserine and Sbiba Passes, on the western arm of the mountains. From then on, Patton simply ignored those parts of mission orders he considered ill-advised on grounds of military expediency and/or a rapidly evolving tactical situation. Between Task Force Bowen and Tebessa to the north was the regrouping 1st Armored Division although only Combat Command B was fit for combat. He agreed to let both advance by splitting available fuel supplies equally between both advances. Unlike the British who were continually involved in some wars during the inter war years, the Americans had nothing comparable. It was a traumatic debut. Patton’s Third Army and Montgomery’s 8th Army battle some of the best German units for control of Sicily. Patton is an American biographical war film about U.S. General George S. Patton during World War II. [35] Having brought the Axis drive towards Tebessa to a halt, General Paul Robinett and General Terry Allen now turned their attention to planning a counterattack that was to take place the next day, February 22. Furthest west was Task Force Bowen (consisting of the 3rd Battalion of the 26th Regimental Combat Team), blocking the track from Feriana towards Tebessa. Rating: 9 out of 10. The Rice Video – Carbon Dioxide in Perspective: Is There a Grain of Truth in What Roberts Has to Say? [5] Regarding Allied personnel captured, Rommel and Ziegler claimed 3,721 prisoners captured but in a consolidated report of 24 February they reported 4,026 Allied prisoners of war. ! With his confidence in Guderian eroded, he sacked him. [19] The positions in the pass had been placed under Colonel Alexander Stark, commander of the 26th RCT, on the night of February 18 and the command named Stark Force. [28] Rommel decided to commit his units from the 10th Panzer to the Kasserine Pass the next morning in a coordinated attack with the Afrika Korps Assault Group, which was to be joined by elements of the Italian 131st Armored Division Centauro. Germany’s panzer forces were created largely along the lines laid down by Guderian in Achtung – Panzer! His signature style of attack was equally unimaginative albeit well-prepared. From what I can recall from reading the magnum opus by Nigel Hamilton entitled Monty: The Battles of Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery some 30 years ago, Montgomery struck me as methodical and thorough but unimaginative. Perhaps it was the Prussian militaristic tradition but they were streets ahead of most Allied Generals. [citation needed], General Dwight D. Eisenhower began restructuring the Allied command, creating the 18th Army Group, commanded by General Sir Harold R. L. G. Alexander, to tighten the operational control of the three Allied nations involved and improve their coordination. Montgomery: Part 1 – Enlistment and Training with the 10th Hussars, AJ Montgomery: Part 2 – Survivor of the SS Ismore Ship Wreck in 1899. Another omission from Blaine’s questions was the worst general of WW2. Although the American defenders were pressed hard the line held and, by mid-afternoon, the U.S. infantry and tanks launched a counterattack that broke the combined German and Italian force. Thirdly and most critically, their design only envisaged short range forays. Through his approach of leading the attack, Rommel was keeping the Allies in North Africa on the defensive, outmanoeuvred and outclassed.