Kasserine Pass Research Paper

1. DEFINE THE SUBJECT:
The-battle of Kasserine Pass
A. Took place in North Africa in the Kasserine Pass of Tunisia.
B. The Commanders and leaders that were in charge:
i. United States- Lieutenant General Lloyd Ralston Fredendall ii. United Kingdom- General Kenneth Anderson iii. British 1st Army Commander - LTG K.A.N. Anderson iv. Germany- Colonel-General Hans Jurgen Von Arnim
v. Germany- Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. Also, known as the “the desert fox” for being one of the most able tank commanders of the war.
C. The Battled occurred February 19-24, 1943
2. REVIEW THE STRATEGIC SETTING
A. By January of 1943 the German strategic situation had worsened perceptibly. The Russian counter-attack at Stalingrad threatened to engulf all of VIth Army.
Fighting for the Kasserine Pass was already underway by December 1942 when Jurgen von Arnim, German V Panzer Army attacked in the hope that he would be able to link with Rommel’s army which was at the time withdrawing from Libya to the southern part of Tunisia. Arnim’s goal was to control the Eastern Dorsale, a mountain range extending from Tunis. If he had control of the mountain passes he could basically control most of the movement that happens through the Eastern Dorsale. This would also have forced Allied troops to use passes that are further away from their supply lines while it would allow him and Rommel to combine their
Although February is normally considered early spring in central Tunisia, wind, rain, hail, and even snow was still encountered. While the sun was out the weather could be pleasant, but when the clouds rolled in a penetrating cold prevailed. Axis forces located initially in the sunnier lowlands and dressed in light summer uniforms were attacking into the Allied forces whose defensive locations were generally in higher ground to the east where the weather was characterized by cloudier and wetter