End of the Axis in Tunisia

Operations were to begin in the center on 22 April and in the north on the 23d. Rommel, sensing the impending attack, struck on the night of the 21st between Medjez-el-Bab and Goubellat, but was unsuccessful and lost 33 tanks and 450 prisoners. The First Army's advance, however, was stiffly resisted, with mine fields presenting real hindrances. The French occupied Pont-du-Fahs, but were held up there. A week was spent in difficult local clearing actions in the hilly country. By 4 May the Americans, flanked on the coast by the French, had fought their way into Mateur. From there they went on, and on 7 May entered Bizerte. On the 9th the Germans in that sector surrendered, by giving up 38,000 prisoners.

Meanwhile the main push by the First Army got under way on the night of 4 May. Two days later Axis opposition was crumbling and the British entered Tunis on 7 May. The British armor then split into two parts, one heading northwest and the other southeast of Tunis to cut off the German retreat to the Cape Bon peninsula. Soliman, between the mountains and the Gulf of Tunis, fell on 13 May and the British swept into the peninsula, breaking up the last German resistance. Colonel General von Arnim surrendered on the 12th, and the Italian Field Marshal Messe the next day. Altogether, 248,000 prisoners were taken.

In order to perform its first task, that of destroying the Axis air forces, 242 Group laid on heavy attacks between 17 and 21 April on the airfields in the Protville region, while the Western Desert Air Force concentrated on night bombings of the eastern landing grounds in the Cape Bon peninsula. Meanwhile, the Strategic Air Force was attending to the airfields at Tunis and Bizerte. It soon became apparent to the German high command that its air resources would be lost if left in Tunisia. About the 22d they began to withdraw their planes to Sicily and Sardinia; the Ju-87's disappeared first. With this exodus the German Air Force, save for sporadic Sicily-based operations, ceased to play any serious part in the Tunisian battle and our attacks on Sicilian airdromes correspondingly dropped off. 6 May was the last day that enemy aircraft appeared in Tunisia. Some enemy aircraft tried to intercept our shipping and air-ground cooperation, but in three hours 20 Axis planes were shot down for the loss of two.

During this period the enemy depended almost wholly on air transport and small vessels. Supplies brought down the "leg" of Italy were ferried across the Strait of Messina and taken to western Sicilian ports. The menace of Malta-based aircraft made eastern Sicilian ports unsafe for this traffic. Large merchant vessels normally loaded at Naples and hugged the Sicilian coast on the way to Tunisia, or sailed out toward Sardinia to avoid Malta's aircraft. It was found that small ships could make the dash overnight from Sicily and off-load on the Tunisian beaches or discharge into lighters; this method was necessitated by the continuous blasting of the Tunisian ports.

High-altitude bombing, very effective against ships at sea, could sink a medium merchant vessel with an average of two ships. B-25's and P-38's also proved effective, and were employed increasingly at sea.

Convoys were usually attacked from the rear; each attacking flight of six, staggered at altitude intervals of 300-500 feet to allow room for evasive action, concentrated on one vessel. About 50 percent of the sorties failed to make strikes. The Coastal Air Force also engaged in day and night shipping sweeps. Strategic Air Force statistics for April, probably incomplete, showed 6 vessels sunk, 20 severely damaged, and 30 damaged. "Severely-damaged" was defined as meaning that a ship was last seen heavily listing , in sinking position, or in flames.

Early in April photographic reconnaissance revealed that two of the Italian Navy's three remaining heavy cruisers, the Trieste and the Gorizia, were lying at La Maddalena. The third, the Bolzano, was undergoing repairs at Spezia. On 10 April 84 heavily escorted B-17 sorties sank the Trieste and severely damaged Gorizia, which nevertheless was able to steam to Spezia for repairs. Wellingtons followed with blast on that port. Toward the end of April the Tactical Air Force found opportunity to begin attacks on shipping in the Gulf of Tunis. Complete statistics are not available for April, but from 28 April to 13 May the Tactical Air Force claim 22 small vessels (including 2 destroyers) sunk, 12 probably destroyed, and 9 damaged.