The Battle of Wadi Akarit (code-named Operation Scipio) was the successful Allied

Allies of World War II

The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...

 action on 6 and 7 April 1943 to dislodge Axis

Axis Powers

The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...

 forces from their positions along the Wadi Akarit in Tunisia

Tunisia

Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...

 (also known as the Akarit Line). At this point, known as the Gabès Gap, north of the towns of Gabès

Gabès

Gabès , also spelt Cabès, Cabes, Kabes, Gabbs and Gaps, the ancient Tacape, is the capital city of the Gabès Governorate, a province of Tunisia. It lies on the coast of the Gulf of Gabès. With a population of 116,323 it is the 6th largest Tunisian city.-History:Strabo refers to Tacape as an...

 and El Hamma

El Hamma

El Hamma is an oasis town located in the Gabès Governorate, 30 kilometers west of Gabès, Tunisia. Its population in 2004 was 34,835....

, there is a narrow land gap between the sea and impassable salt marshes. In a pitched battle, elements of the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division breached the defences and held a bridgehead, allowing the passage of their main force to roll-up the defences from the flanks. After determined, violent, but unsuccessful counter-attacks, the Axis forces withdrew and the Eighth Army

Eighth Army (United Kingdom)

The Eighth Army was one of the best-known formations of the British Army during World War II, fighting in the North African and Italian campaigns....

 continued their pursuit toward Tunis

Tunis

Tunis is the capital of both the Tunisian Republic and the Tunis Governorate. It is Tunisia's largest city, with a population of 728,453 as of 2004; the greater metropolitan area holds some 2,412,500 inhabitants....

, until encountering heavily defended positions at Enfidaville.

Background

Tunisia was strategically important as it allowed the Axis to challenge Allied efforts to route convoys through the Mediterranean, thus lengthening the supply lines between Britain and North America and the Indian Ocean

Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...

. Their presence also threatened military actions against southern Europe and tied up Allied manpower.

After the Mareth Line

Mareth Line

The Mareth Line was a system of fortifications built by the French between the towns of Medenine and Gabès in southern Tunisia, prior to World War II...

 in southern Tunisia had been outflanked by the "left-hook" attack through the Tebaga Gap, Axis forces had managed to avoid being trapped and had withdrawn to the Wadi Akarit, north of Gabès. This position had been identified long before by Erwin Rommel

Erwin Rommel

Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel , popularly known as the Desert Fox , was a German Field Marshal of World War II. He won the respect of both his own troops and the enemies he fought....

 as a preferred defensive position; he had unsuccessfully argued with his superiors for a controlled withdrawal to it immediately after the Second Battle of El Alamein

Second Battle of El Alamein

The Second Battle of El Alamein marked a major turning point in the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. The battle took place over 20 days from 23 October – 11 November 1942. The First Battle of El Alamein had stalled the Axis advance. Thereafter, Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery...

. He argued that it was the best opportunity for his forces to hold off the Eighth Army and thus prolong Axis presence in Africa: it had protected flanks and short supply routes to Sicily

Sicily

Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

. He proposed that, with the British held off at Wadi Akarit and needing to bring forward men and materiel

Materiel

Materiel is a term used in English to refer to the equipment and supplies in military and commercial supply chain management....

, all available troops in Tunisia could repulse the Allied First Army to the west before dealing a similar blow to Montgomery.

The Gabès Gap was the last readily defensible position before the Eighth Army reached the Tunisian city of Sfax

Sfax

Sfax is a city in Tunisia, located southeast of Tunis. The city, founded in AD 849 on the ruins of Taparura and Thaenae, is the capital of the Sfax Governorate , and a Mediterranean port. Sfax has population of 340,000...

 and could form a continuous front with Allied forces advancing from the west.

Allied

Eighth Army

• XXX Corps
  • 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division
  • 51st (Highland) Infantry Division
  • 4th Indian Division
  • 2nd New Zealand Divisional Artillery

• Held in reserve to exploit the breakthrough
  • 2nd New Zealand Division, including the Greek Sacred Band
    Sacred Band (World War II)
    The Sacred band was a Greek special forces unit formed in 1942 in the Middle East, composed entirely of Greek officers and officer cadets under the command of Col. Christodoulos Tsigantes. It fought alongside the SAS in the Libyan desert and the Aegean, as well as with General Leclerc's Free...
    
     special forces unit
  • British 1st Armoured Division

Axis

Italian First Army
The Italian First Army had absorbed the remainder of the Afrika Korps

Afrika Korps

The German Africa Corps , or the Afrika Korps as it was popularly called, was the German expeditionary force in Libya and Tunisia during the North African Campaign of World War II...

. The German units, who lacked confidence in the Italians' effectiveness, were used to strengthen the mass of Italian infantry. The remnants of the 15th Panzer Division (ten tanks) was the only armour immediately available, but other units could be brought in from elsewhere in Tunisia.

• XX Corps
  Italian XX Motorised Corps
  The Italian XX Motorised Corps was an armoured formation of the Italian army. The Corps took part in the Western Desert Campaign in World War II from summer 1941 to 1943...
  
  
  • Young Fascist Division
    136 Infantry Division Giovani Fascisti
    The 136 Infantry Division Giovani Fascisti was a Infantry Division of the Italian Army during World War II.-History:The Giovani Fascisti Division was formed from volunteers from the Young Fascist University...
    
    
  • German 90 Light Division (less one regiment)
  • Trieste Division
• XXI Corps
  • Spezia Division
    80 Infantry Division La Spezia (Airlanding)
    80 Infantry Division La Spezia was an Airlanding Division of the Italian Army during World War II. The La Spezia was formed in 1941, for the planned Invasion of Malta. When the invasion was cancelled the Division was instead was transferred to Libya in October 1942...
    
    
  • Pistoia Division
    16 Motorised Division Pistoia
    The 16 Motorised Division Pistoia was an Motorised Infantry Division of the Italian Army during World War II. The Division was mobilized in June 1940, as an infantry division and was sent to the French border and held in reserve for the Italian First Army. In October 1941, it was motorised and sent...
    
    
  • German 164 Light Division
  • one regiment of 90 Light Division

• 15th Panzer Division, in reserve

The battleground

The opposing forces faced each other along an east-west line, with the Mediterranean Sea

Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...

 in the east and the impassable salt marshes at Sebkret el Hamma (the eastern extremity of the Chott el Djerid

Chott el Djerid

Chott el Djerid , also spelt Shaţţ al Jarīd, Sciott Gerid, and Shott el Jerid, is a large endorheic salt lake in southern Tunisia.-Geography:The bottom of Chott el Djerid is located between 10 and 25 meters above sea level....

) to the west. There was thus no option for a flanking action, as there had been at the Tebaga Gap nor to stretch the battlefield and thus disperse the defenders, as at El Alamein

Second Battle of El Alamein

The Second Battle of El Alamein marked a major turning point in the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. The battle took place over 20 days from 23 October – 11 November 1942. The First Battle of El Alamein had stalled the Axis advance. Thereafter, Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery...

 and subsequent battles. A frontal attack on prepared defences was unavoidable.

From the east, the line of defence followed the Wadi Akarit for five miles, here impassable to armour, then a wider section of dry wadi

Wadi

Wadi is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some cases, it may refer to a dry riverbed that contains water only during times of heavy rain or simply an intermittent stream.-Variant names:...

, backed by a long hill, the Djebel er Roumana, itself the last of a line of high ground that forms the northern boundary of the Chott. The approaches to Djebel er Roumana were impeded by an anti-tank ditch and there were more defence works to the west, although the broken ground itself was a significant obstacle.

The battle

Allied advance units had advanced through Oudref and reached the Wadi Akarit on 30 March, but limited their activity to patrols and probing the Axis defences.

Three divisions would form the intial assault: 51st Highland Division on the right, 50th Division in the centre and the 4th Indian Division on the left.

There was a concentrated artillery barrage.

In the opening stages of crossing the minefield and anti-tank ditch under darkness, the 7th Bn of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders

Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders

The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, 5th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland....

 captured their objective. In the course of holding the bridgehead their commander Lt-Col Lorne MacLaine Campbell

Lorne MacLaine Campbell

Brigadier Lorne MacLaine Campbell VC, DSO & Bar, OBE, TD was a Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.-Early life:Lorne MacLaine Campbell was the eldest of three...

 earned a Victoria Cross for continuing to inspire and direct his unit despite being wounded.

Aftermath

At dawn on the following day, 6 April, it was found that the Axis forces had quietly withdrawn. The mobile 2nd New Zealand Division and 1st Armoured Division were released to pursue the withdrawing Italian and German troops. The pursuit crossed a coastal plain which changed from being open semi-desert to large olive

Olive

The olive , Olea europaea), is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin as well as northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.Its fruit, also called the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the...

 groves which offered opportunities for ambush. There was, however, little resistance until close to Enfidaville, but prisoners, sometimes surprised to see Allied troops beyond the supposed front line, and large amounts of materiel (including previously captured US supplies) were taken. Neither pursuers nor pursued forced major actions, particularly if the opposition was too great, but at one point, the Greeks attached to the New Zealand Division attacked and destroyed a German tank. Although they had nothing but small arms, it's assumed that spare petrol cans had ignited.

In this way, some 140 miles (226 kilometres) north of Wadi Akarit were covered, including the towns of Sfax

Sfax

Sfax is a city in Tunisia, located southeast of Tunis. The city, founded in AD 849 on the ruins of Taparura and Thaenae, is the capital of the Sfax Governorate , and a Mediterranean port. Sfax has population of 340,000...

 and Sousse

Sousse

Sousse is a city in Tunisia. Located 140 km south of the capital Tunis, the city has 173,047 inhabitants . Sousse is in the central-east of the country, on the Gulf of Hammamet, which is a part of the Mediterranean Sea. The name may be of Berber origin: similar names are found in Libya and in...

. The Axis had chosen easily defensible positions north and west of Enfidaville which were not given up until the general surrender in north Africa.