#OTD 9 April 1943. Rome. British fascist Strachey Barnes responds to news of Allied wins in #TunisianCampaign.
For Barnes 'we' = Italy.
'Well, that's that. The only comfort is that we do not appear to have lost control of our tactical (illegible) & have not been trapped.'
tinyurl.com/yt5vwmwe
On This Day 1943, Claus von #Stauffenberg was severely injured at this location during the #TunisianCampaign . There's still some debris lying around. As you can see I was photobombed by some goats..... #SoundOn
The battle of Wadi Akarit ended on this day in 1943 with a "sort of" victory for Montgomery's 8th Army. Whilst the ground was taken and the non-motorised Axis forces captured/killed, the bulk of the Axis forces successfully withdrew to the Enfidaville Line. #TunisianCampaign
#OTD … it’s 1941 not 1943 but getting back on track for the #TunisianCampaign.
#OTD 27 Feb 1943. #TunisianCampaign. Field hospital near Sfax. Radio operator Hermann Franz dies from wounds received 5 days ago in Kasserine.
'He died believing he could go home on the next hospital ship and was looking forward to seeing his parents again.'
Inkyfada: tinyurl.com/mw79fwzt
#OTD 25 Feb 1943. #TunisianCampaign #WW2 Sidi Nsir
Kasserine Pass is in Allied hands, but the battles continue. For the next 48 hours, all attention will be on Sidi Nsir where the Hampshires have set up Battalion HQ in the railway station.
'Last Stand!' Bryan Perret. p. 132 tinyurl.com/2su4ezcb
"O, that my tongue were in the thunder’s mouth! Then with a passion would I shake the world" #ShakespeareSunday #Patton #TunisianCampaign
My online research into 1942 #TunisianCampaign leads me to extraordinary sites. The 1964 counter-factual film 'It Happened Here' was an inspiring discovery. Here, its director Kevin Brownlow talks about the process of film-making. UTTERLY AWESOME. #film, #history, #war tinyurl.com/59abwen9
OTD 5 / 12 / 1942. Between Tebourba and Djedieida. PhilipJordan reporting.The Germans, installed on a high ridge, bombard the Hampshires with mortar & machine gun fire, then their tanks 'pulped the bodies of those who opposed them'. 'Scores of wounded lying on the ground'. #WW2, #TunisianCampaign.
The joy of creating these posts about #WW2,and #TunisianCampaign is the learning process. Today I read my print copy of @rboomhower.bsky.social's EXCELLENT biography of Ernie Pyle & found I have jumped the gun: Pyle only arrived in Oran on November 23. 'The Soldiers Friend' also on archive.org.
OTD 1942, Algeria: #TunisianCampaign: 21-year-old parachutist Peter Stainforth waiting to receive orders. The aircraft have landed successfully in Bone'. The aircraft in place, days of ‘uncertainly and hanging about’ ahead. 'Wings of the Wind' archive.org
18 November 1942 #TunisianCampaign. In Oran, Algeria, US reporter Ernie Pyle - always on message to promote a positive image of the 'average Joe' - describes a couple of US soldiers squatting by a roadside fire with two 'turbaned and bewhiskered Arabs 'like old pals'.
‘Here is Your War‘, Ernie Pyle’s account of Operation #torch and #TunisianCampaign in 1942 /3 is perhaps the best piece of war reporting I have ever read. He hangs out with ordinary soldiers and captures their point of view. Amazing storytelling. Please post more from your biography.
OTD 1943 - the first WW2 unconditional surrender - Tunisia. Here's my take on the military impact and what it meant to the Allies. [video from 2024]. #TunisianCampaign
Video by Tunisia_1943
It's #MapMonday - as far as maps in WW2 history books go, they don't get much worse than this one. How does this happen? #TunisianCampaign #skystorians
FunFact of the Day: whilst @USArmy soldiers were forming up to assault the beaches in North Africa in 1943 at least one
@USNavy ship broadcast over the ship's PA system the live radio commentary of the "Army versus Notre Dame" football game. Notre Dame won 26-0 #TunisianCampaign
The “Tunis cake” recipe was discovered by a British soldier in Tunis in 1943. He was a Master Baker. It was sold as a post-war alternative to expensive Christmas cake. You can still buy it in the UK! Wikipedia has the full history 😏 #TunisianCampaign
It's #MapMonday - the French post-war historical maps are almost all universally in the "super simple style". This is, my guess, a result of the style adopted at the French Staff College. I like it though. #TunisianCampaign
It's #TankTuesday - moving an Armoured Brigade, overnight, side lights only, on unfamiliar mountain roads, with 582 vehicles, at 8 'miles in the hour', arriving and deploying before dawn. In radio silence. That's an under appreciated staff work skill. #TunisianCampaign
"This world's a city full of straying streets,
And death's the market-place where each one meets" #ShakespeareSunday #Takrouna #TunisianCampaign
My #ThursdayThought: Probably the most woeful British Army Commander of WW2. There's no doubting Anderson's professional competence in the first few weeks of the #TunisianCampaign but he was eventually let down by his dour personality and inability to inspire his Staff or allies.
It's #TankTuesday - in the first 50 days of the #TunisianCampaign the Axis forces had delivered, from Europe, approximately 56,000 troops and 160 tanks including Tigers. That's from a standing start with no prior planning. Numbers exclude aircraft and air personnel. Just 50 days.
IWM BR939
"The Armd Bde had been in the course of changing from Crusader tanks to Shermans...one regiment had actually begun taking over their new tanks...when orders were received to take over their old Crusaders once more and move (straight into battle)" this is also known as #SNAFU. #TunisianCampaign
My recent Tunisian road trip captured by Tunisia's favourite blogger. It gives a good sense of the Tiger 131 site, Point 212 'The Bou' and much more. A great day out! #TunisianCampaign
“Borj Al Amri is more than a name on a map—it is a reminder of the sacrifices and strategies that shaped the world we know today. Through stories like these, we gain a deeper appreciation for the hidden layers of history that surround us, waiting to be uncovered.” #TunisianCampaign
Found it. The remains of the Irish Guards memorial on 'The Bou'. The memorial was placed there soon after the 1943 battle, subsequently removed sometime in the 1950s to St George's Church in Tunis. #TunisianCampaign
Medjerda valley near Medjez el Bab, Tunisia
"If there were a sympathy in choice, War, death, or sickness, did lay siege to it, Making it momentary as a sound, Swift as a shadow, short as any dream, Brief as the lightning in the collied night..." #ShakespeareSunday #TunisianCampaign
The caption says 'Tunis 9th November 1942' but somehow I doubt they would have parked their vulnerable aircraft like that, bearing in mind they were meant to be delivering the first troops into Tunisia and subject to air attack. Was this photograph perhaps taken in Italy instead? #TunisianCampaign
