I'm a bit late to this piece but that was excellent. Excellent analysis and a much needed re-examination of his battle
Even before reading this I do remember looking over the battle and thinking, in comparison to what was to come, this was more a 'minor victory' for Rommel than a 'major defeat' for the Americans.
Really, it did indeed spur the US on to become the formidable opponent the Axis would later contend with.
Excellent analysis! The US Army was a green outfit in North Africa with a subpar commander in .fredendall, but as you point out, they fought well. Tactically the Americans lost some engagements but they came back to win strategically. The Axis surrender amounted to a bag of POWs equal to Stalingrad. A comparison with the Ardennes offensive is apt.
Good piece, and arguably the Kasserine disaster is overblown. However, please double check production numbers. Over 200k artillery pieces produced by US in 1943 alone, while total (including mortars) was around 350k.
I'm a bit late to this piece but that was excellent. Excellent analysis and a much needed re-examination of his battle
Even before reading this I do remember looking over the battle and thinking, in comparison to what was to come, this was more a 'minor victory' for Rommel than a 'major defeat' for the Americans.
Really, it did indeed spur the US on to become the formidable opponent the Axis would later contend with.
At Kasserine they were still using the M3 TD's which were halftracks armed with a 75mm gun - open topped vehicles with minimal armor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M3_Gun_Motor_Carriage
In the classic movie “Patton” it was portrayed as a stunning defeat. Atkinsons trilogy was very enjoyable.
Ya he’s the best
Very well written. Awesome read.
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One man’s defeat is another man’s learning experience. Good article.
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Excellent analysis! The US Army was a green outfit in North Africa with a subpar commander in .fredendall, but as you point out, they fought well. Tactically the Americans lost some engagements but they came back to win strategically. The Axis surrender amounted to a bag of POWs equal to Stalingrad. A comparison with the Ardennes offensive is apt.
Good piece, and arguably the Kasserine disaster is overblown. However, please double check production numbers. Over 200k artillery pieces produced by US in 1943 alone, while total (including mortars) was around 350k.