An Army at Dawn

by Rick Atkinson

  Commanders in Tunisia: Statement, P. C. Hains, III, 1st AR, in AAR, 2nd Bn, 168th Inf, “Kasserine Pass Battles,” vol. 1, part 1 (seven possible); Robinett, Armor Command, 152 (“He sucked in his breath”), 155, 160; Robinett, “Among the First,” ts, PMR, GCM Lib, box 22, 366–70 (“The conference”); Martin Philipsborn, Jr., and Milton Lehman, “The Untold Story of Kasserine Pass,” Saturday Evening Post, Feb. 14, 1948, 23 (“We can’t win”).

  Daubed it was: NWAf, 402–403; Leon F. Lavoie et al., “The First Armored Division at Faïd-Kasserine,” 1949, Armored School Advanced Course, 22 (“The generals of three nations”).

  Nor were commanders certain: “Diary Covering the Activities of General Fredendall and Supporting Players, Dec. ’42–March ’43,” James R. Webb Collection, DDE Lib (“They seemed to expect”); Gugeler, ts, OW, MHI, x-66; E.C. Hatfield, diary, Feb. 6, 1943, OW, MHI (“angry and disappointed”); Howze, SOOHP, MHI; Howze, OH, Gugeler, OW, MHI (“infuriated, insulted”).

  The greatest insult arrived: Jackson, 430; NWAf, 400; Gugeler, ts, OW, MHI, x-72 (“It’s wrong”).

  Fredendall had visited Sbeïtla: Peter C. Hains, III, OH, May 1991, David W. Hogan, MHI (“Good God”); Blumenson, Kasserine Pass, 122; Andrews, “A Place to Be Lousy In,” 100; Gugeler, ts, OW, MHI, x-73; Howze, OH, Gugeler, OW, MHI (“Neither he nor I”).

  Orders were orders: Howe, The Battle History of the 1st Armored Division, 141; Ankrum, 182 (“isn’t that much barbed wire”), 183 (“How would you hear rocks”), 186 (“Poppycock!”); AAR, 2nd Bn, 168th Inf Regt, Feb. 3–16, 1942, Iowa GSM; Waters, SOOHP, 189–90 (“Waters, I’ve got orders” and “General McQuillin, let me ask”).

  There was nothing for it: AAR, 168th Inf Regt, Feb. 27, 1943, Iowa GSM; AAR, 3rd Bn, 168th Inf Regt, n.d., Iowa GSM; AAR, 2nd Bn, 168th Inf Regt, Feb. 3–16, 1942, Iowa GSM (“killed at once” and “when I want prisoners taken”); Robertson, ts, ASEQ, 1st AR, 1st AD, MHI.

  “A Good Night for a Mass Murder”

  As commander-in-chief: Chandler, vol. I, 604n (far greater powers); Danchev and Todman, eds., 365 (neither “the tactical” and “We were pushing”); Miller, Ike the Soldier, 464; DDE to GCM, Feb. 8, 1943, Chandler, 942–46 (“popular impression”); Three Years, 258 (“burning inside”).

  Upon hearing the news: Three Years, 260; Hughes diary, Jan. 24, 1943, MHI (“Ike is doomed”).

  that woman: Miller, 469; Morgan, Past Forgetting, 111; Irving, The War Between the Generals: Inside the Allied High Command, 47–48; Hughes diary, Feb. 12, 1943, MHI (“Maybe Kay”).

  Skibereen was behind the wheel: chronology, Chandler, vol. V, 105; D. D. Eisenhower, At Ease: Stories I Tell to Friends, 259 (“taking too many trips”); Charles M. Thomas, diary fragment, Feb. 13, 1943, possession of Roger Cirillo (“I never knew the wind and sand”).

  “In one respect only”: Truscott, Command Missions, 153; Blumenson, Kasserine Pass, 124; Eisenhower, Crusade in Europe, 141 (“the divisions have”).

  Fifteen minutes later: Michael J. King, “Rangers: Selected Combat Operations in World War II,” 1985, CSI, 15; Altieri, “Darby’s Rangers,” 1945, Ranger Book Committee; Jerome Joseph Haggerty, “A History of the Ranger Battalions in World War II,” Ph.D. diss, 1982, Fordham University, 120; Altieri, The Spearheaders, 197 (“We’ve got to leave our mark”), 206 (“good night for a mass murder”); Patrick O’Donnell, Beyond Valor, 33–35 (at least one wounded prisoner).

  Anderson walked in: Akers, OH, SM, MHI; Dickson obituary, Assembly, Sept. 1978; B. A. Dickson, “statement of service,” Benjamin A. Dickson Collection, USMA Arch, box 3; Blumenson, Kasserine Pass, 125.

  “Rommel can be expected”: Dickson, “G-2 Journal: Algiers to the Elbe,” 38–43 (“alarmist and a pessimist”); Dickson, OH, Dec. 13, 1950, G. F. Howe, SM, MHI.

  For over two hours: Porter, SOOHP, MHI; Hinsley, British Intelligence in the Second World War, 583–85, 757; Dickson, “G-2 Journal: Algiers to the Elbe,” 38–43; Robert A. Hewitt, OH, n.d., G. F. Howe, SM, MHI (“General disposition of forces”); John H. Thompson, “Kasserine Fiasco Laid to British,” Chicago Tribune, Feb. 1948; DDE to GCM, Feb. 15, 1943, Chandler, 955 (“as good as could be made”), 956 (“seems keen and fit”).

  An urgent phone call: PMR to DDE, Sept. 12, 1967 (“hoped to win”), and DDE to PMR, Sept. 15, 1967, Robinett Papers, MHI; Robinett, “Among the First,” ts, PMR, GCM Lib, box 22, 366–70 (“Only a question” and “The yielding of ground”); Robinett, Armor Command, 160–62 (“only evidence” and “Now that General Eisenhower”); Eisenhower, Crusade in Europe, 142.

  Another cactus patch: Gugeler, ts, OW, MHI, x-77; Truscott, Command Missions, 153; Peter C. Hains, III, OH, Apr. 26, 1951, G. F. Howe, SM, MHI; “The Battle of Sidi bou Zid,” n.d., PMR, LOC, box 6.

  Eisenhower had sensed: diary, Feb. 13, 1943, OW, MHI (“Ike would swap”); Eisenhower, Crusade in Europe, 142; Eisenhower, At Ease, 259–60 (“Get your mine fields out”); CCA, “Narrative of Events from 23 January 1943 to 26 February,” 1st AD, NARA RG 407, E 427, 601-CCA-0.3, box 14825 (“listened to a description”); “The Battle of Sidi bou Zid,” n.d., PMR, LOC, box 6.

  He stepped from: D’Este, Eisenhower: A Soldier’s Life, 641mss (“We do not pray”); Blumenson, Kasserine Pass, 139 (“General, what will we do”); John S. D. Eisenhower, Allies, 269 (“I think you’re going”).

  A week later: DDE to GCM, Feb. 21, 1943, Chandler, 970 (“a delicate matter”); Hinsley, British Intelligence in the Second World War, vol. II, 583–86, 757–59 (“A-day”), 761–62; G-2 records, II Corps, Feb. 13, 14, 1943, NARA RG 338, II Corps, box 9 (“Urgent. Absolute priority” and “Rommel has been reported”); “The Battle of Sidi bou Zid,” n.d., PMR, LOC, box 6; Waters, SOOHP, 193 (“My error”); NWAf, 411.

  A cold drizzle: “History of the 26th Infantry in the Present Struggle,” 6/13; Robertson, ts, ASEQ, 1st AR, 1st AD, MHI; letter, W. Bruce Pirnie, Jr., to Amon G. Carter, June 16, 1943, OW, MHI (“seemed sort of silly”); msg, DDE to AGWAR, Feb. 13, 1943, 1013 hrs., NARA RG 331, AFHQ micro, G-3 Forward, Constantine, R-99-D, 319.1 (“Axis cannot risk”)

  CHAPTER 9: KASSERINE

  A Hostile Debouchment

  A brief, howling sandstorm: Hudel and Robinett, “The Tank Battle at Sidi bou Zid,” in “Kasserine Pass Battles,” n.d., vol. I, part 1, CMH; Lucas, Panzer Army Africa, 165; AAR, “Narrative of Events from 23 January 1943 to 26 February,” CCA, 1st AD, NARA RG 407, E 427, 601-CCA-0.3; Tätigkeitsbericht, 10th Panzer Div., 14–22 Feb. 1943, NARA RG 319, OCMH, box 225; James E. Hagan, ASEQ, n.d., Co G, 3rd Bn, 1st Armored Regt; Ankrum, 186 (“Krupp Iron Works”); Howze, “The Battle of Sidi bou Zid,” lecture, MHI.

  Three miles east: letter, W. Bruce Pirnie, Jr., to Amon G. Carter, June 16, 1943, OW, MHI (“really changed the sound”); Waters, SOOHP, 204, 213 (“If you can’t fire”); NWAf, 408, 412.

  One after another: Howe, The Battle History of the 1st Armored Division, 145–46; David W. Hazen, “Role of the Field Artillery in the Battle of Kasserine Pass,” master’s thesis, 1973, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, 43 (somehow forgotten in the confusion); Thomas E. Hannum, “The 30 Years of Army Experience,” ASEQ, ts, n.d., Co A, 91st Armored FA, MHI (“We didn’t know exactly”); Robert G. Bond, “Induction into the Armed Service,” ASEQ, ts, n.d., 1st AD, MHI; Howze, “The Battle of Sidi bou Zid” William H. Balzer, ASEQ, ts., n.d., 1st Armored Regt, MHI (“All around me comrades”); 443rd CA Battalion history, and letter, Werner L. Larson to G. F. Howe, 1951, NARA RG 319, OCMH, box 229; Wiltse, 126 (“lost his sense of direction”); John T. Jones, Jr., ASEQ, n.d., Co H, 3rd Bn, 1st Armored Regt.

  The enemy without question: AAR, “Operations of 3rd Bn, 1st Armored Regt,” Feb. 14, 1943, NARA RG 407, E 427, box 14916; Harold V. Boyle, Associated Press account of Texas, Cavalry Journal, March–Apr. 1943, 12 (“smoked us up” and “like peas”); Robertson, ASEQ, Co H, 1st Armored Regt, MHI (“dryland Dunkirk”); John B. Scheller, ASEQ, n.d., 1st Armored Regt Band, MHI (“Take off, men!”); Hannum, “The 30 Years of Army Experience” (
“air was full of whistles”); Stanley J. Krekeler, ASEQ, ts, n.d., 91st Armored FA, 1st AD, MHI (lint from camouflage nets); Pirnie to Carter, June 16, 1943, OW, MHI (“suddenly blossomed”); Milo L. Green and Paul S. Gauthier, ed., Brickbats from F Company, 149; Howe, The Battle History of the 1st Armored Division, 150–53; Louis V. Hightower, DSC citation, 1943, NARA RG 492, NATOUSA general orders; Blumenson, Kasserine Pass, 141–42.

  Of fifty-two Shermans: Kriegstagebuch, 21st Panzer Div., 14–23 Feb., 1943, in “Kasserine Pass Battles,” vol. I, part 2, CMH; Hudel and Robinett, “The Tank Battle of Sidi bou Zid.”

  The disaster: AAR, “1st Armored Regt., North African Campaign, Nov. 8, 1942–May 9, 1943,” NARA RG 407, E 427, box 14916; Waters, SOOHP, MHI, 203–22 (“Sir, I couldn’t”), 596 (“There must be something”); AAR, 2nd Bn, 168th Inf Regt, Feb. 1943, Iowa GSM; “Kasserine Pass Battles,” n.d., vol. I, part 1, CMH (“Pete, I’m going to shut”); Balzer, ASEQ, 1st Armored Regt, MHI; Blumenson, Kasserine Pass, 164–65.

  Ten miles to the southeast: Edgar P. Moschel, statement in “168th Inf Regt. Narrative of Action,” n.d., Iowa GSM; Franklin M. Davis, Jr., “The Battle of Kasserine Pass,” American Legion, Apr. 1965, 22 (“It seems like”); AAR accounts by Gerald C. Line, Thomas D. Drake, Harry P. Hoffman, in “Kasserine Pass Battles,” vol. I, part 1, CMH; Hougen, The Story of the Famous 34th Infantry Division.

  Drake soon recognized: “Narrative of Events from 23 January 1943 to 26 February,” CCA; AAR, 3rd Bn, 168th Inf Regt, Feb. 8–20, 1943, Iowa GSM; letter, Thomas D. Drake to Charles W. Ryder, Oct. 4, 1944, Ryder Papers, DDE Lib, box 1 (“fled so fast”).

  At two P.M. Drake: “Narrative of Events from 23 January 1943 to 26 February,” CCA; “Brief Statement of Lt. Col. John H. Van Vliet, Jr.,” in “168th Inf Regt. Narrative of Action,” Iowa GSM; letter, Drake to Ryder, Oct. 4, 1944, Ryder Papers, DDE Lib., box 1; AAR account, Marvin E. Williams, 3rd Bn, 168th Inf, “Kasserine Pass Battles,” vol. I, part 1, CMH; Blumenson, Kasserine Pass, 145.

  Eisenhower and Truscott: chronology, Chandler, vol. V; Morgan, 112 (“very tired”); Truscott, Command Missions, 155–56 (“There was no reason”); DDE to GCM, Feb. 15, 1943, Chandler, 956 (“I really believe”).

  The truth would soon: Hazen, 42, 48–54; William R. Betson, “Sidi bou Zid—A Case History of Failure,” Armor, Nov.–Dec. 1982, 38; Peter Hoffman, Stauffenberg: A Family History, 1905–1944, 171; DDE to GCM, Feb. 15, 1943, Chandler, 956; AAR, 60th Inf Regt, Feb. 1943, NARA RG 407, E 427, box 7535.

  With Summersby: Powell, In Barbary, 242 (“barbarians”); Baedeker, 290 (“Venari lavari”); Truscott, Command Missions, 156; Truscott aide official diary, Feb. 1943, LKT Jr. Papers, GCM Lib, box 18, folder 1.

  “When you remember me”: Miller, Ike the Soldier, 477 (“always to do my duty”); McKeough and Lockridge, 73 (picked out “Taps”).

  None Returned

  With Anderson’s decision: Liebling, Mollie & Other Pieces, 67, 85; Dickson, “G-2 Journal: Algiers to the Elbe,” MHI, 43; “History of the 26th Infantry in the Present Struggle,” Feb. 15, 1943, MRC-FDM, 8/4–16 (Madame LaZonga); “Journal for the 3rd Battalion,” 26th Infantry Regt, Feb. 15, 1943, MRC-FDM; Messenger, 50 (“rather sinister darkness”); AAR, “Account of B Company Operations at Gafsa,” 19th Engineer Regt, n.d., in II Corps records, NARA RG 407, E 427, box 19248 (wedged six tons of ammonal); Liddell Hart, ed., The Rommel Papers, 400 (The explosion also demolished). Ammonal is composed of TNT, ammonium nitrate, and aluminum; guncotton is an ingredient of smokeless gunpowder.

  The sprawling air bases: AAFinWWII, 155; AAR, “Report of Operations, XII Air Support Command,” Apr. 9, 1943, NARA; Pyle, Here Is Your War, 176 (large wall map); “From Beer Beach to Kasserine Pass: The Story of the 175th Field Artillery Battalion,” n.d., 34th ID, NARA RG 407, E 427, box 9542; Edwin L. Powell, Jr., OH, 1982, Lynn L. Sims, CEOH (“Before I finished”); NWAf, 437; AAR, 805th Tank Destroyer Battalion, “The Tunisian Campaign,” Feb. 1943, NARA RG 407, E 427, box 23768; Tank Destroyer Forces World War II, 29.

  A battlefield bromide: Charles J. Hoy, “Reconnaissance Lessons from Tunisia,” Cavalry Journal, Nov.–Dec. 1943, 16–19; Ben Crosby, OH, March 1951, G. F. Howe, SM, MHI (“badly used up”); Moschel, statement in “168th Inf Regt. Narrative of Action,” n.d., Iowa GSM.

  Yet a mood of benighted: letter, Robinett to H. Gardiner, Dec. 26, 1967, PMR, GCM Lib, box 5, folder 21; First Army to II Corps, Feb. 14, 1943, 2010 hrs., NARA RG 331, AFHQ micro, AFHQ G-3 Forward, R-100-D, 319.1 (“As regards action”).

  This hallucination: George F. Hoffman and Donn A. Starry, eds., Camp Colt to Desert Storm: The History of U.S. Armored Forces, 151; diary, Feb. 15, 1943, OW, MHI (“I didn’t like it much”); Howe, The Battle History of the 1st Armored Division, 157; Howze, A Cavalryman’s Story, 41, 59 (“not contesting the order”); Catton, A Stillness at Appomattox, 211; George L. Durgin, ASEQ, 2nd Bn, 1st Armored Regt, 1st AD, MHI (“Off we went”); Robinett, Armor Command, 163 (“saluted and smiled”).

  Half a mile south: Tobin, Ernie Pyle’s War, 15 (“signature belch”); Pyle, Here Is Your War, 167 (“We are going to kick hell”); Hains, OH, Apr. 26, 1951, SM, MHI.

  The day was dry: Edwin H. Burba, “Battle of Sidi bou Zid,” Field Artillery Journal, Sept. 1943, 643; Robertson, ASEQ, Co. H, 1st Armored Regt, MHI (“‘Into the valley of death’”); author visit, Apr. 2000.

  Alger had been told: “The Attack on Sidi bou Zid,” 2nd Bn, 1st Armored Regt, “by officers of the battalion while POWs,” n.d., James D. Alger Collection, USMA Arch; “Record of Events,” 2nd Bn appendix to AAR, 1st Armored Regt, North African campaign, Nov. 8, 1942–May 9, 1943, NARA RG 407, E 427, box 14916; Howze, “The Battle of Sidi bou Zid” Howe, The Battle History of the 1st Armored Division, 159; NWAf, 419–21; war diary, 10th Panzer Div., Feb. 15, 1943, “Kasserine Pass Battles,” vol. I, part 2; “G-3 Journal” and message traffic, 1st AD, Feb. 15, 1943, NARA RG 407, E 427, box 14767 (“Tanks now approaching” and “Keep your eye peeled”); letter, T. Riggs to parents, June 25, 1943, PMR LOC, box 4.

  No sooner did: Rame, Road to Tunis, 247–48 (“like a bright diamond” and “within a matter of minutes”); Pyle, Here Is Your War, 170 (“Brown geysers”).

  The killing was confined: Lavoie et al., “The First Armored Division at Faïd-Kasserine” Macksey, Crucible of Power, 149–153 (electric blue); Macksey, Tank Versus Tank, performance chart, 107; Ellis, On the Front Lines, 117 (“it takes ten minutes”); “Record of Events,” 2nd Bn appendix to AAR, 1st Armored Regt, North African campaign, Nov. 8, 1942–May 9, 1943, NARA RG 407, E 427, box 14916 (“None returned”).

  “As dusk began”: R. E. McQuillin, comments on draft of Northwest Africa: Seizing the Initiative in the West, n.d., NARA RG 319, OCMH, box 228; Balzer, ASEQ, 1st Armored Regt, MHI (“I found myself”); Howe, The Battle History of the 1st Armored Division, 163–65 (“We might have walloped”); NWAf, 415; DDE, “Commander-in-Chief’s Dispatch, North African Campaign, 1942–1943,” 35; Krekeler, ASEQ, 91st Armored FA, MHI; Anderson to DDE, Feb. 15, 1943, 1743 hrs, NARA RG 331 micro, AFHQ G-3 Forward, R-99-D, 319.1 (“dangerously dispersed”); Tobin, 82 (“awful nights”).

  “Sometimes That Is Not Good Enough”

  The immolation: Des Moines Sunday Register, July 18, 1943, 1; AAR, 2nd Bn, 168th Inf Regt, Feb. 3–19, 1943, “Kasserine Pass Battles,” vol. I, part 1, CMH; Austin, 87 (“Message okay”).

  At 10:30 P.M.: AAR, 2nd Bn, 168th Inf Regt, Feb. 15–16, 1943, Iowa GSM (“so close”); Norland Norgaard, AP dispatch in Red Oak Express, Feb. 22, 1943, 1; Des Moines Sunday Register, July 18, 1943, 1; “An American Story: The Life and Times of a Midlands Family,” Omaha World-Herald, Nov. 9, 1997, 1; Hougen, The Story of the Famous 34th Infantry Division; NWAf, 424; Eugene L. Daniels, DSC citation, NATOUSA Gen’l. Order 66, July 30, 1943, NARA RG 492.

  Drake’s ordeal: AAR account, Marvin E. Williams, 3rd Bn, 168th Inf, “Kasserine Pass Battles,” vol. I, part 1, CMH (“Besieged”); letter, Drake to Ryder, Oct. 4, 1944, Ryder Papers, DDE Lib, b
ox 1; Tätigkeitsbericht, 10th Panzer Div., Feb. 16, 1943, NARA RG 319, OCMH, box 225; AAR, “168th Inf Regiment Narrative of Action,” Iowa GSM; Blumenson, Kasserine Pass, 196; Kriegstagebuch, 21st Panzer Div., Feb. 17, 1943, “Kasserine Pass Battles,” vol. I, part 2, CMH; Robert L. Owen, ts, Jan. 19, 1993, “Kasserine Pass file,” Iowa GSM; AAR accounts, G. C. Line, T. D. Drake, “Kasserine Pass Battles,” vol. I, part 1, CMH; “Brief Statement of Lt. Col. John H. Van Vliet, Jr.,” in “168th Inf Regt. Narrative of Action,” Iowa GSM; AAR, Harry P. Hoffman, 3rd Bn, 168th Inf Regt, Iowa GSM.

  A few minutes later: H. P. Hoffman, G. C. Line, T. D. Drake accounts, “Kasserine Pass Battles,” vol. I, part 1, CMH; Van Vliet account, “168th Inf Regt. Narrative of Action,” Iowa GSM; Larson, ed., “The History and Contribution to American Democracy of Volunteer ‘Citizen Soldiers’ of Southwest Iowa, 1930–1945,” 57–58; AAR, 3rd Bn, 168th Inf Regt, Feb. 16–17, 1943, Iowa GSM.

  “We marched”: Bill Roth, “The Longest Days of a G.I.,” n.d., Iowa GSM (“Whenever the moon”); Larson, ed., 61–63; author interview, Dave Berlovich, Oct. 19, 1999 (“You’re marked”).

  Dawn caught them: author interviews, Clifton J. Warner, Ross W. Cline, Oct. 19, 1999; AAR, 3rd Bn, 168th Inf Regt, Feb. 17, 1943, Iowa GSM; Drake, in “Kasserine Pass Battles,” vol. I, part 1 (“gained the desired ground”); William Walling Luttrell, “A Personal Account of the Experiences as a German Prisoner of War,” ts, n.d., Iowa GSM (“He took one look”); Van Vliet account, “168th Inf Regt. Narrative of Action,” Iowa GSM; letter, Drake to Ryder, Oct. 4, 1944, Ryder Papers, DDE Lib, box 1 (“You go to hell”); Blumenson, Kasserine Pass, 199; Roth, “The Longest Days of a G.I.” Kriegstagebuch, 21st Panzer Div., Feb. 17, 1943, “Kasserine Pass Battles,” vol. I, part 2, CMH; NWAf, 424; Larson, ed., 61–63, 66–67; letter, Gerald C. Line to wife, March 2, 1943, Iowa GSM, #1999.25.2 (“sane or insane”).