Fall of Tunis: Axis Surrender Ends North African Campaign
The Tunisian Campaign (November 1942 - May 1943) was the final act of the North African theatre. After Operation Torch and El Alamein, Rommel's Afrika Korps was caught in a vice: the Eighth Army advancing from the east and Eisenhower's Allied Force pressing from the west. Hitler, refusing to authorise a fighting retreat, rushed 150,000 additional troops to Tunisia - creating a bridgehead he refused to abandon. The gamble failed: on 7 May 1943 British troops captured Tunis and Bizerte simultaneously; by 13 May organised Axis resistance ended with 275,000 prisoners taken - surpassing German losses at Stalingrad. The fall of Tunisia cleared the southern flank of Europe, secured Allied control of the Mediterranean sea lanes, and opened the road to Sicily and Italy. For Rommel it was the end in Africa: he had been evacuated sick before the final collapse, never to command there again.
- Year: 1943 CE
- Category: Military
