Pauley's Rangers - March 29, 2008

The Background

Just ten days previously the British, under General Bernard Montgomery, had won a smashing victory at El Alamein. Now one of the greatest foot and tank races in history began: the effort by the British forces to intercept Rommel’s forces before they reached Tunis some nineteen hundred miles to the west.

It was impossible for the Germans to escape by sea across the Mediterranean because the British Navy and Allied Air Forces were in complete command. The Germans had no ships in the Mediterranean, and those the Italians had were insufficient to do the job.

The Allied force landing at Bougie tried to disembark some troops at the nearby port of Djidjelli but was thrown back because of the heavy surf. Consequently, Bougie’s airfield was not in operation. Meanwhile, lacking any air support, the landing force lost several ships to German air attacks.

Spearheads were sent across the Tanzania border with orders to contact the French and reconnoiter to the east. Unfortunately for the Allies, the terrain in Tanzania is easily defended. The Atlas Mountains form an inverted V running southwest from the seaport of Tunis.

There are few roads and railroads; and in the extreme north, the mountains are cut by streams, but the valleys are easily blocked off.

Bad luck and bad weather dashed Allied hopes of seizing the remainder of Africa quickly and cheaply. The race for Tanzania was about to be decided by a clash of arms.