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An Army at Dawn
THE SECOND WORLD WAR
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13. AN ARMY AT DAWN ~ December 3rd ~ Decenber 8th ~ "Lay Roughly on the Tanks," PART FOUR - 10. The World We Knew Is A Long Time Dead - "Vigil in Red Oak," "We Know There'll Be Troubles of Every Sort," and "One Needs Luck in War" (382 -415) No-Spoilers
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Chapter Overviews and SummariesPart Three
9. Kasserine
"Lay Roughly on the Tanks"
German troops had to adjust to the hill country, rather than open desert fighting as General Dunphie dug in near Thala. However, he was using out-of-date tanks and the British pulled back to about three miles from Thala.
Thala was not a fortified town, but General Stafford Le Roy Irwin brought his artillery and started to fire upon the Germans. Rommel was low on ammunition when Kesselring visited the front.
Rommel argued to actually withdrawal his forces because of bad weather and the fact that the Allies were pouring men into the region. Kesselring agreed to the withdrawal.
Eisenhower wanted a swift pursuit, but the Americans wait, and by the time they move, the Germans were long gone. It would have been difficult as the Germans blew up key bridges and laid down mines.
The Americans lost 6,000 out of 30,000 men and about 85 miles in a week. However, Rommel failed in his plans, as well. He divided his army up and he did not follow quickly up with follow-up attacks.
For the Allies, Eisenhower was determined to learn from his mistakes, but they proved that Rommel was not invincible.
Part Four
10. The World We Knew Is A Long Time Dead
Vigil in Red Oak
Red Oak, Iowa knew war after Tunisia. People lived their lives as best they could with the gas rationing, women cab drivers, and the lack of men to play ball or go to college. Patriotism was high as the war bond drive and book drive did well.
Telegrams started arriving about the casualties and the prisoners of war. 45 men were on the list. The town started putting together care packages for the prisoners in Germany. Life magazine did a story of the town chronicling the high ratio of casualties, MIA, and prisoners to the town's population.
"We Know There'll Be Troubles of Every Sort"
The battlefield in Tunisia became much smaller as Montgomery moved west into Tunisia via Libya.
Eisenhower faced low morale among his men in the wake of Kasserine. He fired his intelligence officer and Col. Stark.
Fredenhall was Marshall's protege, but after talking with General Bradley, he knew he had to let him go. He promoted him and sent him stateside.
Patton took over the II Corp. He began to use tactics to improve training, military dress, and get his men to hate the Germans. At most times, Patton was abusive.
Replacements were difficult, because they were inexperienced and did not have emotional ties to their comrades. Some did not even finish basic training. It would be a problem that would plague the Allies for the rest of the war.
Shell-shock also became to rise. Many men get worn out from combat by 180 days. Doctors started to treat these men on the front. Patton, however, did not see a real psychiatric issue, but saw the men as cowards. He even slapped two men in the hospital.
"One Needs Luck in War"
On February 26, the Germans attack Sidi Nsir in operation Ox Head. It wasn't very coordinated and Rommel heard about the attack orders at the last minute, making it difficult to prepare. The follow up attack was delayed, as well.
Arnim pushed west against General Anderson, but he Arnim couldn't hold for very long. The Axis line was thin, and Rommel wanted to constrict the line, move closer to Arnim, but Hitler would not allow it.
Montgomery was closing and the British attacked the Germans near Medinine. The pressure and fatigue was too much for Rommel and he left for the Alps on March 9. He would never return to Africa.
Eisenhower's health was better and his job was secure. He became more focused on working on the invasion of Sicily.
The Allies were getting the upper hand as the U.S. began to send vast amount of material to North Africa. The German supply, meanwhile, was shrinking. They had to rely on the Italian navy, but many of its ships were sunk and fuel was running low. Arnim argued that without further supplies, the Germans would leave North Africa by July 1.
It is interesting to read Kesselring's observations of Rommel, saying he was a tired old man. Do you think if there was a different commander, then maybe the German plans might be different?
Do you agree that some good came out for the Allies at Kasserine?
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Jerome, Assisting Moderator - Upcoming Books and Releases
(last edited Dec 03, 2013 01:54PM)
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Indeed, Jerome, the "lessons learned" is quite long.Coordination between ground and air forces were non-existent. It cost many lives.
What do you think of Patton's tactics to shape up his army?Did you know that Patton hit two other soldiers before the head-liner slap?
You appreciate American might: Atkinson writes,"The Americans 'genius lay in creating resources rather than in using them economically...'" (p. 414, paperback)
Thoughts?
That Fredenhall got a promotion was a travesty of justice and fairness (he liekly went the rest of his life talking about his achievements in the war) (I wonder what happened to the supervising officers of Maj Hassan (who went on a recent killing spree on a US Base) after they sent him off without treating the problem - promotion and retirement with pensions would not surprise me. As mentioned above by Bryan the inclusion by Atkinson of the Iowa town experience (pgs 395 - 398) was non-direct but I think critical to understanding the war in a more global sense than just North Africa.
P 412 we see Eisenhower's growth after this learning experience but at what price? It seems he can get closer to the problems than he could before but allocate his efforts and time.
p 414 - 415 we see the beginning of America's industrial might starting to show.
Also in general we must consider that Axis efforts seem to have been hampered by Hitler's actions and attitudes.
Thanks Vince for your comments. With Ike's growth, I think he really sees the fact that he has to send young men to die and has to live with that heavy burden.
The thirteenth week's reading assignment is:
Week Thirteen - December 3rd - December 8th
Part Three - 9. Kasserine - "Lay Roughly on the Tanks," Part Four - 10. The World We Knew Is a Long Time Dead- Vigil in Red Oak, "We Know There'll Be Troubles of Every Sort," and "One Needs Luck in War" - pages 382 - 415
We will open up a thread for each week's reading. Please make sure to post in the particular thread dedicated to those specific chapters and page numbers to avoid spoilers. We will also open up supplemental threads as we did for other spotlighted books.
This book was kicked off on September 9th.
We look forward to your participation. Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other noted on line booksellers do have copies of the book and shipment can be expedited. The book can also be obtained easily at your local library, local bookstore or on your Kindle.
There is no rush and we are thrilled to have you join us. It is never too late to get started and/or to post.
Bentley will be leading this discussion and back-up will be Assisting Moderators Christopher and Jerome.
Welcome,
~Bryan
TO ALWAYS SEE ALL WEEKS' THREADS SELECT VIEW ALL
REMEMBER NO SPOILERS ON THE WEEKLY NON SPOILER THREADS - ON EACH WEEKLY NON SPOILER THREAD - WE ONLY DISCUSS THE PAGES ASSIGNED OR THE PAGES WHICH WERE COVERED IN PREVIOUS WEEKS. IF YOU GO AHEAD OR WANT TO ENGAGE IN MORE EXPANSIVE DISCUSSION - POST THOSE COMMENTS IN ONE OF THE SPOILER THREADS. THESE CHAPTERS HAVE A LOT OF INFORMATION SO WHEN IN DOUBT CHECK WITH THE CHAPTER OVERVIEW AND SUMMARY TO RECALL WHETHER YOUR COMMENTS ARE ASSIGNMENT SPECIFIC. EXAMPLES OF SPOILER THREADS ARE THE GLOSSARY, THE BIBLIOGRAPHY, THE INTRODUCTION AND THE BOOK AS A WHOLE THREADS.
Notes:
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If you need help - here is a thread called the Mechanics of the Board which will show you how:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Introduction Thread:
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Table of Contents and Syllabus
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Glossary:
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Glossary - Part One - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
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Book as a Whole and Final Thoughts - SPOILER THREAD:
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