51
who two months later were to invade enemy soil; and from bases
in Tunisia Allied air forces were pounding the airfields and ports of
southern Europe.
General Eisenhower had originally hoped to achieve these results
six months earlier. Had he been successful, perhaps subsequent
operations could have been speeded up so that the Allied invasion
of Italy could have been launched in the spring of 1943 rather than
in the fall. With a full summer of good weather Allied forces might
have advanced to the Po River by the time winter set in. But be
that as it may, the means were just not available to seize Tunis and
Bizerte in 1942.
In addition to the material advantages achieved, one other accomï؟¾plishment warrants particular note. This was the successful estabï؟¾lishment of a combined headquarters and the development of the
combined-force idea. In an official report General Eisenhower
stated:
In the North African Theater, even under the stresses imposed
by alternate partial victory and stinging tactical defeat, there was
achieved among the principal officers of the whole expedition a
coordination of purpose and a constant objectivity of viewpoint that
gradually permeated to lower ranks and clearly established the fact
that British and American forces of all arms could unite and work
together effectively.
As for the Americans, although they suffered early reverses and
even tactical defeats, they were able to profit from the experience.
New types of equipment, more realistic and practical methods of
training, and more efficient tactical organizations were developed.
These were lessons that could only be learned in the school of actual
combat, and that they were learned quickly is proved by the superior
performance of the II Corps during the final phase of the campaign.
The initial failures of the campaign had the unforeseen effect of
enhancing the magnitude of the ultimate Allied success because the
Axis was encouraged to make what proved to be an excessive investï؟¾ment in the Tunisian beachhead. An Axis army of some 320,000
men was destroyed rather than only the remnants of Rommel’s
original Afrika Korps. At the same time, American, British, and
French forces were given needed experience and in the end won a
confidence inspired by overwhelming victory.
After almost three years of fighting, North Africa ceased to be
one .of the active theaters of operations of World War II. The Axis
hopes for glory and profit here had vanished, and with them an estiï؟¾mated 620,000 soldiers, one third of whom were Germans. British
Digitized by Google
|