18
Allies into Tunisia had won the support of the French forces, and
Barre now agreed that his troops would cover the concentration of
the 78th Division in the Tabarka-Souk el Arba area. On 17 Novemï؟¾ber General Anderson issued orders to the 78th to complete its conï؟¾centration and prepare for an advance on Tunis.
About this time the Axis fighting strength was estimated at 500
to 1000 in the Tunis area and about 4000 at Bizerte, with some tanks
and aircraft at each place. At the same time JU-52,
s were averaging
more than fifty landings a day at Bizerte. The enemy had occupied
Mateur and had pushed out west and south.
The Allied expeditionary force that had rushed into Tunisia was
formed principally of two brigades of the British 78th Infantry Diï؟¾vision and one battalion of the 17th Lancers, reinforced by light
tanks from the American 1st Armored Division. It was realized
that such a small force, only a few thousand men in all, could not
hope to take Tunis and Bizerte if the Germans succeeded in bringing
in heavy reinforcements. Yet at the time it was the largest force
that could be supplied over the long and difficult line of communicaï؟¾tion.
Follow-up convoys arrived at Bone as rapidly as possible, and as
soon as transportation was unloaded, the newly arrived elements of
the British First Army continued overland to the east (Map 4a). By
20 November British armor, known as Blade Force, was established
in the Souk el Arba area, and by 22 November the 11th Brigade
Group * of the 78th Division was concentrated in the Beja area.
Operations in the north were now to take place along three clearly
defined axes: (1) the road from Tabarka to Mateur, (2) the Bejaï؟¾Mateur road, and (3) the main highway running from Beja through
Medjez el Bab and Tebourba to Tunis.
While the Allies were desperately trying to build up their advance
units and bring up supplies, the enemy seized the initiative by atï؟¾tacking the French at Medjez el Bab on 18 and 19 November. The
ill-equipped French were assailed three times by infantry supported
by artillery, tanks, and dive bombers, which inflicted casualties of
25 per cent on the defenders. The French retired until reinforced
by British and American armor and artillery, when they counterï؟¾attacked. At the same time another Axis attack at Djebel Abiod
was stopped by the leading battalion of the 36th Brigade.
Although the British had been able to hold the enemy in check,
they were themselves unable to advance, and were ordered to delay
temporarily until their strength was sufficient to insure a reasonable
* A British brigade group is similar to our regimental combat team.
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