HISTORY
Airacobras, Boston bombers, and a French
P-40 fighter unit (see Table 1 for details). As
the Allied situation worsened, XII ASC would be
reinforced by the Spitfires of the 52nd Fighter
Group, and American and British units of other
commands would be desperately called upon
from all over Tunisia and Algeria, including RAF
Spitfires, Hurricanes, and Bisleys piloted by
combat veterans, and American P-38s, B-25s,
B-26s, and B-17 heavy bombers.
The Axis devoted a comparatively small air
force to the Kasserine Pass battles, although
their airmen were battle-hardened compared
to the Americans of XII ASC. The Italians co-
Table 1: XII ASC, 14 February 1943 (Brigadier General Howard A. Craig)
Unit
SUB-UNIT
HQ 31st FG
Type
LOCATION
CO
Col. Fred M. Dean
Comments
Major George J. LaBreche
Spitfire Mk. V
Thelepte No. 1
307th FS/31st FG
Spitfire Mk. V
Thelepte No. 1
308th FS/31st FG
Spitfire Mk. V
Thelepte No. 1
309th FS/31st FG
Spitfire Mk. V
Thelepte No. 1
Major Harrison R. Thyng
Lt. Col. Kenneth S. Wade
Major Jack W. Wertz
HQ 81st FG
Major Delwin B. Avery
1
P-39
Thelepte No. 2
91st FS/81st FG
P-39
Thelepte No. 2
92nd FS/81st FG
P-39
Thelepte No. 2
?
346th FS/350th FG
P-39
Thelepte No. 2
Capt. John C. Robertson
Col. Frederick R. Terrell
HQ 47th BG
A-20
Youks-les-Bains
84th BS/47th BG
A-20
Youks-les-Bains
Walter J. Hanna
85th BS/47th BG
A-20
Thelepte
Reginald J. Clizbe
86th BS/47th BG
A-20
Thelepte No. 2
Richard E. Horner
97th BS/47th BG
Capt. Marion J. Akers
A-20
Thelepte
154th OS/68th OG
P-39
Youks-les-Bains
Major John R. Dyas
GC II/5
P-40
Thelepte
Commandant Paul Stehlin
Rest of FG at rear
Table 2: Luftwaffe in the Mediterranean, morning 14 February 1943
(Generalmajor Hans Seidemann)
Unit
Location
Fliegerkorps Tunis
La Fauconnerie
Fliegerführer 2
Tunis
II./JG 2
Kairouan
Stab JG 53
Type
Planned Transfer
FW 190 A
Bizerta & Tindja
FW 190 A
To Kairouan
Bizerta
Bf 109 G-2
To Kairouan
I./JG 53
Bizerta
Bf 109 G
II./JG 53
La Marsa & El Aouina
Bf 109 G-4
III./SKG 10
Bizerta
FW 190 A
To Kairouan
II./St.G. 3
St. Marie du Zit & El Aouina
Ju 87 D
One Staffel to Gabes
8.(Pz.)/Sch.G. 2
El Aouina
Hs 129
Five aircraft to Gabes
2.(H)/14
La Marsa & El Aouina
Bf 109
One Rotte to Kairouan
Kurierstaffel
La Marsa & El Aouina
Various
4./MSGr. 1
Bizerta
Ju 52 MS
Tunis
Ju 52 MS
Fliegerführer 3
Gabes
II./JG 51
Gabes
Bf 109 G-2, Bf 109 G-4
Stab JG 77
Matmata
Bf 109 G-2
I./JG 77
Fatnassa
Bf 109 G-2
To Sicily & Sardinia
II./JG 77
Medenine
Bf 109 G-2
To La Fauconnerie
III./JG 77
Matmata
Bf 109 G-2
To Maknassy
I./Sch.G. 2
Medenine
Bf 109 F-4
III./St.G. 3
Gabes
Ju 87 D
4.(H)/12
Gabes-West
Bf 109 F-4, Bf 109 G-2
2.(H)/14 detachment
Gabes-West
Bf 109 G-2
1.(F)/121
Gabes-West
Ju 88 D-1
1. Wüstennotstaffel
Matmata
Fi 156, FW 58
INFO Eduard - October 2021
To Mezzouna
mmitted almost none of their air force to the
battle, so the burden fell on the German Fliegerkorps Tunis, which had two subordinate
commands, Fliegerführer 2 in northern Tunisia
and Fliegerführer 3 in southern Tunisia. They
were both tactical headquarters, with fighters,
fighter-bombers, Stukas and short-range reconnaissance units on strength (see Table 2).
Kairouan, Gabes and Matmata were the key
Luftwaffe bases to support the Axis offensive.
Fliegerkorps Tunis was deployed very flexibly,
with units transferring from one sector to another as needed, and elements of both its subordinate commands operated over the Kasserine
area during the battle. However, they also had
to devote a considerable percentage of their resources to the northern and southern Tunisian
fronts.
The Luftwaffe received the following order on
the eve of the attack: “Fliegerführer 2 and Fliegerführer 3 are requested to support the offensive by committing their strongest forces.” By
concentrating its limited forces on the opening
two days of the battle, the Luftwaffe would enjoy a degree of air superiority on 14 and 15 February 1943, but once the Allies recovered from
their initial shock and committed all their units,
the comparative sortie tallies soon became
very lopsided.
The Axis Offensive Begins, 14 February
1943
The German Panzers rolled forward just before
sunrise on 14 February, and made first enemy
contact at 06:30 immediately north of Sidi Bou
Zid. As that occurred, the offensive received air
support from a handful of Sicily-based Junkers
88 bombers from KG 54 and KG 76, who took
off in the dark to attack the town of Sbeitla, to
the immediate rear of the II Corps front. Shortly
afterwards, St.G. 3 sent out sixteen Stukas to
drop delayed-action bombs on the village of
Sidi Bou Zid and cause further confusion for the
American defenders there, who were struggling to hold back the German advance.
Not far away, at Thelepte, XII ASC sent out two
morning missions, but neither was to the main
battle area, and one American formation was
jumped by FW 190s of II./JG 2. It was only late-morning when the Americans began sending
their fighters and bombers to the Sidi Bou Zid
area, and by then, it was too late.
At 09:20 the American 1st Armored Regiment
began a counterattack with 51 tanks, but the
Stukas of St.G. 3 arrived on the scene at just the
right time, attacking soon after 10:00 and causing great confusion. The FW 190 fighter-bombers of III./SKG 10, newly arrived at Kairouan
airfield, joined in the attack, and escort fighters
from JG 77 and II./JG 2 clashed with XII ASC
in the skies above. Despite the bravery of the
American tankers, within a few hours almost
all of their armoured vehicles were destroyed,
and by midday, withdrawal was their only option. St.G. 3 and III./SKG 10 had played an important part in pinning down and disrupting the
1st Armored Regiment while German armour
closed in on it.
The subsequent U.S. retreat provided the Luftwaffe with a plethora of targets, as disorganieduard
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