An Army at Dawn (113 page)

Eisenhower and Truscott
: chronology, Chandler, vol. V; Morgan, 112 (
“very tired”
); Truscott,
Command Missions,
155–56 (
“There was no reason”
); DDE to GCM, Feb. 15, 1943, Chandler, 956 (
“I really believe”
).

The truth would soon
: Hazen, 42, 48–54; William R. Betson, “Sidi bou Zid—A Case History of Failure,”
Armor,
Nov.–Dec. 1982, 38; Peter Hoffman,
Stauffenberg: A Family History, 1905–1944,
171; DDE to GCM, Feb. 15, 1943, Chandler, 956; AAR, 60th Inf Regt, Feb. 1943, NARA RG 407, E 427, box 7535.

With Summersby
: Powell,
In Barbary,
242 (
“barbarians”
); Baedeker, 290 (“Venari lavari”); Truscott,
Command Missions,
156; Truscott aide official diary, Feb. 1943, LKT Jr. Papers, GCM Lib, box 18, folder 1.

“When you remember me”
: Miller,
Ike the Soldier,
477 (
“always to do my duty”
); McKeough and Lockridge, 73 (
picked out “Taps”
).

None Returned

With Anderson’s decision
: Liebling,
Mollie & Other Pieces,
67, 85; Dickson, “G-2 Journal: Algiers to the Elbe,” MHI, 43; “History of the 26th Infantry in the Present Struggle,” Feb. 15, 1943, MRC-FDM, 8/4–16 (
Madame LaZonga
); “Journal for the 3rd Battalion,” 26th Infantry Regt, Feb. 15, 1943, MRC-FDM; Messenger, 50 (
“rather sinister darkness”
); AAR, “Account of B Company Operations at Gafsa,” 19th Engineer Regt, n.d., in II Corps records, NARA RG 407, E 427, box 19248 (
wedged six tons of ammonal
); Liddell Hart, ed.,
The Rommel Papers,
400 (
The explosion also demolished
). Ammonal is composed of TNT, ammonium nitrate, and aluminum; guncotton is an ingredient of smokeless gunpowder.

The sprawling air bases
:
AAFinWWII,
155; AAR, “Report of Operations, XII Air Support Command,” Apr. 9, 1943, NARA; Pyle,
Here Is Your War,
176 (
large wall map
); “From Beer Beach to Kasserine Pass: The Story of the 175th Field Artillery Battalion,” n.d., 34th ID, NARA RG 407, E 427, box 9542; Edwin L. Powell, Jr., OH, 1982, Lynn L. Sims, CEOH (
“Before I finished”
);
NWAf,
437; AAR, 805th Tank Destroyer Battalion, “The Tunisian Campaign,” Feb. 1943, NARA RG 407, E 427, box 23768;
Tank Destroyer Forces World War II,
29.

A battlefield bromide
: Charles J. Hoy, “Reconnaissance Lessons from Tunisia,”
Cavalry Journal,
Nov.–Dec. 1943, 16–19; Ben Crosby, OH, March 1951, G. F. Howe, SM, MHI (
“badly used up”
); Moschel, statement in “168th Inf Regt. Narrative of Action,” n.d., Iowa GSM.

Yet a mood of benighted
: letter, Robinett to H. Gardiner, Dec. 26, 1967, PMR, GCM Lib, box 5, folder 21; First Army to II Corps, Feb. 14, 1943, 2010 hrs., NARA RG 331, AFHQ micro, AFHQ G-3 Forward, R-100-D, 319.1 (
“As regards action”
).

This hallucination
: George F. Hoffman and Donn A. Starry, eds.,
Camp Colt to Desert Storm: The History of U.S. Armored Forces,
151; diary, Feb. 15, 1943, OW, MHI (
“I didn’t like it much”
); Howe,
The Battle History of the 1st Armored Division,
157; Howze,
A Cavalryman’s Story,
41, 59 (
“not contesting the order”
); Catton,
A Stillness at Appomattox,
211; George L. Durgin, ASEQ, 2nd Bn, 1st Armored Regt, 1st AD, MHI (
“Off we went”
); Robinett,
Armor Command,
163 (
“saluted and smiled”
).

Half a mile south
: Tobin,
Ernie Pyle’s War,
15 (
“signature belch”
); Pyle,
Here Is Your War,
167 (
“We are going to kick hell”
); Hains, OH, Apr. 26, 1951, SM, MHI.

The day was dry
: Edwin H. Burba, “Battle of Sidi bou Zid,”
Field Artillery Journal,
Sept. 1943, 643; Robertson, ASEQ, Co. H, 1st Armored Regt, MHI (
“‘Into the valley of death’”
); author visit, Apr. 2000.

Alger had been told
: “The Attack on Sidi bou Zid,” 2nd Bn, 1st Armored Regt, “by officers of the battalion while POWs,” n.d., James D. Alger Collection, USMA Arch; “Record of Events,” 2nd Bn appendix to AAR, 1st Armored Regt, North African campaign, Nov. 8, 1942–May 9, 1943, NARA RG 407, E 427, box 14916; Howze, “The Battle of Sidi bou Zid” Howe,
The Battle History of the 1st Armored Division,
159;
NWAf,
419–21; war diary, 10th Panzer Div., Feb. 15, 1943, “Kasserine Pass Battles,” vol. I, part 2; “G-3 Journal” and message traffic, 1st AD, Feb. 15, 1943, NARA RG 407, E 427, box 14767 (
“Tanks now approaching”
and
“Keep your eye peeled”
); letter, T. Riggs to parents, June 25, 1943, PMR LOC, box 4.

No sooner did
: Rame,
Road to Tunis,
247–48 (
“like a bright diamond”
and
“within a matter of minutes”
); Pyle,
Here Is Your War,
170 (
“Brown geysers”
).

The killing was confined
: Lavoie et al., “The First Armored Division at Faïd-Kasserine” Macksey,
Crucible of Power
, 149–153 (
electric blue
); Macksey,
Tank Versus Tank,
performance chart, 107; Ellis,
On the Front Lines,
117 (
“it takes ten minutes”
); “Record of Events,” 2nd Bn appendix to AAR, 1st Armored Regt, North African campaign, Nov. 8, 1942–May 9, 1943, NARA RG 407, E 427, box 14916 (
“None returned”
).

“As dusk began”
: R. E. McQuillin, comments on draft of
Northwest Africa: Seizing the Initiative in the West,
n.d., NARA RG 319, OCMH, box 228; Balzer, ASEQ, 1st Armored Regt, MHI (
“I found myself”
); Howe,
The Battle History of the 1st Armored Division,
163–65 (
“We might have walloped”
);
NWAf,
415; DDE, “Commander-in-Chief’s Dispatch, North African Campaign, 1942–1943,” 35; Krekeler, ASEQ, 91st Armored FA, MHI; Anderson to DDE, Feb. 15, 1943, 1743 hrs, NARA RG 331 micro, AFHQ G-3 Forward, R-99-D, 319.1 (
“dangerously dispersed”
); Tobin, 82 (
“awful nights”
).

“Sometimes That Is Not Good Enough”

The immolation
:
Des Moines Sunday Register,
July 18, 1943, 1; AAR, 2nd Bn, 168th Inf Regt, Feb. 3–19, 1943, “Kasserine Pass Battles,” vol. I, part 1, CMH; Austin, 87 (
“Message okay”
).

At 10:30
P.M.
:
AAR, 2nd Bn, 168th Inf Regt, Feb. 15–16, 1943, Iowa GSM
(“so close”
); Norland Norgaard, AP dispatch in
Red Oak Express,
Feb. 22, 1943, 1;
Des Moines Sunday Register,
July 18, 1943, 1; “An American Story: The Life and Times of a Midlands Family,”
Omaha World-Herald,
Nov. 9, 1997, 1; Hougen,
The Story of the Famous 34th Infantry Division
;
NWAf,
424; Eugene L. Daniels, DSC citation, NATOUSA Gen’l. Order 66, July 30, 1943, NARA RG 492.

Drake’s ordeal
: AAR account, Marvin E. Williams, 3rd Bn, 168th Inf, “Kasserine Pass Battles,” vol. I, part 1, CMH (
“Besieged”
); letter, Drake to Ryder, Oct. 4, 1944, Ryder Papers, DDE Lib, box 1;
Tätigkeitsbericht,
10th Panzer Div., Feb. 16, 1943, NARA RG 319, OCMH, box 225; AAR, “168th Inf Regiment Narrative of Action,” Iowa GSM; Blumenson,
Kasserine Pass,
196;
Kriegstagebuch,
21st Panzer Div., Feb. 17, 1943, “Kasserine Pass Battles,” vol. I, part 2, CMH; Robert L. Owen, ts, Jan. 19, 1993, “Kasserine Pass file,” Iowa GSM; AAR accounts, G. C. Line, T. D. Drake, “Kasserine Pass Battles,” vol. I, part 1, CMH; “Brief Statement of Lt. Col. John H. Van Vliet, Jr.,” in “168th Inf Regt. Narrative of Action,” Iowa GSM; AAR, Harry P. Hoffman, 3rd Bn, 168th Inf Regt, Iowa GSM.

A few minutes later
: H. P. Hoffman, G. C. Line, T. D. Drake accounts, “Kasserine Pass Battles,” vol. I, part 1, CMH; Van Vliet account, “168th Inf Regt. Narrative of Action,” Iowa GSM; Larson, ed., “The History and Contribution to American Democracy of Volunteer ‘Citizen Soldiers’ of Southwest Iowa, 1930–1945,” 57–58; AAR, 3rd Bn, 168th Inf Regt, Feb. 16–17, 1943, Iowa GSM.

“We marched”
: Bill Roth, “The Longest Days of a G.I.,” n.d., Iowa GSM (
“Whenever the moon”
); Larson, ed., 61–63; author interview, Dave Berlovich, Oct. 19, 1999 (
“You’re marked”
).

Dawn caught them
: author interviews, Clifton J. Warner, Ross W. Cline, Oct. 19, 1999; AAR, 3rd Bn, 168th Inf Regt, Feb. 17, 1943, Iowa GSM; Drake, in “Kasserine Pass Battles,” vol. I, part 1 (
“gained the desired ground”
); William Walling Luttrell, “A Personal Account of the Experiences as a German Prisoner of War,” ts, n.d., Iowa GSM (
“He took one look”
); Van Vliet account, “168th Inf Regt. Narrative of Action,” Iowa GSM; letter, Drake to Ryder, Oct. 4, 1944, Ryder Papers, DDE Lib, box 1 (
“You go to hell”
); Blumenson,
Kasserine Pass,
199; Roth, “The Longest Days of a G.I.”
Kriegstagebuch,
21st Panzer Div., Feb. 17, 1943, “Kasserine Pass Battles,” vol. I, part 2, CMH;
NWAf,
424; Larson, ed., 61–63, 66–67; letter, Gerald C. Line to wife, March 2, 1943, Iowa GSM, #1999.25.2 (
“sane or insane”
).

Their triumph at Sidi bou Zid
: “Signal Communication in the North African Campaigns,” 1945, Historical Section, Special Activities Branch, Office of the Chief Signal Officer, “Tactical Communication in World War II, Part 1,” MHI, 166 (
“unbelievably low”
); Philipsborn report to Robinett, CCB, 1st AD, Feb. 16, 1943, NARA RG 407, E 427; Howe, “American Signal Intelligence in Northwest Africa and Western Europe,” 1980, U.S. Cryptologic History, series IV, WWII, vol. I, NARA RG 457, NSA files, SRH 391, box 114, 29–30; war diary, Panzer Army Afrika, Feb. 16, 1943, “Kasserine Pass Battles,” vol. I, part 2, (mislabeled “Fifth Panzer Army”), CMH;
Destruction,
292;
NWAf,
425–26.

Rommel’s staff car
: Liddell Hart, ed.,
The Rommel Papers,
398–400 (
“Hitler! Rommel!”
); Messenger, 50.

Arnim had
: Liddell Hart, ed.,
The Rommel Papers,
400 (
“I had never gambled”
); war diary, Panzer Army Afrika, Feb. 18, 1943, “Kasserine Pass Battles,” vol. I, part 2, CMH; Irving,
The Trail of the Fox,
270; Arnim, “Recollections of Tunisia,” FMS, C-098, 55; minutes of conference with Kesselring, Arnim, et al., war diary, 10th Panzer Div, Feb. 15, 1943, “Kasserine Pass Battles,” vol. I, part 2.

Allied intelligence detected
: Hugh Skillen,
Spies of the Airwaves,
274; Bennett,
Ultra and Mediterranean Strategy,
206–207.

Kesselring dithered
: war diary, Panzer Army Afrika, Feb. 18, 19, 1943, “Kasserine Pass Battles,” vol. I, part 2, CMH;
NWAf,
440; Liddell Hart, ed.,
The Rommel Papers,
402 (
“appalling and unbelievable”
), 411 (
“old war horse”
).

Not since
A.D
. 647
: Blumenson,
Kasserine Pass,
178; Robinett,
Armor Command,
165–66 (
“indescribable confusion”
); Howze, “The Battle of Sidi bou Zid” Schrijvers, 63 (
“slapping us around”
).

Panic built slowly
: Martin, 47; Cowdrey, 117 (
“a ghastly word”
); Roberta Love Tayloe,
Combat Nurse: A Journal of World War II,
39; letter, unsigned, Feb. 23, 1943, MCC, YU (
“Americans never retreat”
).

Night deepened
: letter, unsigned, Feb. 17, 1943, MCC, YU (
“Shooting. Have to go”
); “Account of Carleton S. Coon,” NARA RG 226, OSS records, E 99, box 39, folder 8 (
“We didn’t want to”
); “Signal Communication in the North African Campaigns,” 1945, Historical Section, Special Activities Branch, Office of the Chief Signal Officer, “Tactical Communication in World War II, Part 1,” MHI, 100, 164 (
pigeon platoon
).

At 8:30
P.M.
: Howe,
The Battle History of the 1st Armored Division,
172; Philipsborn report to Robinett, CCB, 1st AD, Feb. 16, 1943, NARA RG 407, E 427;
NWAf,
432; letter, R. I. Stack to G. F. Howe, March 8, 1951, NARA RG 319, OCMH, box 226; Rame, 253; Ankrum, 221 (
“I’ll be damned”
); Robert M. Marsh, ASEQ, ts, notes to G. F. Howe, Sept. 23, 1952, 81st Reconnaissance Bn, 1st AD, MHI (
“We were next”
); Oswald Jett, ASEQ, “As I Saw the War,” ts, n.d., 47th Medical Bn, 1st AD, MHI, 287 (
“Get that junk”
).

The fog of war
: McCurtain Scott, OH, March 1976, Gugeler, OW, MHI (
“annoyed and rattled”
); diary, Feb. 16, 1943, OW, MHI; Gugeler, ts, OW, MHI, x-85.

Ward was further discomposed
: CCA, “Narrative of Events from 23 January 1943 to 26 Feb.,” NARA RG 407, E 427, 601-CCA-0.3, box 14825; Ben Crosby, OH, March 1951, G. F. Howe, SM, MHI; letter, R. I. Stack to G. F. Howe, March 8, 1951, NARA RG 319, OCMH, box 226 (
“I told General Ward”
); author visit, Apr. 2000;
NWAf,
432.