TUNISIA

MAKNASSY

On April 2nd, Lawrence joined the 60th Infantry Regiment of the 9th Infantry Division with 247 other replacement soldiers. He was assigned to F Company in the 2nd Battalion. He would discover later that Martin Hauble and Ronny Benson were assigned to 3rd Battalion. The 60th was in Maknassy, commanded by Colonel Frederick De Rohan. For the previous 20 days they were temporarily detached from the 9th Division to support General Orlando Ward’s 1st Armored Division. Their objective had been to advance along a desolate railroad snaking through the mountain passes. It was an area that had been held by the Americans under General Lloyd Fredendall’s II Corps, then lost in February by an intense push from Field Marshall Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Korps that reached all the way to Kasserine Pass and led to a massive amount of Allied casualties. The Germans had to retreat due to lack of supplies, lack of water, American counterattacks, and B-17 bombing runs. This was the 9th’s first battle against the Germans, though they landed the previous November in Morocco as a part of Operation Torch, fighting the Vichy French forces guarding the coast – the very first battle with American ground forces in the European Theatre.

Due to the defeats in February, Fredendall was replaced by General George Patton on March 6th. In ten days, he had reinvigorated the American forces and soon captured Gafsa and continued the push to link up with the British Eighth Army pressing from the south along the coast. On March 21st, the 60th attacked Sened Station held by Italian forces and easily moved on to Maknassy. The objective was to gain the ridges around the railroad pass and push further onto Mezzouna to take an airfield. As the 60th took up positions guarding the highground, the 1st Armored could not push through the well-defended pass beyond the mountains. The 60th dug in on the western side of the ridges, while the Germans were well entrenched on the eastern ridges. The stalemate began on March 24th.

For the next three days, F Company withstood relentless barrages of German artillery while Ward’s guns pounded the opposition. The 60th took many casualties and by April 2nd, the arrival of Lawrence and the 247 replacement soldiers was much needed. For the next six days, both sides engaged in small local fights on the mountains and sporadic artillery fire, but neither side was willing to commit to a full attack. By April 8th, the Germans began to pull back knowing the British Eighth Army was moving further up north, threatening to cut them off.

“The Germans were throwing everything at us they could. It is almost impossible to describe the sheer terror that results from such fire. You hug the earth and pray that the shells or shrapnel miss you. In fact, there was such constant fire, both the enemy’s, and ours that some of the men cracked up under the stress. Every day we took casualties, it is hard to see the men that you like, and respect killed. One of the most depressing things to see were men who would come up to me and say, “Sergeant Miller, here is my wallet. I have x amount of money in it. I know that I am not going to make it until tomorrow. Would you write my parents a nice letter and tell them that I was a good soldier and send my wallet, money and pictures back to them?” I would try to lift their spirits by telling them that they would make it but they always insisted that I take their effects. On several occasions, this is exactly what happened, the men that came and spoke with me died the next day.” – First Sergeant John “Whip” Miller

Patton saw the stalemate and casualties at Maknassy as a failure due to the significant troop advantage General Ward possessed over the unequipped German forces and removed Ward from command. On April 9th, the 60th reached the abandoned German lines to find they had new orders to turn back and rejoin the rest of the 9th Division in Bou Chebka, just west of Kasserine. Before they left, casualties still mounted for the company.

”With the battle over some of the men went looking for German souvenirs. They were looking for German Lugers (pistols) along with any other thing they could find. We learned by school of hard knocks that the Germans could be very tricky. We warned everybody not to go souvenir hunting but, sometimes, the word just does not seem to get out nor is it heeded. One of the older soldiers, Mike Downey went out looking for such items and was killed by a booby trap that consisted of a dead German laying on a land mine and a luger pistol placed in a position on top of the mine. Being an older soldier, we all called him “Pop” because he was probably 15 years older than the rest of us.” – Sergeant Miller

With the 60th off the front lines and the British finally linked up with the Americans in the south, the 60th would be sent far north to the Mediterranean coast to push the Germans from the commanding hilltops outside of the main cities of Bizerte and Tunis. Once those cities were captured, Hitler’s forces would be completely eradicated from the African continent.

“AN EASTER IN HELL”

Lawrence’s April letter was written on his way north from Tebessa, Tunisia to the Mediterranean coast and an area called the Sedjenane Valley. A 9th Division training memo described the area as “completely different from that in the south. Although hilly, it will be found that the hills are covered with trees and scrub, both of which are very thick in places and render observation difficult. The valleys are generally swampy and tank action is mainly confined to or near the roads.” That description would fail to covey the actual terrain. The 60th found themselves in impassible forests covering rugged mountains where trucks and tanks were useless and quickly replaced by mules and machetes. The weather created scorching heat during the daytime with bitter cold at night. Men would sleep nearly on top of each other to keep warm, then fight the humidity and insects during the days of long marches.

By April 19th, the 60th was held in a concealed rear position near Djebel Abiod. Concealment had become the main tactic of the Army in North Africa. Gone were the days of full frontal mass waves of troops like the First World War had seen. The German army would dig deep foxholes on the far side of the mountaintops, lay massive fields of mines on the front slopes and position machine guns and artillery in that direction, preventing any frontal assaults from having success. The Americans had thus developed a new approach called “Stealth and Sweat”. It involved elaborate flanking maneuvers around the hilltops while artillery would blast the German positions, distracting them from the silent convoys of GIs coming to attack from their rear. The eight-foot-tall jungle brush of the Sedjenane Valley made this strategy even more effective and the 9th Division, now full of battle-wise soldiers, was about to prove it to high command. North of the 60th, on their left flank, stood the Corps Franc d’Afrique. They were described in Eight Stars To Victory as “colorful, brave, and poorly equipped. A hodge-podge of humanity made up of Spanish Loyalists-in-exile, Jewish refugees from Vichy France and Germany, DeGaulist Free French (so called political prisoners who had been released by the still pro-Vichy local government in hopes that they would die in action) and fierce-looking Berber tribesman – the Goumeiers of legendary fierceness.” On the right flank stood the 39th Regiment, then the 47th, and to the south of the them, the 1st Infantry Division.

DJEBEL DARDYSS

On April 23rd, Lawrence’s 2nd Battalion had orders to take Djebel M’rata. F Company was in the lead and started taking enemy fire from the hilltop. The order was to unload all heavy equipment, limited to 20 rounds per rifle and take the hill. Captain Matt Urban led the company to a series of stone walls the Germans had laid for defenses. Behind the cover the captain ordered his men to fix bayonets. Urban yelled “charge” but the command fell on nervous ears and nobody moved. He regrouped the platoon leaders and informed them Sgt. Miller would stay at the back and shoot anyone that didn’t move. Their choice was to fight the Germans or die by a one man firing squad. With the second command of “charge” the company leapt the wall and ran up the hill, overrunning the Germans in a furious assault.

“Hand-to-hand combat ensued. Staff Sergeants Earnest Stamey and Lester Boswald fell early in the firefight. Always heroic, these platoon sergeants had led the fierce attack and were cut down. Most of the defenders were driven out of the stone bunkers. Unable to stem the tide of the sudden attack they fled down the face of the Djebel. Immediately soldiers of ‘F’ Company jumped into the machine gun emplacements and opened fire on the fleeing figures.” – Captain Matt Urban

It was clear to Major Mike Kauffman that even before taking M’rata, their position was dominated by Hill 294, named Djebel Dardyss, lying just 1,000 yards southwest of M’rata. “They’ll be looking down our throats from there,” Kauffman mentioned to Colonel de Rohan. The lack of resistance had proven his instants true, the majority of German forces were near Dardyss and Kauffman decided to move quickly. Dardyss was an irregularly shaped hill with steep drop-offs and undergrowth so dense it required the Go Devils to crawl on their hands and knees along the way. Already they lacked food and ammunition with no ability for supply trucks to reach them. The men fought to cut the path in front with machetes until exhaustion, passing the blade to man behind him. Insects swarmed and the humidity drove the men to delirium until the sun went down. They reached the top by 1600 hours and Major Kauffman had four companies digging defensive positions. E Company was on the left, F Company made up the center, G Company on its right, and H Company’s mortars were in the rear support.

“The next morning, April 24th, brought that eventful day that will never be forgotten by members of the battalion who were there. The morning was very foggy and observation was difficult. At about 0745 the Jerries counterattacked our position. It was estimated, and substantiated by prisoners later, that approximately two reinforced German battalions attacked. Our boys opened up on them with everything we had and mowed down many of the attackers. This did not stop the Jerries, however, because they had orders to take the hill at all costs. They continually attacked from everywhere and, even though the battalion had no artillery support whatsoever, the defense was so organized that Jerry could not penetrate it.

At this stage of the game there was a little humor brought into the picture, although it was not considered funny at the time. You could see and hear members of the battalion as they would shout, ‘They’re coming from the right!' At this the reserve would run to the right flank to reinforce it and drive the Jerries back. Then someone would shout ‘They’re coming from the left,’ and the reserve would take off for the left flank. In this battle H Company’s machine gunners, along with every man in the battalion, showed the type of American soldier that he is and proved that he was better than the Jerries. All during these four hours of counterattacking the battalion was constantly shelled by mortar and artillery fire, but they stuck to their guns.

When the smoke cleared away, the enemy had withdrawn leaving 116 dead and many more wounded and captured. This was indeed one of the most decided victories of the campaign and made possible the capture of Mateur. However great the victory, we had losses of gallant men, who we will always remember for their daring gallantry and bravery. Twenty-one of our men lay dead on the Djebel and 111 were wounded. Despite these losses, morale of the battalion was high and confidence in themselves later reinforced the men’s ability to accomplish any task undertaken. Immediately following his withdrawal the enemy pounded the position with mortar and artillery fire.

During the attack our ammunition was getting dangerously low and members of the staff with some men who were slightly wounded collected what ammunition was left on the dead and wounded and distributed it among the men on the front line. In fact, our ammunition supply became so low that men were using German guns and ammunition. Because of the rapidity with which the battalion moved across the terrain and the distance travelled, the supply route was lengthened so far that it was very difficult to get supplies to the troops. When the battalion jumped off on the 23rd, they had in their possession two-thirds of a C-ration which lasted that day. All day on the 24th the men were without food and it wasn’t until the night of the 25th that rations were brought up to the battalion by mule train. The mule train had difficulty locating the battalion and had been roaming the hills looking for us. Despite the absence of food and water, the men realized the difficulty of getting supplies and were patient until they could be brought up. The dead were evacuated from the Djebel by use of the mule train and taken back to the supply point.” – Major Mike Kauffman

1st Sergeant John Miller of F Company recalled the event that would later earned him the Silver Star: “On Djebel Dardyss, Sergeant Joe Boylan, Bill Nichols and I took positions near the center of the company line. We had been resting for about an hour when all hell broke loose. Artillery and mortar shells were crashing down and we knew an attack would follow. As it got light, enemy small arms began to fly. The first German I saw were of a machine gun squad which went into position only a few paces ahead of my hole. They had no idea I was there until I jumped up and cut loose with my submachine gun. When there was a lull I crawled out and brought in their gun and ammunition. I set it up and began to fire. The Germans made a push every hour it seemed. Just before another attack started, a soldier came up from the company line. I told him this was a hot spot and to get the hell out of here. Well, he should have listened because a short time later he was blown to bits by a mortar shell. Another soldier crawled up on a pile of rocks and took up a firing position without a helmet. Within minutes, the top of his head split off and rolled down the pile of rocks.

One time on our front, German officers were yelling in English, ‘Withdraw! Withdraw!’ and Matty Urban would run up and yell, ‘No! No! Hold your positions and fire!’ By that afternoon we were out of food and low on ammunition. I crawled out and searched the German bodies and got some help there. Deeper in the woods I could hear this pitiful cry, ‘Hilfe! Hilfe!’ I couldn’t stand it so I found this German with a gaping thigh wound and carried him back to our position. Matty said I should have killed the SOB. I don’t know why his own people didn’t take care of him.

There was a lull in the fighting and a German soldier was advancing with a white flag. As he got 100 feet from my position, he fell to the ground and on his back was strapped a MG-34 machine gun. Following close behind was another soldier who started firing. I retuned fire and ended that attempt. The enemy continued shelling. The mortar and artillery fire was so concentrated on my position it made my ears ring for over a week and this cause my hearing loss for the rest of my life.
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Sergeant John W. “Whip” Miller survived the war. He served with the 9th through Sicily, were he was selected as a 1% rotation. He returned to combat as a 1st Lieutenant with the 106th Division during the Battle of the Bulge in which he and his regiment were captured. John escaped captivity, was recaptured and shortly thereafter was liberated at the end of the war.

Bill Nichols served with the 2nd Battalion until he was captured in September of 1944 trying to cross the Meuse river. He ended up at the same camp as Whip Miller. He went the entire war without ever being wounded.

Joseph Boylan was killed in action on August 6, 1944 serving with the 9th Infantry.
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Matt Urban wrote in his memoir: “F Company was vastly outnumbered, yet they had seized the winning initiative by bold action. Casualties were mounting, yet nothing could dislodge them from their hard-won victory. They were surrounded. If there was to be any food, medical supplies, or ammunition, it would have to be airdropped. Night followed day. Through its light fog and mist, moans and cries of the wounded could be heard throughout the long night. A single dead GI stood upright in full view of his comrades. His body had become jammed against a rock. A single bullet hole was showing through his helmet. There were no doctors and few medical supplies. The two medics performed wonders on many shattered bodies. A heavy-set young private was shot through the leg. No bones were broken, and he seemed to be fine. But he died suddenly in the night from complications arising from shock and injury trauma. One man had his nose and part of the surface of both cheeks blasted away. Another was left with only a dripping, bloody stub where his lower jaw, mouth, and bottom teeth should have been. He was slipping in and out of consciousness, driving fellow infantrymen close to the limit of their emotional endurance.” – Matt later goes on to explain the moment that wounded soldier laid in his arms during the night and begged the captain to shoot him. Matt did remove his .45 caliber pistol and put it behind the young man’s head, but couldn’t bring himself to fire.

Easter Sunday left the 60th on the hilltop in full victory. Ammunition, food, and medical supplies had been airdropped. Capt. Urban wrote, “The men of the 9th Division expressed their Easter feelings right there in the middle of a world of hell. They mentally fabricated the mood of going to church, the blessing of food in Easter baskets, and of Fifth Avenue – that Easter parade song: Put on your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it.” The 2nd Battalion had demoralized the Germans in northern sector and the enemy never produced another significant defense of the area. They were in full retreat. The news of the victory on Hill 294 quickly reached the generals and the press. The Go Devils were to receive the first Distinguished Unit Citation of the 9th Infantry Division.

The official citation read: “The 2nd Battalion, 60th Infantry, is cited for extraordinary heroism in the face of the enemy during the period 23 and 24 April 1943. This battalion formed the spearhead of an attack on 23 April against the Germans in the vicinity of the Sedjenane Valley, taking its first objective, Djebel Mrata, in advance over densely wooded mountainous terrain, sooner than anticipated, Upon occupation of Djebel Mrata it became obvious that this position was of temporary importance because it was dominated by Djebel Dardyss, a higher ridge overlooking all terrain features in the vicinity. The battalion organized, pushed forward, and took the second position. On the morning of 24 April the Germans counterattacked with a force estimated at two battalions of infantry supported by artillery. The position defended was of considerable size and more than would normally be allotted for defense to a battalion. The attack lasted from 0800 to 1200, during which time the enemy made assaults from practically every direction. Fierce resistance and local counterattacks after the enemy had penetrated the position prevented him from gaining a foothold, and he retired leaving 116 dead, 48 wounded, and prisoners within the position. In this action the 2nd Battalion lost 21 dead and 111 wounded. The gallant and intrepid conduct of this entire battalion afforded a great tactical advantage in the seizing and holding dominating terrain and assisted the advance of our forces culminating in the defeat of the German arms in North Africa.

“After the battle, were we interested in what unit we were fighting. It was determined to be the remains of the 11th Parachute Battalion and the attached rehabilitation company which was called the “black market butchers”. These were soldiers who had committed crimes and offered to serve to regain their freedom.” - Sgt. John Miller

After their brief stay in Bizerte, the 9th packed up and moved west. This time they travelled in the back of trucks on roads instead of walking through the mountains. Their eventual destination was the city of Magenta, Algeria – a few miles south of the port city of Oran, where Lawrence first stepped onto foreign soil. Magenta was in terrible shape when the men arrived and needed much work to become a well groomed camp, which would end up being their home for the next seven long weeks. Even with the work to clean up the area, the men complained about the living conditions to no end. Troops were ordered to take siestas from 1-3pm everyday to avoid heat illnesses and the nights were cool and dry, allowing for the men to get much needed sleep. Between May 26th and June 27th, life consisted of drilling. There was reveille, inspections, parades, and calisthenics. But in the filth of the Magenta camp, many experienced malaria or dysentery and lived in the annoyance of sand flies flying in their noses and mouths and invading their mess kits.

The rumors Lawrence refers to was a serious morale problem for the troops in Tunisia. The accolades and newspaper celebrations had given the men the thought that they would all go home after doing their share. It was a belief that spread throughout the camps quickly, even rumors of all new divisions arriving to replace them. The generals had made the mistake of not informing the men that their war was certainly not over. Divisions like the 9th, the 1st, and the 3rd were now highly experienced at devastating the Germans with battle-wise tactics. Their ability to flank the enemy and take the high observation points were skills that divisions could only earn by making mistakes and then learning from those lessons. When the men were finally told the rumors were definitely not true, there was widespread rebellion. To ease the tension, troops were given lengthy vacations at beaches to swim off their frustrations. All the while, generals were organizing training exercises to prepare for the eventual invasion of Sicily.