The Mareth Line was a system of fortifications built by France in southern
Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
in the late 1930s. The line was intended to protect Tunisia against an
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
invasion from its colony in
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...
. The line occupied a point where the routes into Tunisia from the south converged, leading toward
Mareth
Mareth ( ar, مارث ') is a town and commune in Tunisia, located between Gabès and Medenine
Medenine ( ar, مدنين ) is the major town in south-eastern Tunisia, south of the port of Gabès and the Island of Djerba, on the main route to Liby ...
, with the
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...
to the east and mountains and a sand sea to the west.
The line ran along the north side of Wadi Zigzaou for about south-westwards from the
Gulf of Gabès
The Gulf of Gabes (or Cabès, Cabes, Gaps; ar, خليج قابس, ḫalīǧ Qābis), also known as Lesser Syrtis (from grc, Μικρά Σύρτις, Mikrá Sýrtis; la, Syrtis Minor), contrasting with the Greater Syrtis in Libya, is a gulf on ...
to Cheguimi and the Djebel (mountain) Matmata on the Dahar plateau between the
Grand Erg Oriental
The Grand Erg Oriental (English: 'Great Eastern Sand Sea') is a large ''erg'' or "field of sand dunes" in the Sahara Desert. Situated for the most part in Saharan lowlands of northeast Algeria, the Grand Erg Oriental covers an area some 600 k ...
(Great Eastern Sand Sea) and the
Matmata hills. The
Tebaga Gap, between the Mareth line and the Great Eastern Sand Sea, a potential route by which an invader could outflank the Mareth line, was not surveyed until 1938.
After the French
Armistice of 22 June 1940
The Armistice of 22 June 1940 was signed at 18:36 near Compiègne, France, by officials of Nazi Germany and the Third French Republic. It did not come into effect until after midnight on 25 June.
Signatories for Germany included Wilhelm Keitel ...
, the Mareth Line was demilitarised under the supervision of an
Italo-German commission. Tunisia was occupied by
Axis
An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to:
Mathematics
* Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis
* Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinat ...
forces after
Operation Torch
Operation Torch (8 November 1942 – Run for Tunis, 16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of secu ...
in 1942 and the line was refurbished and extended by Axis engineers into a defensive position by building more defences between the line and Wadi Zeuss to the south but French-built anti-tank gun positions were too small for Axis anti-tank guns which had to be sited elsewhere.
The
Battle of Medenine
The Battle of Medenine (german: Unternehmen Capri ''Operation Capri was an Axis spoiling attack at Medenine in Tunisia on 6 March 1943. The operation was intended to delay an attack by the British Eighth Army on the Mareth Line. The British ha ...
(6 March 1943) against the
Eighth Army was a costly failure. At the
Battle of the Mareth Line
The Battle of the Mareth Line or the Battle of Mareth was an attack in the Second World War by the British Eighth Army (General Bernard Montgomery) in Tunisia, against the Mareth Line held by the Italo-German 1st Army (General Giovanni Messe). ...
(16–31 March 1943) the Eighth Army was contained within the Mareth Line defences. An outflanking move west and north of the Mareth Line was followed by Operation Supercharge II which broke through the Axis defences of the Tebaga Gap and led them to retreat from the Mareth Line to
Wadi Akarit
Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water o ...
. The Mareth Line is derelict and is commemorated at the
Mareth Museum
Mareth museum is a military museum, in Mareth. Located between Gabes and Medenine, the Mareth line museum deals with the Second World War history. In March 1943, Rommel used this bunkered line to resist Montgomery's VIIIth army advance. The ba ...
.
Background
French strategy
In the 1930s the defence of the
French colonial empire
The French colonial empire () comprised the overseas colonies, protectorates and mandate territories that came under French rule from the 16th century onward. A distinction is generally made between the "First French Colonial Empire", that exist ...
(French Indochina, Pacific Islands, West Indies, African colonies and Syria–Lebanon) was left to the
French Foreign Legion
The French Foreign Legion (french: Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army which comprises several specialties: infantry, Armoured Cavalry Arm, cavalry, Military engineering, engineers, Airborne forces, airborne troops. It was created ...
, colonial and "native" units, the (Navy) and the (Air Force). By the late 1930s, the Navy had only one aircraft carrier and the could spare only second-rate aircraft.
Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
,
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
and Tunisia provided much of the manpower of the and Tunisia, with the Italian colony of
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...
to the east, was excepted from the priority given to the defence of metropolitan France. French plans for defence of Tunisia assumed that Italy would launch an overwhelming assault that France could not easily oppose. Italy was expected to launch attacks on
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
and Tunisia as soon as war was declared, with the Italian Navy securing supply and blocking any substantial Anglo-French relief. With a force of six divisions, a fortress division and a cavalry division to defend Tunisia, capable of only local operations with limited objectives. The French army considered the construction of a "
Maginot Line in the desert" ().
Geography
Central Tunisia is dominated by the
Atlas Mountains
The Atlas Mountains are a mountain range in the Maghreb in North Africa. It separates the Sahara Desert from the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean; the name "Atlantic" is derived from the mountain range. It stretches around through Moroc ...
, while the northern and southern portions are largely flat. The primary feature in the south is the Matmata Hills, a range running north-south roughly parallel to the Mediterranean coast. West of the hills, the land is the inhospitable
Jebel Dahar
Jebel Dahar (french: Djebel Dahar) is a low sandstone mountain chain of the Médenine Governorate of Tunisia.
Geography
The chain is oriented on a north-south axis, bisecting the south of Tunisia. At the northern end, it meets the east-west-orie ...
and the Dehar region of desert beyond to the west, making the region between the hills and the coast the only easily traversed approach to northern Tunisia. A smaller line of hills runs east–west along the northern edge of the Matmata range, further complicating this approach. At the far northern end of the Matmata Hills is the
Tebaga Gap. From the Mediterranean the coastal plain rises gently to the Matmata Hills. The plain consists of gravels and sands, with salt flats between the sandy areas, which turn into bogs after light rain becoming impassable to wheeled vehicles. There are numerous wadis from the hills to the sea, including the bigger Wadi Zeuss and Wadi Zigzaou. Inland, the sources of the wadis are steep and rocky, widening near the coast, the beds having streams or muddy bottoms, with firmer areas traversable by vehicles.
Plans
![Tunisia Topography](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/Tunisia_Topography.png)
In January 1934 planning began on the new fortifications; Infantry officers selected the sites for strongpoints to dominate the ground in front with overlapping fields of fire. In 1936, the French government provided funds for construction after Italy formed the
Rome–Berlin Axis
The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...
with Germany, creating a greater threat to French security in North Africa. The
casemates
A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary
When referring to antiquity, the term "casemate wall" mea ...
designed for the line had much less concrete than comparable examples in France and had no (gap) rather a stable door, in case the lower part was blocked by débris. In September 1936, during a meeting with General
Joseph Georges, it was agreed that the fortification of the Mareth Line, Bizerte, Medenine, Ben Gardane and Foum
Tataouine
Tataouine ( ber, Tiṭṭawin; ar, تطاوين) is a city in southern Tunisia. It is the capital of the Tataouine Governorate. The below-ground "cave dwellings" of the native Berber population, designed for coolness and protection, render the ...
(Tataouine) must be completed. Medenine, Ben Gardane to the west and Tataouine to the east, were south of the proposed line, Tataouine being the place where the routes to Mareth passed through the bottleneck between the Matmata Mountains and the sea.
The line was divided into eastern and western sectors with a main line of resistance and a reserve line about back. A (SD) was to be built on the rocky Dahar Plateau, which later became part of an SD across the Matmata Hills to
Kebili on the edge of the
Chott el Djerid
Chott el Djerid ( ar, شط الجريد ') also spelled ''Sciott Gerid'' and ''Shott el Jerid'', is a chott, a large endorheic salt lake in southern Tunisia. The name can be translated from the Arabic into English as "Lagoon of the Land of Palms" ...
. The chott and Chott El Fedjaj drained across Tunisia into Wadi Akarit, across Tunisia but Wadi Akarit was only sketchily fortified, the French concentrating on the Mareth Line south, to cover Gabes. The gap between the Mareth Line and the Great Eastern Sand Sea, a potential route by which an invader could outflank the Mareth line, was not given consideration until 1938. General
Georges Catroux
Georges Albert Julien Catroux (29 January 1877 – 21 December 1969) was a French Army general and diplomat who served in both World War I and World War II, and served as Grand Chancellor of the Légion d'honneur from 1954 to 1969.
Life
Cat ...
and Colonel Gautsch surveyed the area and in their assessment predicted that three divisions could advance from the Libyan border to Ksar (fortified village) el Hallouf and Bir (well) Soltane in six days and then advance into the gaps either side of Djebel Melab and those between Djebel Tebaga and the Matmata Hills.
Mareth Line
![Mareth Line Panel](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/Mareth_Line_Panel.jpg)
The Mareth Line consisted of casemates surrounded by barbed wire and built for all-round defence in the main and reserve lines, the obstacles being doubled on the fronts and sides. The strongpoints in the main line included flanking machine-gun casemates and anti-tank gun positions; in the reserve line artillery emplacements provided covering fire in the gaps between the strongpoints in the main line. Some of the flanking casemates for machine-guns covering the gaps were connected by galleries; strongpoints on the plain and in hills had anti-tank positions. An anti-tank obstacle of vertical rails was built along the front of the line and the sides of Wadi Zigzaou were steepened. Eight artillery casemates, forty infantry casemates or blockhouses and fifteen command posts were built. The eastern sector had twelve strongpoints in the main line and eleven in the reserve line. The western sector had eleven strongpoints in the main line and seven in the reserve line.
In the Matmata hills, Ksar el Hallouf covered an anti-tank ditch which continued the position beyond the main line which ended on the foothills. An infantry position was dug into the Matmata hills at Ksar-el-Hallouf and in the Dahar beyond, a strongpoint at Bir Soltane had two 75 mm turrets, removed from
Char 2C
The Char 2C, also known as the FCM 2C, was a French heavy tank, later also seen as a super-heavy tank. It was developed during World War I but not deployed until after the war. It was, in total volume or physical dimensions, the largest operat ...
tanks built in 1918. At Ben Gardane an advanced position was built consisting of a square redoubt inside an anti-tank ditch with casemates on the flanks and concrete infantry shelters. Small triangular strongpoints at the corners were surrounded by anti-tank rail obstacles that continued around the position. The Mareth line was equipped with obsolescent 75 mm and 47 mm naval guns for anti-tank defence and a few new
25 mm anti-tank guns and infantry small arms. The artillery casemates with 75 mm guns and most of the blockhouses and casemates had embrasures for automatic weapons. In 1938 work the Mareth line was so important that work on coast defences was stopped and in 1939 the line was occupied by colonial divisions and some locally raised units. After the outbreak of the war, a line of advanced positions () was built on high ground at Aram south of the main line.
Second World War
Demilitarisation 1940, Axis occupation 1943
The Second World War began in 1939 but the Mareth Line was inactive from 1939 to 1940, as Italy remained neutral until a few days before the
Armistice of 22 June 1940
The Armistice of 22 June 1940 was signed at 18:36 near Compiègne, France, by officials of Nazi Germany and the Third French Republic. It did not come into effect until after midnight on 25 June.
Signatories for Germany included Wilhelm Keitel ...
, after which, the line was demilitarised by an
Italo-German commission. In November 1942, the British
Eighth Army (
General
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...
Bernard Montgomery) defeated at the
Second Battle of El Alamein
The Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 11 November 1942) was a battle of the Second World War that took place near the Egyptian Railway station, railway halt of El Alamein. The First Battle of El Alamein and the Battle of Alam el Halfa ...
and the British
First Army landed in French North Africa in
Operation Torch
Operation Torch (8 November 1942 – Run for Tunis, 16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of secu ...
. Axis forces occupied Tunisia in the
Tunisia Campaign
The Tunisian campaign (also known as the Battle of Tunisia) was a series of battles that took place in Tunisia during the North African campaign of the World War II, Second World War, between Axis powers, Axis and Allies of World War II, Allied ...
and from November 1942 to March 1943, the conducted a fighting retreat through Egypt and Libya, pursued by the Eighth Army. In March the Eighth Army reached the Libya–Tunisia border and paused at Medenine to prepare to attack the Mareth Line. Axis engineers built an outpost zone from Wadi Zeuss back to the Mareth Line. Field fortifications were constructed at Sidi el Guelaa, south of Aram on the main road from Medinine to Mareth, around Aram and at Bahira. The Mareth Line was refurbished for occupation by the and by March 1943, more than of
barbed wire
A close-up view of a barbed wire
Roll of modern agricultural barbed wire
Barbed wire, also known as barb wire, is a type of steel fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strands. Its primary use is t ...
, 100,000 anti-tank mines and 70,000 anti-personnel mines had been laid, bunkers had been reinforced with concrete and armed with anti-tank and anti-aircraft guns.
Medenine and Mareth
The Axis forces opposing the Eighth Army were renamed the Italian
1st Army (General
Giovanni Messe
Giovanni Messe (10 December 1883 – 18 December 1968) was an Italian field marshal and politician. In the Second World War, he was captured in Tunisia, but made chief of staff of the Italian Co-belligerent Army after the armistice of Septemb ...
) on 23 February 1943 and attempted a spoiling attack, the Battle of Medenine (, Operation Capri). The attack was a costly failure and the Axis troops withdrew to the Mareth Line to await the British attack. Rommel called the Mareth Line "a line of antiquated French blockhouses, which in no way measured up to the standards required by modern warfare...". The Mareth Line was garrisoned by the
136th Infantry Division "Giovani Fascisti" from the coast to Zarat, the
101st Motorised Division "Trieste" covering the Gabès–Mareth road around Mareth and Aram, the
90th Light Division to the south of the "Trieste" Division at Aram and Sidi el Guelaa cutting the road and covering Wadi Zeuss,
80th Infantry Division "La Spezia"
80th Infantry Division "La Spezia" ( it, 80ª Divisione di fanteria "La Spezia") was an infantry Division (military), division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The La Spezia was formed on 15 November 1941 and named for the city of La ...
south of the 90th Light Division, the
16th Motorised Division "Pistoia". South of "La Spezia", near Beni Kreddache covering the Hallouf Pass the line was held by the
164th Light ''Afrika'' Division. The
15th Panzer Division with 32 operational tanks was based at Zerkine north-west of Mareth. In reserve were the
21st Panzer Division south-west of Gabès and the
10th Panzer Division south-west of
Sousse
Sousse or Soussa ( ar, سوسة, ; Berber:''Susa'') is a city in Tunisia, capital of the Sousse Governorate. Located south of the capital Tunis, the city has 271,428 inhabitants (2014). Sousse is in the central-east of the country, on the Gulf ...
with 110 operational tanks. The line from Djebel Tebaga to Djebel Melab was held by the . The British survey of the Mareth Line, the positions of
Zarat sudest (Zaret South-West), Ouerzi, Ouerzi Ouest (Ouerzi West), Ouerzi Est (Ouerzi East), Ksiba Ouest and Ksiba Est being of particular interest, was assisted by General Marcel Rime-Bruneau, a former Chief of Staff of the Tunisian garrison and Captain Paul Mezan, the former Garrison Engineer of the Mareth Line.
Battle of the Mareth Line
![Mareth line object](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/Mareth_line_object.jpg)
On 19 March 1943, the Eighth Army made a frontal assault against the Mareth Line in Operation Pugilist. The
50th Northumbrian Infantry Division penetrated the Line near Zarat but was driven back by the
15th Panzer Division and the "Giovani Fascisti" on 22 March. Reconnaissance by the
Long Range Desert Group
The Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) was a reconnaissance and raiding unit of the British Army during the Second World War.
Originally called the Long Range Patrol (LRP), the unit was founded in Egypt in June 1940 by Major Ralph Alger Bagnold, acti ...
had shown that the line could be outflanked. A force could pass through the southern Matmata Hills, reach the Tebaga Gap from the west and reach the coastal plain behind the Mareth Line. During Pugilist, Montgomery had sent the
2nd New Zealand Division around the Matmata Hills but its attack was contained at the Tebaga Gap from 21 to 24 March. Montgomery sent the
1st Armoured Division (
X Corps 10th Corps, Tenth Corps, or X Corps may refer to:
France
* 10th Army Corps (France)
* X Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars
Germany
* X Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army
* ...
) to reinforce the attack at the Tebaga Gap. The British attacked again in
Operation Supercharge II on 26 March and broke through the gap the next day. This success, combined with another frontal assault on the Mareth Line, made the position untenable; the Italian 1st Army escaped encirclement when the 1st Armoured Division was held up at El Hamma and the Axis forces retreated to
Wadi Akarit
Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water o ...
, to the north.
Post war
After the Battle of the Mareth Line, the defences were left to become derelict and are commemorated at the
Mareth Museum
Mareth museum is a military museum, in Mareth. Located between Gabes and Medenine, the Mareth line museum deals with the Second World War history. In March 1943, Rommel used this bunkered line to resist Montgomery's VIIIth army advance. The ba ...
at Gabès.
Notes
Footnotes
References
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Further reading
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External links
Strader, J. W. Tactical Bomber Operations in the ETO (1944)Travel tips to visit the Mareth Line museum
{{World War II
Tunisian campaign
World War II defensive lines
World War II sites in Tunisia