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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ต.ค. 2024
- Task Force Benson - Beyond El Guettar - General Patton's Offensive
With Kevin Hymel
Part of the Torch to Tunis series on WW2TV
• Torch to Tunis
By mid-March 1943, Montgomery’s British 8th Army had turned the German flank at the Mareth Line, forcing a significant retreat. US forces then began a more aggressive push from El Guettar to keep the pressure on both German flanks. This renewed ambition was eagerly taken onboard by the II Corps’ new commander, General George Patton. But he quickly became disenchanted with the 1st Armored Division’s commander, Orlando Ward, over Ward’s aversion to leading his division from the front. Colonel Clarence C. Benson, more of a fighter, soon received the nod from Patton to take over the task force designated to spearhead the breakout - namely Task Force Benson
Patton's War: An American General's Combat Leadership, Volume I: November 1942 - July 1944 by
Kevin M. Hymel
USA bookshop.org/a...
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It is also worth watching Mark Calhoun's show about the previous German offensives:
German Offensives in Tunisia and the Battle of Kasserine Pass
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Kevin's previous WW2TV shows:
General Patton in the Ardennes - Battle of the Bulge
th-cam.com/users/li...
Patton's War • Patton's War - General...
The Battle for Mayenne • The Battle for Mayenne...
First Boots into the Netherlands - US 30th Division in Noorbeek • First Boots into the N...
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Great presentation as always!
Kevin Hymel always provides an excellent viewpoint about the on goings of George Patton. In this case he also made a case for how the early American Army learned from its mistakes. Rommel himself commented on how quickly the US Army learned to fight more effectively. This presentation helps to quantify that perception. Although much more had to be learned, one can see the genesis of the American experience in WW2. Great questions and observations from Woody and the live chatters too. Much to think about here which shall require the reading of Kevin's tomes.
Bravo I'm loving this whole Tunisia series!! Thanks Paul!!
Its always a great show when Kevin is the guest presenter; he has so much enthusiasm for his subject its infectious.
I have to agree 100 percent,Kevin has so much passion when he speaks
Thank you Gentlemen, you're appreciated. It is good that others besides Bradley & Patton are receiving attention for their contributions e.g. Benson, Ward, Teddy Roosevelt, Harmon, Robinette, Allen etc. etc.
Lovely stuff! Another show telling me useful stuff I didn't know. 🖖
Brilliant presentation by Kevin as usual. Learned a lot tonight. Many thanks
Excellent show Paul! Kevin always delivers. Very interesting details on Patton.
Paul. Please keep in mind that I'm damn near gonna be late constantly. I am a huge fan.
I too often have to watch the replays. Thank goodness that we have this record to rely on. I also regret missing the live ones.
I just so enjoy all of these talks with these authors. Thanks for bringing them to us.
You are welcome Chris, and if you would like to support us, please consider becoming a Patron or Channel Supporter
Excellent presentation. It paints a good picture of the Tunisian campaign and Patton. Great job Kevin, thank you Paul
Kevin is awesome - great show
This is spectacular....more books coming to the collection soon. I'm in quest of a 4th large bookshelf!! We loved this program!! The photos...Just Wow!!!
Another fantastic presentation.
Another great show Paul, from you and your guest. Very interesting. A look into little known actions of Operation Torch is what your channel does so well..
Great to see this Task Force getting some attention! Well done Kevin.
Just to add to the information here in regards to the 9th Infantry Division part in it, I have several eyewitness accounts of 9th Infantry Division men, who witnessed tanks were taken out by mainly 88mm guns. When TF Benson jumped off on March 30th, after the supporting barrage they had to cross an area with well sighted mainly mobile anti-tank defenses that covered a minefield which extended north from Hill 369 all the way across the valley. Five tanks and two Tank Destroyers were knocked out during this advance. During the night the engineers gapped a minefield and the next morning on the 31st of March at 06:00, the 39th Infantry Regiment's 3rd Bn launched their attack eastward on the south side of the Gafsa - Gabes highway and were able to quickly tie in with the 3rd Bn of the 47th Infantry Regiment on Hill 290. They took many prisoners here, mainly Italian defenders. The armor followed up the infantry's success with another attack at 12:30 on the 31st, and gained key terrain north of the highway and was able to damage the German anti-tank defenses, but sadly did lost another eight tanks. One of the 9th ID men, Captain Guy E. Carr, also received a DSC for his actions during these events.
On a fun note: One man of K Company, 47th Infantry Regiment also heard the comment by Patton where he said that the infantry did a good job, but that they were now to "watch the killers go to work".
The 9th ID men watched these killers go to work, and taking about a week to get a bit further, which seemed funny to them after the big words. Patton was also told off by Colonel Randle (9th ID) when he demanded him to have his men move forward. Randle replied in return he has been ordering his men forward, but would not order his men forward anymore unless he could get air support and heavy artillery power. Patton bit his lip, turned on his heels, jumped in his jeep and drove off.
I have more stories....
Hill 290 fell in the morning of March 31...my dad was the officer in charge, a 22 yrs old second lieutenant...he had approximately 23 men left,all Italians: the few Germans previously present had already by then withdrawn.....
This is my country ❤😢
Rich and detailed presentation of a little known subject. Interesting, the snippet about Lee tanks armor being riveted instead of welded and the rivets flying inside the tank when the latter gets hit and wounding or killing the crew (the same is famously, or infamously, said of Italian tanks). However, some fine-tuning from the other side of the hill is needed I think.
The backbone of the defense at El Guettar throughout the lengthy battle was the weak, understrength Italian Centauro Division. The Germans as usual had the tanks and the glamor, but there were also Italians holding the line :-) Kevin speaks of a "walkover" but that possibly refers to the US advance on Gafsa - an untenable position the Italians had evacuated without a fight. The "little Italian antitank guns" were the equivalent of the then still widely used American 37 mm AT gun. In fact, Italian artillery proved quite effective through the battle, delaying or halting the Americans more than once.
Lastly, from the Axis point of view, TF Benson didn't achieve any "victory". The US II Corps did not cut to the sea (its intended goal) and did not trap the Axis deployed along the Mareth Line facing the British 8th Army, who could instead retreat up north to the Akarit Line. It's been the Axis who won a defensive victory vs. Patton.
11:36 & 26:04 Benson looks salty, not sure why, the rumpled jacket the mussed up hair? He just looks like no nonsense, salty, career Army.
Marshall’s scholars have stated that his concept of attacking France cross channel in ‘42 was only if Soviet collapse appeared imminent.
Michael Neiberg said, “All history is revisionist history.”
Really valuable episode. Added greatly to my understanding of US actions in North Africa.
Randomly, my eyes just fell upon a Blu-ray Disc of the "Patton the movie" that I purchased 5 years ago. Now days I'm not sure I can watch this movie ever again thanks to the myth murdering done by Kevin and others. Oh well, the price of knowledge.
It's almost anticlimactic how this breakthrough occurred. In "north Afrika lessons learned" we have this (I assumed this from Eddy):
Enemy positions subjected to dominant observation rapidly became untenable. Examples of this experience are quoted from the report of a division commander:
"This principle has been taught for years, yet at EL GUETTAR HILL 772 remained in German hands during the first ten days of the battle. As a result the enemy had artillery observation and was able to fire on anything that moved. As soon as HILL 772 was captured, the Germans abandoned the entire position..."
It's unfortunate that Benson's tanks force isn't well documented - I saw bits and pieces in the "north Africa lessons learned" from soldiers' interviews. I also read a anecdote on tank destroyers site where someone witnessed Benson yelling at a TD Bn commander for something. "regular" operational documents would be super helpful (as German docs at this point are becoming a mess...)
Interesting observation Arkadiy. As the Pratzen Heights were to the Battle of Austerlitz, so was hill 772 to this battle. Great observation.
Please create a "Torch to Tunis" playlist, and then link it a the top of the video's info list if you want people to watch these video's, its very difficult to find them all without any organized link
Okay, so the link to the relevant playlist is also one of the cards at the beginning of a video and is also included in the end screen, but I will go through and add them to the main description
@@WW2TV Thank you! I am enjoying your content, but that will help A LOT to follow things in a series!
IIRC in N Africa the British Desert Army got the M4 Sherman tanks. The US Army had to wait for theirs
That's true, but a somewhat simplified version of a more complex situation that took other factors into consideration
@@WW2TV ….. Decisions made which were green-lighted at a Presidential level.
@@WW2TV very true, in fact the US wanted to switch to M4 production sooner than they did, but the British were so short of tanks that they couldn’t stop and make the switch from M3 to M4s. When M4 production started the British did get the initial supply.
54.00 Patton worried German generals.
Not WW2, but in Korea many unit commanders were replaced for being too old. Not physically capable of combat. Those commanders being WW2 veterans who’d come up when they were young men. But now were in their thirties or older
My dad fought at El Guettar ...he was a 22 yrs old Italian second lieutenant, Centauro Division, in charge of hill 290 ...
March 23- March 31