| Near the end of December, a force of British troops and Americans from the 18th Regimental Combat Team attacked German positions in the Medjerda Valley, including one position known as Longstop Hill. From December 22-26, German troops launched a determined counterattack against the combined American-British force, forcing the Allied troops to withdraw after suffering more than 500 casualties. The Americans spent most of January 1943 preparing to renew their offensive, but those plans were disrupted when Axis forces under Field Marshall Erwin Rommel resumed their offensive in early February and broke through Allied lines near the Faïd Pass, forcing them to withdraw from Sidi bou Zid. |
