| After facing only light resistance for most of March, the Americans encountered increasingly stiff resistance from German forces as they moved eastwards towards El Guettar. Three successive attacks against German positions at Hill 322 were repulsed with heavy American losses, and the American advance stalled completely. By early April, the 1st Armored Division had suffered over 1,500 casualties, including over three hundred soldiers killed in action. Upset with the division’s slow progress, Patton relieved General Ward on April 1st, and replaced him with Earnest Harmon. Around the same time, American and British successes elsewhere forced the Germans to withdraw on a broad front, including Hill 332. |
