7 MAY 1943 – CAPTURE OF BIZERTE

In the final American offensive of the Tunisia Campaign, Allied troops captured the critical port of Bizerte on 7 May 1943; victory was welcomed by American forces, who were weary from their first extended campaign against determined Axis forces.

After American troops overran Hills 609 and 523, 1st Armored Division tanks advanced eastward. On the night of 1 May, the Germans withdrew to Mateur, only to have American tankers and armored infantrymen drive them out of the town two days later. The Americans had won an important urban center and were only twenty miles from their ultimate objective, Bizerte, the northernmost port city in Africa.

The U.S. II Corps, commanded by Major General Omar Bradley, began moving against Bizerte on 6 May. The 1st Armored and 9th Infantry Divisions made a coordinated envelopment of the city that day and pushed retreating enemy forces into and through Bizerte on 7 May. At nearly the same time, the British V Corps entered the capital city of Tunis.

In the southern half of the American sector the 1st Infantry Division encountered strong opposition but maintained pressure to prevent the enemy from reinforcing other areas. Next to the British sector, the 34th Infantry Division took a key pass on the road to Tunis.

As II Corps units advanced to cut the Bizerte-Tunis road, they found Axis units in a state of collapse as enemy troops surrendered in such large numbers that groups of prisoners clogged roads and impeded further advance. By the second week of May, enemy prisoners totaled over 275,000.

When Axis generals began surrendering on 9 May, the six-month Tunisia Campaign entered its final days. Major General Bradley turned his attention from fighting a determined enemy to governing large numbers of civilians, and processing and housing prisoners of war.

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