Kasserine Pass

"Kasserine Pass" is an in depth study of the events leading up to and concluding with the battle of Kasserine Pass. The work is much broader than the title would indicate. Author Martin Blumenson sets the scene by describing the forces, military and political, Italian, German, French, American and British which would lead to the dramatic battle. The real action of the book picks up when the focus of the forces shifts to Tunisia. Germany, looking for a victory to compensate for losses at El Alamein and in Russia, decided to take on the green Americans coming from the West. Blumenson tells how Rommel set up the attack and how American blunders set the Americans up for defeat. U. S. General Frendendhall is shown as having deployed many of his forces to hilltop locations where they could be isolated and destroyed. The fighting is shown as having occurred over about a month, not in a single, decisive battle. In a series of attacks, the Germans handed the Americans a thorough thrashing and a well heeded wake-up call. Victory brought Gen. Rommel little to celebrate. In the wake of victory, German supplies to North Africa were restricted to support other theatres. Rommel was called back to Germany to be saved for battles to come. For the Americans, George Patton was brought forward to remold the ruined units into the army that would drive across Africa and Sicily. Martin Blumenson's work is a well written account. It provides a detailed account of the personalities and events involved in the first major American battle of the War. Of particular interest is the occasional reference to prior armies, particularly Carthaginian, who had fought over the same ground. This is an enjoyable and valuable resource for anyone with an interest in the North African theatre of World War II.

Rommel's carreer has always fascinated me. He seems to personify the near perfect leader, although he of course has his flaws. His own account (Rommel Papers) of the Battle of Kasserine is a fascinating story and this book by mr. Blumenson adds perfectly. It gives a good account of the activities from the staff down to the common soldier, but only for the U.S. side. No personal German accounts are used and the scope of vision is never switched to this side, except for the commanders. This gives a rather impersonal ghost-like picture of these "professional veterans". Hence the four stars instead of five. Kasserine Pass has been a wonderful read and a thrilling experience.

The painful defeat of the US Army in the battle of Kasserine Pass is recounted by Blumenson with exceptional clarity and powerful prose. The author is very critical of some commanders )like Lloyd Fredendall of course) but he pays tribute to other American officers who fought with exemplary courage. The book covers more heavily the US side than the German but it remains one of the best for anyone who wants to analyze that terrible campaign. There is a useful background to the battle, with reference to the status of the old French colonies in North Africa and some material for the role of the British Army. Blumenson prefers to write history seeing the big picture but he does not ommit the view of the common soldier and his experiences. The book loses the fifth star because it does not contain enough maps (although the necessary to follow the action are included) and most of the times the various units are not described with their official designation, for example there is Lt Colonel X's battalion but not its number. There are some black and white photographs of rather mediocre quality.

Blumenson writes an outstanding history of the battle from the point of view of commanders from platoon level to Corps level, stressing the problems facing them and the means by which they arrived at their decisions. The best acount of the US army's initiation to combat against the Germans that I have ever read.