The Story of the 34th Infantry Division
Book I • Louisiana to Pisa

Chapter V • FONDOUK
Beating [pp. 14-16]

   By 25 March [1943] our scouting operations had been completed and the Division received the order for its first major attack in World War II. The mission was to jump off from the river line five kilometers northeast of Hadjeb el Aioun and to advance astride a highway to capture and hold Fondouk Gap and the long ridge of mountains which ran in a semi-circle southward and then westward from the Pass. All intermediate objectives were rapidly taken. By late 27 March our troops, with the 135th Infantry on the left, the 168th Infantry on the right, and the 109th Engineer Battalion in a screening role further to the right, had reached the mountains.

   The Germans held their line in strength. They had spent a considerable amount of time and effort to prepare positions in the solid rock, many of them reinforced with railroad ties and steel girders. The approaches were bare and flat, completely devoid of cover. Barbed wire and minefields on the bottom slopes of the hills greatly increased the dangers of our assault. Maneuvering was virtually impossible since the enemy could see everything that went on in the flat land. The operation was simply a head-on assault in the face of withering fire from an opponent having ample ammunition and virtual immunity from our counter-fire. With great bravery our troops stormed the enemy position again and again, each time being halted by a wall of fire before they could even carry the first ridge line. Casualties were heavy and grew daily heavier. In their first large-scale action our troops were stunned to find themselves up against an almost impossible task.

   On 1 April the Division was ordered to abandon its efforts and to withdraw to a temporary line until further plans could be made.

   It must not be thought, however, that nothing had been achieved by this gallantry. The Allied High Command had desired that German troops be diverted to the center of the line, that is, the 34th Infantry Division sector. There, they would be unable to influence the large-scale American attack in the south toward Maknassy - where there were great opportunities of cutting Rommel's line of retreat. For a week following our disengagement, the Division was exposed to harassing attacks by the German airforce and artillery while our units could do little to reconnoiter the enemy's position in the face of his commanding observation.

   On 4 April the Division was attached to the British IX Corps for a further operation to seize Fondouk Gap. The plan was that a British infantry brigade [128th] would seize the hills to the north. Upon the opening of Fondouk Gap a British armoured division [6th] would move along the highway to Kairouan and it was hoped to catch a large part of Rommel's forces as they continued their rapid flight northward in front of the Eighth Army. The 135th Infantry on the right and the 133rd Infantry on the left moved up under cover of darkness to a line of departure in the open ground at the foot of the mountain. Dawn had broken before the artillery preparation had lifted and our troops began the advance. Progress was very difficult and costly. The assault battalions were pinned down by machine gun and mortar fire from enemy positions so well camouflaged and so perfectly sited that it was virtually impossible to neutralize them even with artillery fire.

   The British attack on the left had gone rather better and by evening the northern buttress of the Gap had been captured. On the following day a great effort was made by the 133rd Infantry which succeeded in clearing the first hill of the objective. That evening the armored division sent a company of tanks through the minefield protecting the Gap, and although the bulk of the tanks were lost, a path was cleared for the remaining units who followed in rapid succession. The Germans, threatened with the encirclement from the north, withdrew to Kairouan and the Division completed the occupation of the enemy position. A motorized infantry force immediately was sent in the wake of the armor to occupy Kairouan but this mission was taken over by British troops and the 34th Infantry Division moved to a training area in the vicinity of Maktar on 15 April.

Chapter IV SBEITLA - HADJEB el AIOUN Scouting	Chapter VI HILL 609 Conquering
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