The Stand at Medjez-el-Bab - Steel Panthers: World War 2

The Stand at Medjez-el-Bab* * Date: November 19, 1942* * Battle Location: Medjez-el-Bab, Tunisia* * Battle Type: France delay vs Germany advance* * Description: Following the Torch landings a race for key points in Tunisia followed as both allied and axis forces tried to establish themselves in the French colony. Caught up in the middle of this were the French forces in Tunisia, their loyalties torn between Vicy and de Gaulle.* * The French General Barre had attempted to delay the Germans through parley while backing from Tunis to the strategic crossroads town of Medjez-el-Bab and also arming his command with weapons and supplies that had been stashed away following the fall of France in 1940.* * Medjez-el-Bab and its bridge was reputedly the key to Tunis, as it lay straddling the Medjerda river. Here Barre chose to make his stand. Low on patience the German forces arriving in the area demanded French co-operation but Barre continued to stall. An ultimatum followed; the French were to strike their colours before seven A.M on the 19th or face a Germans attack but the French refused to fold. Instead Barre made a call to French HQ in Algiers announcing both his return to the allied camp and the imminent destruction of his command.* * Some allied reinforcements managed to make their way to Medjez and reinforce the French as the clock ticked down. About two hours after the stated deadline had elapsed firing erupted and the Germans moved in to attack.* * Defending the eastern part of Medjez-el-Bab is the II/4e Regiment de Chasseurs d'Afrique supported by a squadron of colonial cavalry. On the western bank, in reserve, are elements of the 43e Regiment d'Infanterie Colonial and some obsolete Char D1 tanks. Also approaching the battlefield are elements of the American 173rd Field Artillery Battalion and British paratroopers from the 1st Battalion, The Parachute Regiment.* * Notes: If played against the AI, the human player should take the French side.* * Sources: Atkinson, Rick - An Army At Dawn: the War in North Africa 1942-43* The internet (various)* * Design by: Ulf Lundstrom.**