75 years ago during World War II: A two-part report

HISTORY

The following article appeared in newspapers on Feb. 21, 2018:

by David Wilson

In the second scene in the 1970 academy award-winning movie Patton, one gets a gruesome view of the results of a severe American defeat.

The scene depicted Kasserine Pass in Tunisia, North Africa during World War II.

Amidst the smoldering ruins of tanks and other armored vehicles, local Arabs were looting the valuables from the bodies of dead American soldiers.

American officers arrived in jeeps to survey the damage.  They fired several rounds of ammunition in to the air, causing the looters to flee before they could pilfer more items.

Actor Karl Malden, playing the part of the General Omar Bradley, sadly scanned the scene. After such a humiliating American defeat at the hands of the Germans, there were lessons to be learned and changes that needed to be made.

The Battle of Kasserine Pass took place Feb. 19-25, 1943.

That was 75 years ago.

By all accounts, Americans were simply not prepared for their first major confrontation with Germany in World War II.

American soldiers lacked fighting experience, and they needed better leadership. In addition, the Allied command structure was inefficient and was too cumbersome to make prompt battlefield adjustments.

In head-to-head combat, German tanks were far superior to the American M-3 Lee and M-3 Stuart tanks that were widely used in the early-going in North Africa. Even when the larger American Sherman tanks were put in to the fight, they were still not the equal of German armor.

To make matters worse, the German effort in the North African countries was coordinated by a brilliant battlefield technician in General Erwin Rommel.

General Bradley wrote of the loss at Kasserine in his memoirs entitled A Soldier’s Story.

Bradley had been sent by General Dwight D. Eisenhower to investigate the matter and to report back.

In interviews with officers and noncoms, Bradley was told that the Germans were a strong adversary, but that the real reason for the loss was that the Americans simply hadn’t seen combat. He also learned that many of the officers no longer had confidence in the leadership of General Lloyd Fredendall.

Furthermore, the command structure was ineffective, and almost every last soldier knew it.

Historian Carlo D’Este wrote that one soldier quipped, “Never were so few commanded by so many from so far away.”

While no one blamed the loss entirely upon leadership, Eisenhower relieved Fredendall and replaced him with a hard-charging general.

In the movie Patton, the actor portraying General Bradley said, “Up against Rommel what we need is the best tank man we’ve got, somebody tough enough to pull this outfit together.”

“Patton?” one officer asked.

“Possibly,” Bradley replied.

The officer grinned.  “God help us.”

In 1943 General George S. Patton was already known as a capable but flamboyant leader.

By the time the war was over in 1945, people would understand all too well that Patton was a man with shortcomings. But more importantly, the entire world would know that Patton had a gift for unleashing an army’s fury upon the enemy, and that gift helped the Allies secure victory in Europe.

The American failure at Kasserine Pass made it possible for Patton to step in and demonstrate his leadership ability.  He soon got an important American win at El Guettar in Tunisia in March and April of 1943.

After American forces had been mauled by the Germans at Kasserine, El Guettar gave them the opportunity to bounce back. It was there, under Patton, that they got their first victory over Germany.

Patton himself would tell you that he was destined for greatness, with or without the American defeat at Kasserine, and he would be right.

But 75 years ago, an embarrassing defeat forced Americans to regroup—and in the midst of the largest war in history—they began their long march to victory.

David Wilson, EdD, is a communications director and former high school principal. His book Learning Every Day is available on Amazon.com. You may email him at ledauthor@gmail.com. 

Part 2:

Further reflections on the war in North Africa

The following article was originally published in newspapers on Feb. 28, 2018

Author Patrick Lencioni, an expert in establishing healthy dynamics at work, wrote in his book The Advantage that businesses, organizations, and individuals must make adjustments in the face of setbacks.

“People in a healthy organization, beginning with the leaders,” he wrote, “learn from one another, identify critical issues, and recover quickly from mistakes.”

And as you may have read here last week, that is basically what happened with American military forces who were fighting on the other side of the Atlantic 75 years ago.

Americans suffered a terrible defeat at the hands of Germany at Kasserine Pass in North Africa, but the leadership—under General Dwight D. Eisenhower, General Omar Bradley, and General George S. Patton—quickly determined what was wrong and set out immediately to make changes.

We cannot always make the assumption that principles that work in a business in the 21st century worked equally as well 75 years ago and brought success on battlefields on the other side of the world.

It’s just not that simple.

But there are some parallels.

In the 1970 movie entitled Patton, actors George C. Scott (who played Patton) had a telling conversation with actor Karl Malden (who played General Bradley).

Patton: Tell me Brad, what happened at Kasserine?

Bradley: Apparently everything went wrong.

Patton: I understand we had trouble coordinating the air cover.

Bradley: The trouble was no air cover.  There’s one other thing I put in my Kasserine report.  Some of our boys were just plain scared.

Patton: That’s understandable. Even the best fox hounds are gun-shy the first time out.

Patton: You wanna know why this outfit got the hell kicked out of ‘em? A blind man could see it in a minute. They don’t look like soldiers, they don’t act like soldiers, why should they be expected to fight like soldiers?

Bradley: You’re absolutely right. The discipline is pretty poor.

Patton:  Well, in about 15 minutes we’re gonna start turning these boys in to fanatics. They’ll lose their fear of the Germans. I only hope to God they never lose their fear of me.”

After that Patton went to work, and while he shouldn’t get all of the credit for turning things around, at the very least, he was a strong catalyst.

The Americans had been beaten soundly at Kasserine, but no matter what the reasons were for the defeat, there rested within most soldiers a fierce determination to come back strong.

Ernie Pyle was a Pulitzer prize winning journalist who wrote stories about the common soldier in World War II.

He was in North Africa and knew all about Kasserine, but he still believed in the American effort.

“You need feel no shame nor concern about their ability,” he wrote. “There is nothing wrong with the common American soldier. His fighting spirit is good. His morale is okay. The deeper he gets into a fight, the more of a fighting man he becomes.”

The modifications in the Allied effort brought great results.

The Americans—along with the British—would eventually run the German armies completely out of the continent of Africa.

After that, the Allies took Sicily, and then Italy, and then began gearing up for a massive invasion of the mainland of Europe.

During the early days of America’s involvement in World War II, Germany controlled almost all of Europe, but the American military had learned much from its opening defeat 75 years ago.

And while there were many battles still to be fought, Americans had gained valuable battlefield experience. Furthermore, America itself was pouring more men and materials in to the fight.

They wouldn’t stop fighting in Europe until Hitler was dead and all of Germany capitulated.

Erwin Rommel, possibly the best of Germany’s generals, wrote that the American response at Kasserine was crucial.

“In Tunisia,” he said, “the Americans had to pay a stiff price for their experience, but it brought rich dividends.”

David Wilson, EdD, is a communications director and former high school principal. His book Learning Every Day is available on Amazon.com. You may email him at ledauthor@gmail.com.