AfricanStalingrad
@Tunisia_1943
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Ex-British Army officer now a military historian who specialises in Tunisia 1942-43. Also offer historical advisory services. aka @defencephoto
United Kingdom
Joined August 2022
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Pinned Tweet
The best way to understand the war in Tunisia is a combination of walking the ground, reading original documents (not just English language ones), talking to experts and reading books. Above all, IMHO, is walking the ground.
#Tunisia80
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Absolutely in middle of nowhere - Allied Memorial at Point 209 in Tebega Gap, El Hamma, Tunisia. This very kind gentleman is the local subsistence farmer and it's on his land. He keeps it clean and presentable at no cost. If you visit, please give him a good Tip....
#Tunisia80
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1K
It's incredible that you can still see on Google Earth satellite view the tracks left in the Tunisian desert by thousands of tanks and trucks in 1943. This is Montgomery's 'left-hook' to the Tebega Gap (El Hamma) by a combined New Zealand and British force.
#Tunisia80
#MilHist
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Auchinleck - at the age of 96 (the oldest CWGC WW2 grave?) he requested that he be buried at
@CWGC
Casablanca at the end of the back row, alongside one of WW2 youngest, aged 14, 'Cabin Boy' R Steed. Clearly sending a message beyond the grave and through history. Quite a sight.
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On this Day (approx!) Lt Gen Horrocks was shot by a German aircraft at Bizerte harbour . The bullet went through his chest, lungs, stomach and intestines and exited out of his lower spine. Just over a year later he was GOC 30 Corps in Normandy.
#Tunisia80
#DDay
[IWM E16462]
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Happy 200th birthday
@RNLI
- and for saving my Dad's life - he was shot by a German aircraft and blownup and his ship sunk, slowly dying but found by you drifting in a lifeboat off Aberdeen in September 1940. Seen here, with Mum, at my passing out parade
@RMASandhurst
1980.
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I’m in my happy place today - Barter Books Alnwick - the biggest collection of secondhand WW2 books possibly anywhere. Good selection of privately published WW2 Tunisia memoirs too. I may be some time….
#Tunisia81
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The Axis surrendered at this place on this day in 1943, if only these old olive trees could speak….
#Tunisia81
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To be 'Masters of the Air' you need to be 'Masters of the North African Shores'.
After the victory in Tunisia, 1943, this was the preferred aircraft delivery route, via North Africa, due to the better weather.
#MastersOfTheAir
#Tunisia81
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4.6 million tourists have visited Tunisia so far this year, an increase of almost 5% over 2022 - and, yet, very few go for its brilliant, untouched, unchanged
#WW2
history. That's a shame.
#Tunisia80
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Can anyone ID this please? German armour in Tunis harbour, straight off the ship. Probably 1943👍
#Tunisia81
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The Norden bomb sight - is there any conclusive data that it made a difference to bombing accuracy? Is so, by how much?
#MastersoftheAir
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I'm learning British Army slang from North Africa to use at
#WHWF24
: brothel creepers, desert chicken, flying dhobi, Groppi's Light Horse, desert rose, Tunisgrad, vic eddy, a bint, shufty, yimkin, at sparrow fart, swan about the blue. Any more suggestions?🫤
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Nearly all unexplored, still, after 81 years - the bunkers, dugouts and trenches galore on the Mareth Line, Tunisia - a largely unexploited international tourist asset except for the small museum
#Tunisia81
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Von Arnim surrendered in Tunisia on this day in 1943 - nice to be there today for the 81st anniversary.
#Tunisia81
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Fought in WW1, WW2 (Op TORCH North Africa) and Korea - 1st Sgt Huntoon. Was he unique?
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My remotest trip of 2023 - El Hamma memorial Tunisia - the 2NZ Corps memorial is in the centre of Montgomery's left-hook deep in the desert. Lovingly looked after, at no cost, by local subsistence farmer - bless him -
#Tunisia81
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German defensive positions facing towards Patton's forces in El Guettar valley, Tunisia. When I walk the ground I get 'transported' and become utterly absorbed in 1943 history. I recommend it for mental peace and quiet.
#MentalHealthDay
#Tunisia80
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Such a great entrance to THE museum that is
@I_W_M
London - I still remember first walking into it when I was 8 years old.
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Rommel's final OP in Tunisia. Here he observed the battle of Medenine (top right hand corner) 6th March 1943. The day after the defeat he returned to Germany never to return to North Africa. The OP has intact bunkers and trenches. Now part of a tourist hiking route.
#Tunisia80
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Brilliant to see today von Arnim’s staff car that was captured in Tunisia 1943. Now lovingly looked after by
@PWRR_Museum
@3pwrr
#Tunisia80
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Montgomery kept a captured Italian command caravan in his family home - seen here with smiling Monty. Is this the one now at
@IWMDuxford
?
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When I see a WW2 trench in Tunisia I want to jump into it. But I now realise that's unwise - scorpions and snakes might use them. Who knows if they weren't booby-trapped in 1943 and never cleared? There are lots of untouched trenches and debris in Tunisia.
#Tunisia80
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German/Italian gun position in Tebaga Gap (El Hamma) Tunisia, still there in 2023 - the battle took place this week 1943. The only true desert battle in Tunisia, somewhat akin to El Alamein in terms of space, time and ground - hundreds of tanks, hundreds of miles.
#Tunisia81
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My most conflicted moment in 2023 - finding the spot in Tunisia where von Stauffenberg was injured in 1943 - but was he a 'good' German or not? I still don't know......
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Very pleased to finally see this rare photo of the von Arnim surrender at St Marie du Zit, Tunisia, 1943. I've been to the village but never managed to find the exact spot. There's enough clues in this photo to find it next time.
#Tunisia80
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The Tunisian WW2 battlefields are STILL littered with 1943 debris. Here's some collected in Matmata. Thank you to
@k_khammassi
for the video - please give her a 'follow' as she is one of the few young Tunisians interested in Tunisia's WW2 history.
#Tunisia80
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On This Day 1944 assassination attempt on Hitler by von Stauffenberg. Here's where Stauffenbrg got injured in Tunisia in 1943. An event that contributed to his view that German war effort was better served without Hitler. It was a very strange feeling being there.
#Tunisia80
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Spike Milligan's birthday today. He was 25
#OTD
1943. He was here, Djebel Chaouach, he slept in the Roman caves on the cliff. "I asked the guns to fire a 21 gun salute, they said 'happy birthday, piss-off'..." Must visit one day!
@goonchild4
@almurray
@goonshowpod
#Tunisia81
😉
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General Patton’s OP and Tac HQ overlooking El Guettar valley where 10 Panzer Division attacked in 1943. Lots of foxholes, slit trenches and covered positions.
#Tunisia80
#TunisianBattlefieldsToday
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Fancy a 1943 anti-tank ditch in your garden? This is Wadi Akarit, Tunisia. Even though it's fairly close to the tourist resorts on Djerba it remains largely unvisited (except by me and local village kids!). Google maps GPS: 34.098830, 9.893488.
#Tunisia80
#MilHist
#WeHaveWays
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Still full of battle damage. Old railway station at Djefna, Tunisia. This is where repeated attacks, over a 6 month period, by British and Americans, failed to dislodge the Axis troops on hills either side of the railway. No tourists! Imagine if this was in Normandy!!
#Tunisia80
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The Ksar Lemsa Roman/Byzantine fort in Tunisia, in 1943, was occupied (at different times!) by German, Italian, British, French and American soldiers. It's incredibly well preserved. Not many tourists - it's so far out in the Ousseltia valley.
#Tunisia81
(pic wikipedia)
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Then and Now - General Patton at Oued Khedabb OP looking down the El Guettar road. Claus von Stauffenberg's CP had previously been in the middle distance.
#Tunisia80
#TunisianBattlefieldsToday
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Common on Tunisian farms and village dumps if you know where to look and GET PERMISSION - German and British debris consisting of a car bonnet, engine parts, jerrycans, flimsies etc. Beware ammo! I know what you're thinking...Customs WILL stop you and prosecute.1/3
#Tunisia81
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I took this pic almost 40 years ago - El Alamein
@CWGC
- hope to go back this year, fingers crossed
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Not seen this before - camouflaged to create the illusion of an escorting corvette - HMT Highland Princess at Durban, probably 1941. Did it work?
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Rommel's last OP in North Africa, 1943. This does not show just how windy it is up there (was on the day I found it!) high in the Matmata mountains. From here, on the morning of the battle of Medenine, Rommel wrote to his wife about beauty of Tunisia's countryside.
#Tunisia81
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The marks are still there- where 2 Armoured Divisions went through to El Hamma in Tunisia - thousands of vehicles, hundreds of tanks passed through in 13 parallel columns in March 1943.
#Tunisia81
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Dig or die - a German paratrooper sleeping in a typical trench in Tunisia. Could be that this was an improvised trench or, more likely, how far he could dig until he hit solid rock. The photographer who took the shot died soon afterwards, this was his last photo.
#Tunisia81
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This sums up the whole
#WHWF
experience for me - joyful, wonderful, hopeful -
@almurray
@RedFiveModels
@FinleysTouch
@WeHaveWaysPod
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Tonight's movie: the story of some Algerian soldiers in the French Army, fighting their way from Tunisia to Germany. No spoilers but the ending is what happens to them post-war in terms of justice and liberation. It's good to see an allied war film without Brits and Americans!
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These memorials to
#WW2
are all over Tunisia. This one is on the wadi crossing point at Mareth (where DLI were defeated). The village mayor, in the pic, voluntarily keeps it in good shape. He'd like more people to visit.
#Tunisia80
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This really ought to be on the tourist's agenda when visiting Kairouan, Tunisia. It's the abandoned German Army HQ. Almost certainly used by Rommel and von Arnim. And it's right beside the main Tourist area in a side street. If this was in Normandy or Sicily.......
#Tunisia80
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I have RUN OUT OF BOOK SPACE. 500 books on, about or links with Tunisia 1942-43 - including many German, Italian and French. Over 200 maps, mostly original. Plus a growing collection of primary documents such as the full 6th Armoured Div War Diary...and 3TB on the Mac.
#Tunisia81
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TUNISIAN
#WW2
BATTLEFIELD MEMORIALS no. 8 - this is the Allied memorial at Point 209 in the Tebega Gap (aka El Hamma) where the New Zealand Corps plus 1st Armd Div fought. A hard memorial to get to owing to its remoteness. This lovely family live there and care for it
#Tunisia80
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Feeling wet and miserable in UK this week? Imagine spending weeks and weeks living in a hole dug into a Tunisian farmer's field in 1943. This is Sidi N'sir road leading to Hunt's Gap. No hint of 'desert' here, more like Yorkshire.
#Tunisia80
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There is a car route to the top of Longstop Hill, Tunisia. And what view. When you experience it from the summit, the military importance becomes obvious. Still lots of battle debris and trenches. The Germans held it from December 1942 to April 43.
#Tunisia81
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Auchinleck - you can't go to Casablanca and not pay your respects at the
@CWGC
cemetery. So I did, today. Rather moving it was too.
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Mareth Line area from a 1943 forward German position (trenches in foreground) - the road goes past a minefield, overlooking the 'Horseshoe' battlefield. The sea is in the background. Medenine battlefield behind the hills. Typical terrain in the south coastal region.
#Tunisia81
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The 'Verdun of Tunisia' - as nicknamed by the German Fallschirmjäger parachute battalion in 1942 - the area of hills around Jefna railway station - the abandoned water tower, rail tracks, tunnels etc are still there with untouched war damage.
#Tunisia81
h/t
@Fallschirmjger5
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British 1943 official views of German tactics in Tunisia - fascinating view of the Tiger
#Tunisia81
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I've read many historian's views of the KASSERINE PASS battles and walked most of the ground. None of the authors have ever visited, as far as I know. IMHO the definitive account has still not been written.
#Tunisia81
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The place where Rommel was turned back in the Kasserine Pass battles - Thala - this is the spot where the survivors of the Leicester Regiment ran away. Remains of a sangar (and possible ww2 debris?). On my list for a detailed look in 2024.
#Tunisia81
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I've got to go back - next time with 4x4!! The 1943 El Hamma battlefield is difficult to get to but scene of Montgomery's last 'Blitzkrieg' manoeuvre battle in North Africa pushing 2 Armoured Divisions with masses of tactical air support through the narrow Tebega Gap.
#Tunisia81
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The TIGER 131 capture site this week: The
@TankMuseum
Tiger was captured on Point 174. Landscape has not changed since 1943 and I was surprised how much war debris was lying about and trenches are still visible. The views and 'atmosphere' were both poignant and epic.
#Tunisia81
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On the beach: The military implications of the Allied victory in Tunisia-‘Masters of the North African shores’
#Tunisia81
#MilitaryImplications
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Really sorry to hear that the
@IWMDuxford
Land Warfare Hall is to permanently close. Questions….questions….questions
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My most surprising moment in 2023 - finding the 1943 German Army HQ in Kairouan, Tunisia - still there but in ruins.
#Tunisia81
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8th Army were here in 1943. Roman ruins just inside the southern Tunisian border on the route taken by Montgomery's 8th Army up to northern Tunisia. All to myself. I'll be returning, hopefully, in the autumn.
#Tunisia80
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It's been estimated that in 1942-43 there were 500,000 mines laid in Tunisia. That excludes unexploded bombs and booby traps. Villages and roadsides have been cleared. Hillsides less so. 300,000 mines were cleared by 1944. Mine clearance is still evident at Mareth.
#Tunisia81
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Was not expecting to get emotional but, in Casablanca, in 2023 - visited Field Marshal Auchinleck's grave, located, at his request, beside one of the youngest allied combatants to die, 14 year old galley boy RV Steed. So many questions....
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It was strangely moving, as if history had come to life somehow - Patton in El Guettar valley looking where 10 Pz Div had advanced. Anybody know exact date when the Patton photo was taken? The shot of me on same spot was 2023.
#Tunisia80
@James1940
@kevinhymel
@WeHaveWaysPod
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Who built these WW2 monuments? I know about eight of them. Presumably relics of the French colonial era? Most in excellent condition like this one at Pt 209 in the Tebega Gap, which is in the middle of nowhere and looked after by this lovely local subsistence farmer.
#Tunisia80
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The war in Tunisia 1942-43 is often described as a 'Desert war'. They need to visit. In the north it's more like the UK Lake District.
#Tunisia80
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The 4th Indian Division location filmed last year. I'll be going back for a more detailed look, inshallah, later this year. There's also some great 'cave' hotels here that have creature comforts like pools, beer etc. No need to slum it like General Tuker in 1943!
#Tunisia81
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Why are battles always fought in the corner of a map so you end up needing four maps??
#Tunisia81
#Grrrr
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I'm still trying to find the exact location where von Arnim surrendered to the Gurkhas in Tunisia 1943 so I can do a 'Then and Now' pic. It's near the village of St Marie du Zit but I may just have to bring along this pic and show the local farmers. Fingers crossed.
#Tunisia81
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Still lots of ordnance lying about in Tunisia - something I'm very mindful about. This was in Takrouna, since taken away by Tunisian Army specialists. Many farms have a 'WW2 debris pile' tucked away out of reach. No tanks or aircraft before you ask!
#TheLostTiger
#Tunisia81
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Lieutenant-General Freyberg died on this day 60 years ago. He commanded 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force in Tunisia. Greatest achievement there (but also somewhat flawed) was the battle of El Hamma (Tebega Gap). This is the battle monument in the desert.
#Tunisia80
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Any vintage radio experts on Twitter? Recently found this on a shelf in a run-down Tunisian restaurant. Pre-WW2 perhaps?
#Tunisia81
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The KASSERINE PASS battles started with Germans getting through FAID PASS virtually unopposed by the defending Americans and French who were in non-mutually supporting high ground. Once inside the undefended manoeuvre areas the Germans picked off each Allied position.
#Tunisia81
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Tunisia is experiencing heavy rain at the moment. The extreme floods of 1959 destroyed a number of 1942-43 battlefields (and, sadly, many lives). At Medenine there's still a collection of
#WW2
debris by side of a road that looks as if it was washed up by floods.
#Tunisia81
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Group tours to Roman ruins in Tunisia are on many travel company's brochures and get thousands of visitors but trips to nearby
#WW2
battlefields are not - this pic of me is near Mareth Line which has bunkers, a museum, trenches, memorials but rarely visited by groups.
#Tunisia81
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Original artwork from 1945 coming up for auction. C&T
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My best 'emotionally linked history' moment in 2023 - being at the 1943 Patton OP for the battle of El Guettar.
#Tunisia81
FYI
@kevinhymel
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The Director's cut - 208 minutes of anxiety, admiration and alarms. Tonight's movie for me.
#DasBoot
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Where British 1st Armoured Division was stopped by German 88mm anti-tank guns (behind mosque) - this week in 1943 at battle of Tebaga Gap (El Hamma). It took a night time infantry and tank assault to get through the position down to the coast. An unchanged landscape.
#Tunisia81
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I'm on a TWITTER HOLIDAY FOR THE WHOLE OF AUGUST. See you all in September 😜 but if you need to contact me in the meantime pls email takrouna1943
@hotmail
.com - happy holidays folks!! All the best, Trevor
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Rick's Cafe, Casablanca - a near exact replica of the movie set. I took the family and now my kids are interested in
#ww2
history!
#OperationTorch81
#WNTL
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Found last week on the Takrouna battlefield (not by me 🫤) - so must be Italian, German or Allied. Kiwis were the main infantry there in April 1943. ANY CHANCE OF AN ID?? Looks like medium machine gun? I'm struggling!
@historicfirearm
#Tunisia80
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Abandoned vehicles in Tunisia. There was a big clean up afterwards but you can still find odd bits.
#Tunisia81
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Orde Wingate died
#OTD
1944. As a young officer he horse-whipped a private who had ridden to death Wingate's horse. Assaulting a soldier was a Court Martial offence. The soldier did not press charges and went on to become, in 1943, an FOO at the battle of Takrouna.
#Tunisia81
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A simply incredible location, the wadi area where Col Alger's complete Combat Command was destroyed - 40 tanks - in 1943, as part of the Kasserine Pass battles. Ernie Pyle witnessed it. I only had a few moments there in 2023 but it's high on my list for 2024.
#Tunisia81
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Tinned food debris still litters Tunisian battlefields. At least most has to be 1943 vintage but I have occasionally found modern debris mixed-in. This one on top of a hill lying around a German trench position. Has to be 1943, doesn't it?
#Tunisia81
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Forced labourers having escaped from a German camp in Tunisia, enter British lines. December 1942. Teenagers by the look of them. Thin too. Quite rare to see photos of this subject.
#Tunisia81
(IWM NA 275).
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My movie for tonight - I know next to nothing about it but with Stars like Alec Guinness it must be good. Any reviews? Is it historically accurate?
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I recently found out that after some battles in Tunisia, Pioneers would clean up the battlefield by throwing old ordnance and unidentifiable body parts into trenches then partially fill them in. This is Longstop Hill, my son in a partially filled-in trench! Not good.
#Tunisia81
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“WHEN YOUR HEART IS RAW, STAND WITH TREES” The col where the tree stands was an objective of the 4th Indian Division at the battle of Wadi Akarit, 1943.
#Tunisia80
#MondayMotivation
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"Just one to all the world, but all the world to me. Dad" Rest in Peace: Rifleman Hyman Reuben
#Tunisia80
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This is on the Algerian/Tunisian border, opposite the Kasserine Pass - near the Algerian town of Tebessa. Probably a left over from 1943. DOES ANYBODY HAVE ANY algerian CONTACTS WHO COULD GET ME A BETTER SHOT? 🙏
#Tunisia80
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Original artwork from 1945 coming up for auction. C&T
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