Sunrise, the Morning of the Battle of Mareth | Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs

In our pre-battle briefing, we learned that if the British 8th Army did not break through the Mareth line, we would go with the 10th Armored Corps around the Mareth Line, driving South and West through the desert over Wilder’s Gap in the sand hills. For this, each vehicle had been given rations of food and water (at one pint = 20 ounces, per man per day) enough to last 9 days of desert driving without re-supply.

This route around the left end of the fortified Mareth Line had been discovered by a British "Reccy" outfit, which had sneaked hundreds of miles behind German Lines many months earlier. The plan worked. The Germans were surprised from the rear and retreated in chaos. Many prisoners were taken, and we had many burned German tank men to transport. It was the beginning of the end for the German Afrika Korps.

Location: Zuara, Tripolitania.