Word: gafsa
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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...inspect the Allied positions at Sidi bou Zid, a few miles west of Faïd Pass. The U.S. soldiers had just moved in to relieve French troops. The whole situation was precarious. Eisenhower had been maintaining this mountainous front-from Pichon to Faïd Pass southwest to Gafsa-largely by bluff...
...armored troops holding the westward end of Fai'd Pass (see map). Despite ceaseless rains which have impeded Allied operations, more than 100 Axis tanks with dive-bomber support broke the U.S. line, split into two columns and advanced northwest toward Sidi bou Zid and south toward Gafsa...
Rommel's thrust may seriously upset all of Eisenhower's plans. The capture of Gafsa would mean the loss of the Allies' most important central Tunisian base. If Rommel (variously reported wounded and nearly captured) widens his assault, he will seriously disrupt Allied communication lines. The decision might be delayed even beyond the first weeks of summer, the time now apparently set for victory and a push toward southern Europe...
From the border at least one column followed the Medjerda valley toward the harbor of Bizerte, where the enemy was first met. Another may have headed straight east to Tunis; another may have branched off to Gafsa and started the long trek through mid-Tunisia toward the Libyan border...