Tunisian Campaign (1943)

(Color, Silent) Summary: Seq: Italian prisoners on road, marching into stockade. CUs, individual prisoners, German and Italian Officers. VS, German prisoners being counted by US soldier as they march past. Seq: Americans being cheered as they ride through town. VS, debris in a battered street. Several LSs, Pans, landscape. Seq: British truck burning on the road to Tunis after strafing. Long truck convoy parked on side of road. Italian prisoners board trucks, convoy underway. VS, Italian and German prisoners in stockade. (NOTE: Many Italian prisoners throughout reel, but few Germans).
Department of Defense. Department of the Army. Office of the Chief Signal Officer. (09/18/1947 - 02/28/1964)
ARC Identifier 23655 / Local Identifier 111-ADC-9890 1943
TUNISIAN CAMPAIGN, 05/09/1943

[@kenilaci]

u have a great site here, thank you so much. I am very interested in WWII and one of my uncle was in the north african campaign. so this is very special footage to me, i appreciate it very much

[@paulrossiter4411]

wow amazing footage beautifully shot enjoyed every second watching it ..

[@riverchaser2090]

My grandfather was a paratrooper in ww2, volunteered to fight in the Tunisian campaign.

[@hamzahammami22]

You know, I'm from tunisia and i didn't know about all of this

[@jamesmichaelpratt]

AMAZING! What a treasure of something my father described to me many times; this German surrender as he loaded truck after truck of happy surrendering German and Italian soldiers into trucks for their ride to internment camps, and then ships to the US where they were placed until the end of the war. He said over 100,000 came in from the desert, just happy to be alive and out of the war. He talked of riding in the back with a Thompson machine gun guarding truckloads, and how they all laughed, and tried sharing bits and pieces of their lives; photos from home. It impressed him that they were just like the American GIs in that respect. They wanted out of the war and to go home. Now they made it out alive; and now I find this bit of history showing where my Dad walked and took part in. He was a trucker for the 1st Armored division in all the battles, including Kasserine Pass, then went on to the Italian campaign, the fear-filled 4 months at Anzio, and finally the breakout to Rome on June 5, 1944. The next day the Allies would be storming the beaches at Normandy in France. For these US Troops, war had been all they knew since Oct. 1942.

[@SMGJohn]

Awesome colours, I wish the 16mm handheld was more affordable though so we could get higher resolution.

[@Warmaker01]

The Axis would lose almost as much men here in Tunisia as they did in Stalingrad just a few months prior. Experienced men and leaders, their expertise. Gone. The German army was losing its experience with all the losses of 1942-1943. The US Army had not really fought in large numbers against the Germans in WWII yet, so they needed to get bloodied. The veterans of the German army gave them some lessons, i.e. Kasserine Pass. When the last Italian lines were being held in Tunisia with no hope left for resistance, General Messe messaged Rome one last time that they'll continue to fight. Mussolini promptly replied with something along these lines: "Stop the fighting. You are promoted to Marshal of Italy. Honor goes to you and your brave men." This is a huge contrast to Hitler issuing orders to stand at all costs many times over. The Axis defeat in Tunisia, North Africa would send huge ripple waves through Mussolini's government. Almost 90k Italian soldiers were taken prisoner. This was a devastating blow.

[@bilplaymo6121]

GREAT ! fantastic color : you have a better ideas of mixed color between uniforms, specially germans, unfortunatly we don't know wich city it is in Tunisia, seems not Tunis, but more a little suburd city....many thanks for sharing, so interessting...take care ; )

[@peterhanlon8324]

The comic writer Eric Sykes was in Tunisia as a gunnner. There he met Harry Seacombe, a Welsh comedian. Eric had put a large artillery piece at the top of a cliff but it rolled off. He went down to find it asking, ‘Anybody seen a big gun?’ Harry Seacombe said, ‘What colour was it?’ They enjoyed a lasting friendship Harry Seacombe wrote of his first experiences of battle in Tunisia. He said he was surprised the Germans were firing at him at sat up shouting, ‘Careful you might injure someone!’

[@jamesross1799]

That was spike milligan wasn't it not Eric sykes

[@peterhanlon8324]

@@jamesross1799 you are quite right James Eric was a signaller and in France-my mistake 🫣

[@greekthenick]

I Like the scene between 8:20- 9:20' ,they refull the Horch, and push it to start the engine again!!Great idea for a model diorama in 1/35!!!

[@drdal]

Many of the german and italian prisoners from the war in Africa was send to USA after the Tunisian Campain was over. And that was actually a very good thing for them. They was treated very good in America the rest of WW2.

[@Warmaker01]

They fought hard in a campaign that was well on its way to being lost. For their horrors they at least were POWs getting taken cared of. Their fates would be a lot better than their comrades elsewhere who would continue to fight in a war that became much more terrible. As bad as 1942 and 1943 was for Germany, 1944 and 1945 would be apocalyptic in terms of losses and devastation. Being in a POW camp in the USA was far better than being captured by the Russians. German Sixth Army as reconstituted after Stalingrad and would be completely annihilated again in Romania, 1944. Italy, the Western Allies landing in France, the Soviets ripping apart the Germans in Operation Bagration, and more. It could be a lot worse for a German serviceman than being in a POW camp in the USA.

[@Atlantisimo]

Many Italians were taken prisoners by French who sent them in Algeria and weren’t treated so well.

[@Rhokhokho]

I don't recognized the uniform at 4:15. which army/rank is it ?

[@spellcaster39ify]

Colonel in the Italian Army - Heavy Artillery. commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ONI_JAN_1_Uniforms_and_Insignia_Page_060_Italian_Army_WW2_Metropolitan_uniform_Officers._Raincoat,_ganeral_staff_whites,_infantry_overcoat,_grenadiers_old_uniform,_Sept_1943_US_field_recognition_No_copyright.jpg#/media/File:ONI_JAN_1_Uniforms_and_Insignia_Page_065_Italian_Army_WW2_Metropolitan_uniforms_NCOs_and_men._New_blouse_infantryman,_steel_helmets,_caps,_summer_field_uniform,_pullover_shirt,_old_blouse,_rucksack_Sept._1943_US_field_recognition_No_cop.jpg obscuritas.forumcommunity.net/?t=49256567 This particular unit is field artillery and there are 3 or 4 possible heavy artillery regiments. The hat looks like it has a "1" on it.

[@Rhokhokho]

@@spellcaster39ify Thanks a lot.

[@anisbentaleb7162]

Italian officer

[@madcarew.3256]

Did Rommel have headquarters in Sfax?

[@anwerbazilic6947]

all i know that his first heaquarters in mareth near gabes in the south of tunisia and then in hamamet in capbon in the north east...his own military car is still in our museum .

[@golato-8337]

@@anwerbazilic6947 where is the museum?

[@anisbentaleb7162]

@@golato-8337 military museum in mareth (gabes state) in the south of tunisia

[@ytanonymity3585]

Had Italian been effective as Germany and Japan, the African campaign would be most bloodiest and hellish theater in the whole war

[@mglenning1]

"(NOTE: Many Italian prisoners throughout reel, but few Germans)". Haha what? There are THOUSANDS of German POW's in these clips, even more than the Italian POW's.

[@antoniotommasini5501]

True. He could have saved the malignant parenthesis. Obviously he is inexperieced of the ww2 uniforms. The italians fought very well in Tunisia. The general Messe was forced to ask for surrender the day after the surrender of Afrika corp, even of the fate was sealed. This is History. Stereotypes have a long life.

[@Bennie1983nl]

Thank you for sharing! ( I'm WW2 re-enactor)

[@DoctorMetalDetector]

Come FOLGORE dal cielo!!!

[@dobs862]

Why were the Germans allowed to carry so much gear with them you would think they were off on a holiday .

[@martyrobinson149]

German, Italian Axis Military forces were decisively defeated in Egypt, El Alamein 1942 by Britain's led Eighth Army who pushed the Axis out of Egypt and Libya into Tunisia. American, British-Commonwealth force's advanced from the West after capturing West Africa from the French during Operation Torch. The Allies decisively defeated the Axis in Tunisia and more Germans surrendered in the campaign in Tunisia than Stalingrad!

[@Atlantisimo]

...and germans surrendered before italians!

[@michellearmstrong7903]

@@Atlantisimo yes Italians thought they could swim to Sicily,germans knew it was impossibl

[@Atlantisimo]

@@michellearmstrong7903 🤣 No: They kept back Montgomery but the breakthrough in German put the Italians in an even more impossible situation. Germans surrendered and the encircled italians were forced to do the same. Montgomery thought he was kept at bay by Rommel, while his adversary was Messe.

[@5ch4rn]

Fascinating. Thanks for posting. Personally, I would have liberated the hell out of the pretty girl in the white jumper (3.27) and it was interesting to see the two NCOs with Krim Shields (18.29). They'd seen the worst of Russia and were, no doubt, delighted that their services was over.