Sbeitla Probe DTO (id:#56259)

Avalon Hill (AH:ASL Annual `90 ID: A 18)

Prior Publication: AH: ASL Annual `89 SL A2

Sbeitla, Tunisia 1943-02-17 (2 others)

Overview:

During the night of February 16th, as battered elements of the 1st Armored Division fell back westward under the onslaught of Operation Fruehlingswind, they met with reinforcements and set up a temporary defensive line in the olive groves and wadis west of Sbeitla. The Germans, believing that the Americans would abandon the town, followed in several columns in order to test the strength of their resistance. As contact was made and firing began, some of the exhausted Americans, unnerved by their first night actions, began to flee. This movement became an uncontrolled flood of vehicles which threatened to unhinge the entire defense, but fortunately for the Allies enough of CCA held firm so that the line did not collapse at once. As the panic subsided, Battery C of the 68th Armored Field Artillery was ordered to move east into the new positions astride the Sbeitla-Faid Road. At 0115, as the American self-propelled guns moved into position, German tanks appeared only yards away. A wild firefight ensued, with tracers and HE shells flying in every direction.

Defender: American (3rd Battalion, 6th Armored Infantry/Battery C, 68th Armored Field Artillery)  

Errata (source)