The History of WWII Podcast · Ray Harris Jr

Episode 584-The Tunisian Thermopylae

November 25, 2025·26 min·1 clip

The British tanks could not approach the pass because the Germans held the height advantage.

1. The History of WWII Podcast episode 584 is titled "The Tunisian Thermopylae" and tracks the last fighting in Tunisia. 2. Ray Harris hosts the episode and narrates the North Africa campaign as a military history recap tied to the fall of Tunis and the push toward Sicily. 3. The episode asks how Axis forces in Tunisia were finally boxed in, and what Allied commanders learned before the invasion of Sicily. 4. The first movement centers on the Chugi Pass near Terboba, where the German 308th and 334th Infantry Divisions still held the ground until General Ryder's 34th Infantry Division advanced. 5. The Americans took the hills south of the pass by May 8, then moved into Chugi Pass itself when the Axis position thinned out. 6. By the afternoon of May 9, the Axis 5th Panzer Army had been pushed into only two main positions, one east of Mater and one at El Aliyah. 7. General von Werst sent his last situation report at 9:30 a.m. on May 9, saying, "Our armor and artillery have been destroyed." 8. Thirty minutes later he asked General Harman's headquarters of the 1st U.S. Armored Division for an armistice, and Bradley replied, "The terms of surrender are unconditional." 9. General Harman then reported the surrender of the 10th and 15th Panzer Divisions by 12:50 p.m. 10. The British 6th Armored Division and 4th Infantry Division then drove southeast from Tunis toward the Cap Bon Peninsula. 11. At the Hammam-Leif Defile, the coastal road narrowed to about 300 yards, and Kampfgruppe Franz used the hills and anti-tank guns to stop British armor. 12. The 1st Guards Brigade and Coldstream Guards had to climb the Jebel-er-Raruf peaks under fire, including grenades and small-arms fire. 13. One company scaled the heights in daylight, then the battalion moved at night and held the whole ridge by the next morning. 14. Once the British controlled the height above Haman-Leif, German crews below could see tanks and infantry above them and began waiting to surrender. 15. On May 10 and May 11, the 12th Royal Lancers, the 26th Armored Brigade, and the 2nd Armored Brigade pushed toward Zarhoen, Soliman, and Grombalia. 16. General Bousseau and General Matinet accepted the surrender of Kampfgruppe Pfeiffer's 10,000 men of the German Africa Corps north of Zarhoen. 17. General von Arnim surrendered on May 12 near Bouffiche, and the episode notes that his army's records were burned. 18. General Messe then surrendered only to the 8th Army, while his men handed over maps of minefields as Tunisia formally fell under Allied control. 19. The tone is matter-of-fact and campaign-driven, with Ray moving quickly through unit names, terrain, dates, and surrender terms. 20. Listeners who follow North Africa, British and American ground warfare, or Tunisia's endgame will get the most value; listeners wanting a light, character-driven story may skip it.

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