A Battlefront WWII Scenario by Bill Slavin

The 8th Army's pursuit of the Axis forces into southern Tunisia has been brought up short by the stiff defences of the Mareth Line. Built by the French before the war the line is a heavily fortified position running from the sea inland to Tujane in the Matmata Hills. Beyond the hills lies the Dahar, desert country considered impassable by the French at the time of the Mareth Line construction. But the advent of four wheel drive and tracked vehicles has put this surmise into question and both sides are well aware of the possibilities afforded by a flanking attack. To this end Montgomery develops Operation Pugilist, a two-pronged attack that will simultaneously renew the assault on the line while sending the newly formed New Zealand Corps in a left hook through the desert to attack to the north at Tebaga Gap. Three and a half miles miles wide at its narrowest and anchored between Djebel Tebaga on the south and Djebal Maleb to the north, Tebaga Gap lies just southwest of Gabes. Originally held by the Saharian Group, a disparate group of Italians commanded by General Mannerini, the launch of Operation Pugilist on March 20 initiated a slow and incremental battering that has reduced the force to mere remnants. But as the New Zealand Corps consolidates its positions in and around the gap, the survivors of this force are now "reinforced " by the 21st Panzer and 164 Light Divisions, takin