In mid-February 1943, the Afika Korps under Field Marshal Erwin Rommel launched an offensive against the American forces, primarily the U.S. II Corps commanded by General Lloyd Fredendall, in Tunisia, North Africa. The offensive led to a series of battles around Kasserine Pass, a 2 mi (3.2 km) wide gap in the Grand Dorsal chain of the Atlas Mountains in west central Tunisia. In the first significant battle between American and German ground forces during World War II, the relatively untested and poorly-led American troops suffered heavy casualties and were pushed back over 50 mi (80 km) from their positions west of Faid Pass in the initial days of the battle. Despite early defeats, elements of the US II Corps, reinforced by British reserves, rallied and held the exits through mountain passes in western Tunisia, defeating the Axis offensive plans. In the aftermath, the U.S. Army instituted sweeping changes from unit-level organization to the replacing of commanders. When the same combatants next met, in some cases only weeks later, the U.S. forces were considerably more effective.
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