| Original caption: “Men of the East Yorks in jubilant mood after the capture of an enemy pillbox.” “Desert rats” of the 5th Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment, 50th Division restage taking an Armeegruppe Afrika pillbox. It is likely that 2 of the men are Sergeant Len Rayon (???? – ????) of Beckenham, Kent, and Sergeant Thomas Gill (???? – ????) of Hull, orderly to Captain Thomas G. “Gillie” Fenwick (February 8, 1916 – November 8, 2006), Adjutant to the 5th Battalion Commander. Tom Gill became a Vicar in 1967 and Dean of North Holderness from 1980-1986. The Mareth Line in eastern Tunisia was a natural defensive position comparable to El Alamein; a front 35 kilometers (22 miles) long extended from the coast to the mountains inland. On March 17, 1943, the 50th Division pushed 5th Battalion, East Yorkshires 2 1/2 miles further ahead, taking Mestaoua, which overlooked the sector between Ouerzi and Ksiba Ouest. Meanwhile, the 8th Army engineers made a track and crossing over the Wadi (“River Valley”) Zeuss. 2 tracks were to be made on the divisional front but rain on March 15 had made their completion uncertain. Yet 50th Division had made a very good beginning and had added confidence to its ambition to win a good battle and once again “to get into the news.” The Division had had no opportunity of winning attention since its breakout from the Gazala line in June 1942, which had taken the public’s fancy as a dashing feat. On the night of March 20, 1943, Montgomery attacked the line with XXX Corps while making a flanking attack to the south, around the German right flank, with New Zealand and Free French troops. When XXX Corps was thrown back, Montgomery reinforced the flanking attack, which eventually – on March 26 – forced a German withdrawal. The next German fallback position, at Wadi Akarit north of Mareth, was stormed by XXX Corps on the moonless night of April 5. Again, German forces made an orderly withdrawal, perhaps assisted by Montgomery’s deliberate approach. Arnim now fell back to a defensive line covering Tunis. On April 10, Anderson’s 1st Army and Montgomery’s 8th Army met south of Tunis and joined forces. The final assault on Tunis was led by the 1st Army, heavily reinforced and supplemented by several 8th Army units. The decisive attack, carried out by 5th and IX Corps, began on May 6, with a massive artillery bombardment. Meeting little resistance from an exhausted Armeegruppe Afrika, the British Army entered the city of Tunis on May 6. Arnim surrendered on May 12; 190,000 German and Italian troops were taken prisoner. 2 years after the 1st clash between British and Italian forces in Egypt, North Africa had been liberated from the Axis. Europe now lay ahead. Photo by Lieutenant Colonel Geoffrey John Keating (1914 – 1981), Number 2 Army Film and Photography Unit, 8th Army. | |
| Image Filename | wwii2085.jpg |
| Image Size | 180 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 1254 x 1289 |
| Photographer | Geoffrey John Keating |
| Photographer Title | Number Two Army Film and Photography Unit |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | March 1, 1943 |
| Location | |
| City | |
| State or Province | |
| Country | Tunisia |
| Archive | Imperial War Museum |
| Record Number | NA 1338 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
Author of the World War II Multimedia Database