The Bou, Tunisia

I had no idea just how vital The Bou was to the German defence of Tunis, not until I walked the ground today. Simply epic. This is the view from Point 212 overlooking the approach routes taken by 4th Indian Division and 7th Armoured Division on Operation Strike

 

Wonderful photo. Thanks for sharing.

Hope that these are correct

https://maps.lib.utexas.edu/maps/ams/tunisia_50k/txu-pclmaps-oclc-6540922-medjez-el-bab-27.jpg

 

Uncle Target, I feel the scale of the map you posted is a bit 'off'.

Here is Map VIII in Northwest Africa (Green Book) showing the overall relationship of the locations. The action depicted is from Dec, but it has all the major locations. What is odd is my hard copy has this map as VIII, while the online version has it as VII (uploaded here as the hard copy map is too large for my scanner).


Here is a cut from Sheet 19 Tebourba (UK 1:50000) from https://maps.lib.utexas.edu/maps/ams/tunisia_50k/txu-pclmaps-oclc-6540922-tebourba-19.jpg This cut provides the details of the actual area around Longstop.


The Dj. El Ahmera is Longstop while the Dj. bou Armara is I assume The Bou.

Pista! Jeff

 

Like your choice of map but to date cant see a map that covers the entire area
I made my sketch map a few years ago for this reason.
I have 1 Div Artillery Orders and Preparations for both Vulcan and Strike

I would prefer to leave this thread for Takrouna to post further items, then maybe discuss alternative maps and illustrations once the thread is complete.

 

Completely agree about leaving this thread. My intent was not to criticize but to improve.

Yes, I will see if I can stitch sheets 19 and 27 together, but I lack specialized tools to do so. I might be able to kluge something together.

 

Here is my first go. The two sheets were from two different runs (AMS 1 and AMS 2). You can zoom in on it. Does it cover enough area?

 

My own interpretation of the battles fought in the Medjez area comes from the map below.

The Battle area is defined from Tally Ho! Corner to Longstop Hill

This includes Operation Vulcan which began with the 1st Div and 4th Div Battle of Banana Ridge and Djebel Djaffa followed by Gueriat el Atach

Operation Strike was the advance of the 4th Indian Division and the 6th Armoured Division who went on to take Tunis.

Sadly I dont think the map will be readable. You could try zooming in on a computer.
It is a photograph of the original map, not a scan. If you look carefully you will see hand written numbers on the map which correspond to the points of interest numbers on the bottom of the sheet.




67 Field Regiment are one of the three Artillery Regiments in 1st British Infantry Division.

The sketch was drawn to accompany a book that I wrote for families of men in the Regiment using a collection of letters from a Battery Commander and his Command Post Officer.

 

Thanks to 'Uncle Target' for the sketch map he sent me, I was able to look back at some of the photos I took on my recent trip to Tunisia and I see that I have captured a view of the so-called 'Mosque' (actually an Islamic shrine in the local cemetery) on Banana Ridge. The present day motorway goes right through 226 Battery's gun position which is slightly off to the right of my cameras point-of-view.

 

Land forming (bulldozer contour ripping) has happened across Tunisia along with gum tree forest plantings like here and Chouigi Pass and also Longstop. No real land forming disturbance around Sidi Nsir but lots where Irish Guards/London Irish fought just north of Bou Arada south of Goubellat (Grandstand Ridge and 2 tree Hill etc). Hills of Djebel Garci near Takrouna/Enfidha have also had a remarkable amount of labour put into them to plant trees. WW2 surfaces have changed a lot but contours not. And despite this work shrapnel and other odds and ends still surface especially where water washes away soil and heavy metal objects hold their place. It is how kids around the Med still find ancient coins after rain.

 

We were on Banana Ridge Ridge today 21 Sept 2025. Trees are growing and make more dense cover. To look broadly north to see the Bou, one now has to descend to treeline to see it and Point 173 (location of Tiger 131 site) and even Snake Ridge.