Tunisia 2013

Hello everyone,

glad to see the new site is up and running. It looks great, and although Im sure it will take a while to get used to it, Im also sure it will be a big improvement.

I am writing to ask for some help regarding my upcoming Tunisia Trip at the end of the month.

Later this year I am due to to give a series of lectures on the Tunisian campaign and, since I of the opinnion that it would be somewhat crass on my part to discuss a country that I had not actually been in, I finally pulled my finger out and booked my first trip there. I dont want to spead myself out too thin so for this first expedition so I will be focusing on the Battlefields of the Medjerda Valley.

I was hoping someone who knew the country could either reccomend a hire for the day driver or company, or provide information as to the best way of going about getting one. My party will not be driving ourselves this time due to being unfamilair with the country, so I am affraid hired cars are out. Trains are also not an option due to that fact that I have seen the timetable and it will not be convenient.

I am staying in Tunis and will be putting the pictures up here.

Thanks in advance.

 

I would have loved to have given you some immediate advice, but due to a family bereavement, I had to cancel my trip to Tunisia, which had been booked for this week.

In March, I was given a "driver/fixer" contact and passed it over to a friend who is now in Tunisia at the moment, but.he was finding some difficulty in negotiating a planned trip to Medjez/Bou Arada and their mountainous environs. Best to be clear up front of course.

Last April, we used a driver for a two day trip (overnight in Beja) - through to Grandstand,Two Tree Hill, Stuka Ridge, Heidous, Tanngoucha areas, and a second one day trip using louage (shared minibus) to Medjez and then picking up a local taxi in Medjez to get around to Longstop and a few other highspots.

As you may know the roads are pretty good (some slight off road bits, I guess), and both freeway and arterial routes go out to Medjez and onto Beja, Bou Arada etc - the language issues are there and clearly having French/Arabic speakers with us finessed some of the extras, and this also provided opportunities for interchanges with the very friendly Tunisian villagers and we were able to listen to some evocative and moving first hand accounts from families who had lived through the 1942/43 period - we were shown around one house in the mountains,and sampled the local bread, which was very nice indeed.

Once my friend comes back on Tuesday, I'll be able to find out whether he was successful in his endeavours in following his father's progress with the Skins.

Good luck with the planning. Wish I was joining you.

best

 

For my recent tour to Tunisia I submitted my itinerary to UK travel agent specialising in Tunisian holidays.… They arranged everything, I had a driver & guide and was picked up everyday from my hotel in a 4x4, they took me everywhere I wanted to go and never once complained about the length of time I spent on the ground... Even when we had a 2 punctures after driving up Longstop Hill and I told them I wanted to go back up Longstop Hill!!!

 

Hi I was wondering if you had any plans to visit any cemeteries on your trip and if so which ones as I am still trying to get Recce photos.

Cheers
Paul

 

Hi Mitch,
a plan to Medjez War Cemetary is planned but only a brief one as I have to visit some of the Battlefields nearby which will take precedence. With over 2,000 names at the Cemtetary, and given my short time there, and shortage of memory card space on the camera. Im reluctant to say that I will be able to get any H-Stone images for anyone at this stage, let alone Guards ones, but I see that there are around 30 Recce graves in the Field, so if you have anyone in particular you would like slap them up here and I'll have a go.... Although, if I do see any Christmas Trees whilst in persuit of my own research, I will of course grab them. if I can.

 

Hi Phaethon, If at all possible these are my last 9 out of 37 Recce buried in this cemetery.

MEDJEZ-EL-BAB WAR CEMETERY

1st Regt Reconnaissance Corps

Trooper JOHN NICHOLAS KEVIN KING 18. B. 19

56th Regt Reconnaissance Corps

Lance Corporal VICTORY ERNEST DEAR 8. A. 11
Lieutenant FRANK HENRY HUGHES 5. F. 7
Trooper MAURICE SEWELL LOWSON 11. F. 4
Trooper WILLIAM THOMAS POWELL 5. C. 1.
Trooper GEOFFREY JOHN RUBBINS 16. C. 8
Trooper ERNEST SIMPSON 16. B. 10
Lance Serjeant HORACE VINCENT 15. E. 14.

59th Regt Reconnaissance Corps

Trooper RONALD THOMAS HEMMING 18. D. 8.

I understand that you might not be able to get these but even 1 would be great.

Cheers
Paul

 

Phaethon,

Good luck with your trip.

My only experience in Tunisia was staying at a Hotel on the coast SE of Tunis.

Travelled by train one day and played at sardines! :biggrin:

Several Hotel trips booked ansd all with monster 4X4`s, one around Cape Bon.

Otherwise taxi was used as I had no intention of driving whilst there.

A 4x4 rental with driver sounds like a good idea for getting about.

Regards
Tom

 

We reached the cemetary on Monday on an extremely hot and muggy day. I am affraid that going through the cemetary for War Graves took a lot more time then I expected as I had not realized that the graves do not follow a grid pattern and that each section has its own grid. It was only after I left that I realized that many of the images I had taken were not the ones I had intended... but men with similar names.

Out of the list I took with me I was only able to get a few of the recce lads.

 

For the duration of the trip we stayed in the Hotel Afrika in the centre of Tunis, chosen because it was just fifteen minutes walk from St.Georges English Church where the Coldstream Monument for Longstop Hill and the Tunisian Campaign is held.

From here the hotel was able to organize a driver to take us into the Medjerda Valley which we did on a number of occasions.
The following locations were visited which may be of interest.

Medjez Station
Medjez Cemetary
Coldstream (Mortar) Hill & V Corps HQ
Steamroller Farm (by way of Bou Arada and Goubellat)
Carthage White House (Rommels, Nehrings, Kesselrings, and later Andersons & Montgommery's HQ)

The last (entire) day was spent on Longstop which I think will be of the most interest.

 

The Medjez El Bab Area can be reached via the Motorway or Old Road Via PETERS CORNER. Either route was about the same: around an Hour by car. We had originally planned to walk from the Station up via Smidia Farm (where the US Combat Command B headquarters were during the race for Tunis) and Chassart Teffahah (original farm buildings burned down in 1943), but were glad we did a recce on the first day by car- as the road we had planned to use was not suitable for pedestrians and was rigourously patrolled by stray dogs

Medjez Station is not in Medjez Itself. It is outside the town, a product of the French Colonial Era. The most important thing to remember when considering travelling by Train in Tunisia is that the train lines were not bult for the population, but for the local farmsteads to transport goods from the fields to the capital and export abroad. Therefore most stations are in out of the way in places serving farms not the communities.

As in 1942, the Station is still an Active Military Base today. When TORCH started in Algeris and it became clear that Tunisia was Kesselrings next target, the French Commander of the Tunisia Division of the French Colonial (Africa) Army, took a large quantity of his arms from the forts in the capital and stored them in the station, therefore when the Coldstream Guards arrived in December 1942 (inheriting the position from the Paras) they found it filled with every type of French weapons conceivable. Very little has changed in this area, although the mortar damage to the Coldstream R.A.P. in the station has been repared and the cellar (used as a bomb shelter) has been sealed off as the stationmaster no longer lives in the building.

 

Walking in the footsteps of No.1 Company CG (22nd-23rd Dec 1942).
A Short guide.


Although No.1 Company came from the direction of Chassart, LONGSTOP May be best reached today from the direction of Medjez El Bab: following the road from the station North, turning right after the bridge and following the Medjerda River (turning immediately right after the train racks). The land in front of the hill is ploughland and turns to mud, as we experienced outselves, very easily when it rains. It is situated between the village of Chassart and the town of the Halte (in the LONGSTOP GAP), the latter having been grown around the Station Halte D'El Heri. In 1942-43 there was no village at the Halte to speak of save for a few farm buildings.

The Hill can be reached by turning left off the main road (approaching from the south) at the Sign post for the Halte.

Like Chassart LONGSTOP has changed a lot in the last few years and is now accessible by road, however not having access to a four wheeled drive vehicle we parked just south of the water-tower on the eastern foothills and followed the road up to the unmarked peak (on the original maps) between Point 220 and 290, climbing onto the ridge by way of the clearance line visible on the attached sattelite image.

For this tour, we walked along this tack before Joining No.1 Companys 1942 Journey on the unnamed point.

The biggest change to the hill is the modern addition of Trees. It may be hard to believe now but Trees were scarce on Longstop in 42, the hill being practically coverless save for the rocks. It is my oppinion that these self seeding trees have been introduced by the local farmers as part of a convernsion process to turn the hill into farmland- as currently the thin soil on the hill cannot support crops.

The lower slopes are filled with all manner of fruit and olive trees, but these quickly thin out once you get to the water tower- revealing a Hill composed of the original scrub plants, prickly bushes and the trees mentioned above. The road that has been bulldozed out of the hill now encircles the ridge, with a second track leading off the hill to the west into what is known as the Col. Also visible on the way up are the clearance lines (either for farming or fire reasons)... perhaps in time these will allow modern progress to reach the hill, but for now they are a useful view for what the hill used to look like.

The biggest surprise for me personally was how complicated the south and western slops of longstop are. Google Maps, and the map sheets used by the Guards do not do the hill justice at all and the southern slopes are a network of small valleys, outcrops and peaks not accurately described even by the areal view of LONGSTOP. Point 140, aka the hill 'the Mosque' (Actually a Tomb, not a mosque), where Combat Team 1/18 took up defensive positions on the 23rd December after losing its "A" Company is surrounded by smaller hills which give the modern battlefield tourist a tough time if you want to see them all.

Attached is a map of the route taken.

 

Looking Down the Hill (through the main clearance line) towards Point 140 (with radio tower).

On the night of the 22nd December No.1 Company of the 2nd Battalion Coldstream Guards climbed up the hill from the west towards point 290. During the process, one platoon struck off to the right to take Point 140 from behind. Once the Mosque was taken without incident it was joined by HQ and No.3 Company, before proceeding onwards to the far right right of the Hill (area of the water-tower). It was here that it ran into the German MG Nests covering the Halte from the Hill, Sgt Sumner taking the German positions from behind and turning the Guns on the rest of the German Defenders. For this action he was awarded the MM.

 

Looking towards point 220 (again down a clearance line) from the unmarked peak. This area was the best preserved with scattered Mess-tins, shell craters and Slit Trenches. It was towards the unmarked peak that the rest of No.1 Company advanced on the night of the 22nd, running into the first machine Gun posts which it quickly dispacthed before moving eastwards. It was on Point 220, after the relief of the Coldstream by british Forces during the morning of the 23rd, that "C" and "D" Companies of the 1/18th found themselves bogged down when the 1./69 Panzergrenadiers counterattacked, encircled "A" Company as it advanced towards point 190, the German Machine Gun Company taking up machine gun positions on the unmarked peak and preventing "C" Company from advancing to relieve A Company.

 

Coming down from the unmarked peak onto the 'saddle' between this position and Point 190 (visible at the back).

It is this area that I consider the most important area of LONGSTOP as, although the first battle of the hill was mainly fought around 190, it was this area that consequently proved the most decisive. The going here is surprisingly easy, is its mostly rock-outcrop free and very exposed, the clearance line along the ridge enablin good progress. We covered the distance between the unmarked peak and point 190 in about six minutes at a slow pace.

Most importantly is that Djebel El Rhar (left of the above shot) is not visible from this point. It is concealed behind Point 190. What is visible is the small hill to the west of Rhar, which appears seperately. When No.1 Company climbed Longstop on the 22nd it was late in the evening and raining heavily, the clouds concealling the moon. Rhar is only visible from the forward slopes of 190 and was only recognized by the Coldstream on the 24th when they returned to re-take Point 190 from the enemy.

To the right of this image (indicated but out of shot as it is covered in trees) is the Quarry: An old Cutting into the hill where Coldstream Foward Headquarters was based after the second Attack. It at this location that Lt.Colonel Stewart Brown, one of the last Guardsmen on Longstop at the time, was shot in the thigh as he retreated from from the hill. He was awarded the DSO for his actions on LONGSTOP.

 

Point 190 looking from the west. This shot accurately described how rocky the ground is on Longstop. Visible are the remains of Sangars, many shell craters and 'coffin like' slit trenches- now just scrapes in the rock, and probably not far off their original size due to the difficulty in digging in.

It was here on the night of the 22nd/Morning of the 23rd that Captain Paddy Chichester was fatally wounded, leaving the young Lt.Philips in charge. It was also here that Lt.Philips was winded by a close mortar shell, and wounded again later on the 25th.

On the morning of the 22nd, Lt.Phiips met with Sgt.Callaghan (killed 25th Dec), crawling under fire to the forward slopes to try and assertain why one of his platoons was taking casualties whilst being under cover. The Lt. "straining his eyes in the darkness" to try and make out where the rifle flashes were coming from. It was supposed at the time that the fire might be coming from higher ground, although (as he would later tell me) where this could be from was not known. As we now now, this fire was coming from Djebel Rhar.

 

Djebel Rhar (point 243). The Photograph being taken from the eastern slopes of Point 190, looking north.

This Photograph is perhaps the most meaningful to me as a researcher of the 2nd Bn. Although it is hard to make out the scale involved, Rhar is Absolutely Massive and seemed much larger then I expected. Even greater a surprise was the size, and depth of the gourge between the two hills.

Despite its size, Just like the Coldstream Guards, I never saw Rhar until I was atop pt. 190, and I had the advantage of approaching the hill from the direction of the Halte. It is huge, and surprisingly is completely hidden from both directions. In 1943 brigadier Copland-Griffiths climbed Grenadier Hill to the south of Medjez with representatives from the Coldstream and 1/18th in order to get a lie of the land. No one could see Rhar from this angle, the distance being too far combined with difficulties surrounding the angle and heght of Grenadier Hill.

It was in the slopes between this feature that the 1/18th were massacred as they tried to re-take Point 190, which was given up by the US Company in favour of a rear slope defense on the morning of the 23rd due to the Commanders belief that the Coldstream Position was not secure. It took 190 succesfully but upon advancing was cut off from the rest of the battalion by 1./69 attacking from Rhar and the Halte.

In the photograh see how Rhar has a less-steep incline then Longstop, making it actually higher then Longstop in many places. Also, observe how tall Rhar is to the left of the picture. It may well be that Rhar is actually height then the height of 243 meters indicated on the original ww2 maps, although wheher or not this i cannot say. Point 243 is marked as being on the easternmost side of Rharl, which you can see is actually the lowest point of the feature. I am currently undecided as to whether or not this is because it marks Rhars lowest point (leaving the heighest unmarked), or if it is there because the text "RHAR" covers the highest point and the height has been moved to the east.

• Captain Yarock of "A" Company reported being surprised by germans in Caves. I found no evidence of caves on Longstop, but lots of rocky outcrops. You cannot see it from this direction but Rhar has an iron mine somewhere on its slope which the German defenders (then the 6./75 Regiment) were able to shelter in during the british and american bombardment (V Corps engineers later falsely believing that The german defenders had tunneled through the hill as oart of the defences). I do wonder if "A" Company actually reached Rhar before being cut off.
• The distance between the hills was too great for Company level and even the Battalions 3" mortars when they were brought up on the 24th.
• I believe the makeup (it is mostly iron) and shape of the hill contriubuted to the Radio difficulties experienced by No.1 Company on the 22nd. During the morning of the 23rd it had to rely on runners.

 

Cool trip

I will be in Tunisia as well in about one week from now.

 

The Eastern Plateau of LONGSTOP, overlooking the Halte. Taken looking east.

Here is the flat exposed portion of the hill, it was the furthest point east reached By No.1 Company and also represents the end of my LONGSTOP tour. With its rocky protrusions It is the most photogenic part of the hill but perhaps the least significant for the Coldstream. Just like in 1942 it was now raining heavily forcing me to retreat quickly back the way I had come.

It was here that No.3 Company withdrew on the morning of the 25th under intense fire from Rhar to join No.1 Company on Point 190, but on the 23rd December No.1 Company only had one platoon this far forward, the area being given up when the 1/18th rightly or wrongly refused to take over their advance positions.

From here the hill overlooks the LONGSTOP GAP and commands the entire valley. En route to this area I found small concrete blocks embedded into the rocks, I left unsure whether these were point markers (which I doubt as it was not the heighest point) or for german gun emplacements.

I came away from the visit with a much better underdstanding of the lie of the land and perhaps a greater appreciation for the work of No.2 Company, who on the 24th/25th acted as porters to the other three Companies on LONGSTOP. Their tireless working bringing up food, ammunition, christmas meals and even letters, as well as taking down the wounded, kept the 2nd Battalion in the battle for perhaps longer then it should have... and ironically gave LONGSTOP its german name of Christmas Hill... not because it was captured on christmas day (by the I./69) but because it was covered in the Coldstreamers supplies and presents from home.

In all, Longstop is a beautiful place to visit. It was utterly silent atop the ridge, save for the sound of the rain, the hundreds of birds that now call the hill hope and occasional wind in the trees.

I would totally reccomend it to anyone visiting Tunis.

 

Excellent report...hope to get there again this/next year. And climbing shoes will definitely again be the order of the day

best,

 

I went to Tunisia a couple of years ago with Mrs Roxy. No military tourism, but did visit El Ghem etc. Watch out for the sanitation; whilst they are trying, IMHO, the Tunisians have a way to go before they reach 'Western' levels of sanitation - Mrs Roxy came home with Shigella Dysentery!

Have a great trip!

Roxy