From Roosevelt and Churchill’s Strategy Talks to Rommel’s Defeat at Kasserine
About This Footage
Reel 5 of Tunisian Victory (1944) portrays the winter of 1942–1943 in Tunisia, balancing frontline hardships with pivotal moments in Allied leadership. Soldiers celebrated Christmas in the Dorsal Mountains with mail from home, Red Cross aid for children, and visits from General Dwight Eisenhower. In January 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt reviewed U.S. troops, followed by Winston Churchill’s arrival for the Casablanca Conference, where Allied leaders—including Generals de Gaulle, Giraud, Eisenhower, and Montgomery—coordinated strategy for North Africa and beyond. The reel then shifts to the battlefield, where Rommel launched a major offensive through the Kasserine Pass, threatening Allied supply lines at Tebessa. After fierce fighting, Eisenhower’s forces counterattacked, halting the German advance and regaining the pass. British forces soon blunted Rommel’s armor with the devastating 17-pounder anti-tank gun, destroying more than 50 Tiger tanks. Animated maps and striking bomber footage underscore Eisenhower’s final strategy, as Allied airpower and ground coordination positioned the Allies for ultimate victory in Tunisia.
Part of this Complete Film
Tunisian Victory (1944): Allied Triumph in the North Africa Campaign