Battle of El Guettar

Battle of El Guettar
	Part of the Tunisian campaign of World War II
	; An American soldier hands out cigarettes to captured Bersaglieri of the 131st Armored Division "Centauro" near El Guettar in March 1943.
Date	23 March – 3 April 1943
Location	El Guettar, Tunisia
Result	Indecisive
Belligerents
United States	Germany; Italy
Commanders and leaders
George S. Patton	Jürgen von Arnim; Giovanni Messe
Units involved
II Corps 1st Infantry Division; 9th Infantry Division;	5th Panzer Army 10th Panzer Division; 21st Panzer Division; 1st Army 131st Armored Division "Centauro";
Strength
31 tanks	57 tanks
Casualties and losses
22 tanks lost; 4 halftracks lost; 4,000–5,000 killed or wounded	37 tanks lost; 4,000–6,000 killed or wounded in 3 weeks

The Battle of El Guettar took place from 23 March – 3 April 1943, in south-central Tunisia during the Tunisia Campaign of World War II. It was fought by elements of the Army Group Africa under General Hans-Jürgen von Arnim, along with Italian First Army under General Giovanni Messe, against the U.S. II Corps under Lieutenant General George Patton. It was the first battle in which U.S. forces were able to defeat the experienced German tank units, but the followup to the battle was inconclusive.