Churchill Mk III Tank - British Army, 145 (Duke of Wellington's) Regiment RAC, Tunisia 1943

On May 1, the 120-mile Allied front ran roughly from Enfidaville northwestward to Pont-du-Fahs and then northward to the coast about 18 miles west of Bizerte. The British Eighth Army was on the right, French units on the right centre, the British First Army on the left centre, and the United States 2d Corps on the left in the coastal strip. The main attack, by the First Army and the 2d Corps, began on May 4, the British drive being directed on Tunis and the American drive on Bizerte. A powerful force of aircraft supported the assaulting troops and the attack was preceded by a heavy artillery bombardment. Although the Axis troops fought with great determination, by May 6 the defense had cracked, and on the following day American and British troops entered Bizerte and Tunis, respectively. Confused fighting occurred from May 7 to May 12, but the British succeeded in clearing the Cape Bon Peninsula, where it had been thought that the Axis troops might make a last stand. On May 13, all Axis forces laid down their arms in surrender. About 240,000 prisoners were taken, including 125,000 Germans. Col. Gen. Dietloff Jurgen von Arnim, the German commander in Tunis, was among those captured. Field Marshal Rommel escaped. This final push began in April of 1943 when the North Irish Horse and 142 Regiment RAC, the 21 Tank Brigade RTR, 48 RTR and 145 (Duke of Wellington's) Regiment RAC supported the infantry divisions surge through the Medjerda Valley east of Medjez el Bab to penetrate the Axis forces now cornered behind the mountain defences in Tunis. The Duke's' used a tigerstripe pattern to break up their outlines and in the junior regiment of the 21 Tank Brigade all insignia would have been obscured apart from the blue 'C' on the side of the turret bin.