Operation Ochsenkopf

Operation Ox Head/Unternehmen Ochsenkopf
Part of the Tunisia Campaign of the Second World War

Panzer VI (Tiger I) in Tunisia, 1943
Date26 February – 4 March 1943
Location
Northern Tunisia
37°03′00″N 09°14′00″E / 37.05000°N 9.23333°E / 37.05000; 9.23333
Result Allied victory
Belligerents
 United Kingdom
 Free France
Nazi Germany Germany
 Italy
Commanders and leaders
United Kingdom Kenneth Anderson
United Kingdom Charles Allfrey
Nazi Germany Jürgen von Arnim
Nazi Germany Rudolf Lang
Strength
United Kingdom V Corps Nazi Germany Korpsgruppe Weber
Casualties and losses
4,200 casualties (2,300 prisoners)
16 tanks
31 guns
40 vehicles
4,500 casualties (2,200 prisoners)
71 tanks
60 vehicles

Unternehmen Ochsenkopf (Operation Ox Head) also known as the Battle of Sidi Nsir and the Battle of Hunts Gap was an Axis offensive operation in Tunisia from 26 February to 4 March 1943, during the Tunisia Campaign of the Second World War. The offensive and a subsidiary operation Unternehmen Ausladung was intended to gain control of Medjez el Bab, Béja, El Aroussa, Djebel Abiod and a position known as Hunt's Gap, between the British First Army and the Axis Army Group Africa (Heeresgruppe Afrika/Gruppo d'Armate Africa). The offensive gained some ground, but none of the more ambitious objectives were achieved before the operation was called off due to increasing losses of infantry and tanks, particularly the heavy Tigers. Unternehmen Ochsenkopf was the last big Axis offensive by the 5th Panzer Army before the surrender of the Afrika Korps in May 1943.[1]

  1. ^ Windrow 1972, p. 23.