Despite local losses this line did, in fact, hold and as the mountains absorbed the Allied strength, so more and more German troops could be transferred to the central sector. Army group intelligence appreciations located an iron ring around the Axis armies made up of 1 French and 3 American divisions on the extreme northern sector and to the west of Mateur,
5 British divisions in the Medjez el Bab area, 2 British and 2 American divisions in the Pont du Fahs region, a French Corps south of that place, and 6 British or Imperial divisions, as well as 2 brigades situated along the Enfidaville line. Of this great force no less than 7 were armoured divisions and when Montgomery moved part of his army from Enfidaville to Medjez el Bab the British had poised for battle in this sector, 2 armoured divisions and 2 armoured brigades to spearhead an attack which would be followed by 5 infantry divisions.
The panzer regiment of 21st Panzer Division was moved north and shortly thereafter followed all the anti-tank weapons which could be spared. The 15th Panzer Division moved its panzer regiment towards the central sector and located the main of division to the west of Tunis, ready to meet a deep Allied thrust.
Throughout April the Allied attacks continued, growing in frequency and intensity. From north to south small actions flared along the battle front as new units were 'blooded' in battle. But this was sometimes a 'bloody' affair for the attackers and in the battles around Peter's Corner, a bend in the Medjez-Tunis road, infantry battalions of 4th British Division lost heavily battling against the skilful, battle-hardened, and unshaken veterans of Koch's 5th Para Regiment and the Hermann Goering Division.
It is undeniable that under this Allied pressure a certain confusion existed as units moved, dug in, and received orders to move again. One officer wrote:
'Here the situation changes hourly. An order is followed by a counter-order. Since 11th (April) the fighting has entered its final stages and the task of maintaining the bridgehead is really only a question of time. With men alone we could hold the front b'ut materially we are in an inferior position. The Luftwaffe cannot supply us and that which comes by sea is a drop in the ocean ... we are on the defensive because we cannot fight tanks with the bodies of men and with shot guns. Yesterday Battle Group Wolff had one 7.5cm pak and a 5cm pak. The latter did not work.'
The pattern of Allied tactics was now to secure jump-off points for the final assault and the German units were switched from one threatened sector to another. One battle group commander reported that his unit had withdrawn 50 miles without loss and that the sector he was presently holding was seven miles wide. Of another battle group commander it was said that he had not slept for four days. In the north 334th Division and the Barenthin Regiment fought desperately to deny Hill 609 to the Americans but the pressure was too great and by the end of April American troops had attained the last commanding height west of Mateur. In the north ManteuffeFs Division slowly gave ground as it carried out a fighting withdrawal on Bizerta and 962nd Regiment of 999th Division, moving back to new positions, turned at bay to face the Allied units which were pressing close upon it. A report written by Sergeant Scharwachter of No 5 Company 962nd Regiment, who was wounded and flown back to Germany, gives details of the fighting:
'American troops whose lines lay between one and five miles distant from our own crossed a mine-field in 'no man's land' to begin their attack on 25 April. They went to ground under our fire but under a well co-ordinated barrage they soon worked their way to within hand grenade range. My platoon covered the withdrawal of our battalion to higher ground and was heavily engaged. We had heavy losses because my men had had no recent combat experience. One 42-year-old man who had been convicted of treason and who had helped to beat back the American assaults said to me, "Sergeant, I don't care what happens now. I have redeemed my honour" and another man stood up in his slit trench firing a machine gun from the hip and driving back the advancing Americans until he was wounded.'
But even fighting such actions they could not hold back the Allied drive and Mateur was occupied by 3 May. It was now clear that, however desperately Army Group shuffled its available forces, these were neither sufficient in number, nor logistically capable of withstanding the anticipated blow. Units were being overrun by the advancing Allies. Colonel Wolff reported on one unit of his division which was overtaken by the speed of the Allied drive: 'Three hundred men were isolated behind the enemy lines but now have fought their way back to us. Some were missing for more than 10 days. One group is reported to be still free and is being fed by Arabs. They are still hoping to break through to us.'
Army group echeloned its effectives in depth along the line which they expected the British attack to follow and had brought into the final battle a miscellaneous collection. Batteries of 20th Flak Division, whose principal task it had been to defend the Tunisian cities from air raid, found themselves grouped to the south-west of the capital preparing to fight in a ground role and the last 30 vehicles of 10th Panzer were moved from the Medjerda river line and placed as a deep reserve in the Massicault area.
Contemporary diaries, letters, and reports show that in those last anxious days the morale of the front line soldier remained high. Colonel Wolff, describing the military situation in the Pont du Fahs area, finished one letter 'so we live in our little kingdom and only through the radio do we know what is happening in the outside world and in Tunisia. The flies pester us but we are happy.'
There was no breakdown in discipline even at the end and in 999th Penal Division the only case of military justice being exercised was in the execution of five men for trying to kill an NCO. The officers' letters are full of praise for the spirit of their men; 'As is to be expected the spirit of the men in the front line is excellent but that of rear echelon units is less so. In Tunis town there are many drunken soldiers to be seen and lack of proper salutes indicates a certain slackness.' But, if contemporary accounts stress the high morale, very few of the many acts of heroism were detailed — even fewer received recognition. It is to be hoped that some staff officer at army headquarters would have found time to accede to the request of one regimental officer who, proud of the way in which his company of military criminals had fought, made application that the men of 999th Division who had been active in the fighting should have their military honour restored to them before the campaign ended. In this he was asking for recognition which the bravery of some of the men of his unit had already gained for themselves in the award of Iron Crosses.
On 5 May an artillery and air bombardment of unparalleled ferocity crashed down upon the German positions. Breaches made in their lines were sealed by desperate attacks put in by the last remaining vehicles of 15th Panzer and by anti-tank units. One unnamed staff captain reported that one unit of his command in the Pichon area 'fired the anti-tank guns to the last round and were then rolled over by American tanks. The infantry fought their way out but on entering positions believed to be held by Italians found these to be occupied by Goums. By nightfall we had only 25 men left although stragglers have been coming in.' Through the breaches which the artillery and air bombardment had made, poured a flood of Allied armour and infantry whose long pent-up energy cast aside any counter-attacks which Army Group could still launch.
By the evening of 6 May, Massicault had fallen and the word was spread to commanders of German units that Tunis was to be evacuated by 17.00hrs on 7th. Early in the morning of that day the first evacuations began to take place although outwardly the city seemed calm and German soldiers still went about their usual business. Then in the drizzle which had set in towards 14.00hrs armoured cars of llth Hussars or the Derbyshire Yeomanry - the point is debated still - entered Tunis as the first British troops. In the north Bizerta fell to the Americans on the same day. Army Group Africa had been split in two and 5th Panzer Army swung back to the north while 1st Panzer Army sought to establish a firm line south-west of Tunis.