Battle of the Mareth Line the only mobile infantry groups available. Battle of the Mareth Line The Battle of the Mareth Line or the Battle of Mareth was an attack in the Second World War by the British Eighth Army (General Bernard Montgomery) in Tunisia, against the Mareth Line held by the Italo-German 1st Army (General Giovanni Messe). It was the first big operation by the Eighth Army since the Second Battle of El Alamein months previously. On 19 March 1943, Operation Pugilist, the first British attack, established a bridgehead but a break-out attempt was defeated by Axis counter-attacks. Pugilist established an alternative route of
Royal Italian Army during World War II Maghreb, the Italian Royal Army occupied Corsica and the French Provence up to the Rhone river. This was the last military expansion of Italy. The Battle of El Alamein, lasting from July to November 1942, was the turning point of the war for the Italian and British Army. As Churchill wrote in his Memories: "...before El Alamein we had only defeats, after El Alamein we had only victories...". The Italian Royal Army fought this battle in a way that can be summarized by the sacrifice of the Division Folgore: the historian Renzo De Felice wrote that "...of the 5.000 "Folgore"