On arrival, 1st Armd Division went into reserve for the Battle of the Mareth Line, beginning on 20/21 March. When XXX Corps' frontal attack was held up, 1st Armd Division was sent with X Corps at 19.30 on 23 March to join New Zealand Corps on a long flanking move, which became 'a first rate tangle' in front of the Tebaga Gap. The defile was blocked by 21st Panzer Division. A new attack (Operation Supercharge II) was quickly planned: on the night of 25/26 March 1st Armd made a fast approach march in moonlight, passed through 2nd New Zealand Division and 8th Armd Bde, which had broken the front line, and went straight into action in the afternoon. With a sandstorm blowing into the enemy's eyes, the division blasted its way through the defile and continued towards El Hamma during the following night. At dawn on 27 March its tanks contacted a hastily-organised German anti-tank gun screen and took up hull-down positions. Meanwhile, 15th Panzer Division attempted to attack the rear of the division's column, but it was quickly repulsed by the 17-pdrs of 76th (RWF) A/T Rgt. (It is also reported that the regiment successfully used its Deacons against Panzer IIIs at El Hamma.) There was now a short stalemate, but the Battle of Mareth was over and the enemy were pulling back to their next defensive position at Wadi Akarit. On 29 March 1st Armd Division began probing these defences, and on the evening of 5 April it made a demonstration while 4th Indian Infantry Division seized the heights during the night. Otherwise the division played little part in the Battle of Wadi Akarit.