Battle of Wadi Akarit The Battle of Wadi Akarit ( code - named Operation Scipio ) was the successful Allied action on 6 and 7 April 1943 to dislodge Axis forces from their positions along the Wadi Akarit in Tunisia ( also known as the Akarit Line ) . At this point , known as the Gabès Gap , north of the towns of Gabès and El Hamma , there is a narrow land gap between the sea and impassable salt marshes . In a pitched battle , elements of the 51st ( Highland ) Infantry Division breached the defences and held a bridgehead , allowing the passage of their main force to roll - up the defences from the flanks . After determined , violent , but unsuccessful counter - attacks , the Axis forces withdrew and the Eighth Army continued their pursuit toward Tunis , until encountering heavily defended positions at Enfidaville . Background . Tunisia was strategically important as it allowed the Axis to challenge Allied efforts to route convoys through the Mediterranean , thus lengthening the supply lines between Britain and North America and the Indian Ocean . Their presence also threatened military actions against southern Europe and tied up Allied manpower . After the Mareth Line in southern Tunisia had been outflanked by the " left - hook " attack through the Tebaga Gap , Axis forces had managed to avoid being trapped and had withdrawn to the Wadi Akarit , north of Gabès . This position had been identified long before by Erwin Rommel as a preferred defensive position ; he had unsuccessfully argued with his superiors for a controlled withdrawal to it immediately after the Second Battle of El Alamein . He argued that it was the best opportunity for his forces to hold off the Eighth Army and thus prolong Axis presence in Africa : it had protected flanks and short supply routes to Sicily . He proposed that , with the British held off at Wadi Akarit and needing to bring forward men and materiel , all available troops in Tunisia could repulse the Allied First Army to the west before dealing a similar blow to Montgomery . The Gabès Gap was the last readily defensible position before the Eighth Army reached the Tunisian city of Sfax and could form a continuous front with Allied forces advancing from the west . The Italian First Army included the German Afrikakorps . German armoured units were used to strengthen the mass of Italian infantry , although the remnants of 15th Panzer Division ( ten tanks ) was the only armour immediately available ; but other units could be brought in from elsewhere in Tunisia . The battleground . The opposing forces faced each other along an east - west line , with the Mediterranean Sea in the east and the impassable salt marshes at Sebkret el Hamma ( the eastern extremity of the Chott el Djerid ) to the west . There was thus no option for a flanking action , as there had been at the Tebaga Gap nor to stretch the battlefield and thus disperse the defenders , as at El Alamein and subsequent battles . A frontal attack on prepared defences was unavoidable . From the east , the line of defence followed the Wadi Akarit for five miles , here impassable to armour , then a wider section of dry wadi , backed by a long hill , the Djebel er Roumana , itself the last of a line of high ground that forms the northern boundary of the Chott . The approaches to Djebel er Roumana were impeded by an anti - tank ditch and there were more defence works to the west , although the broken ground itself was a significant obstacle . The battle . Allied advance units had advanced through Oudref and reached the Wadi Akarit on 30 March , but limited their activity to patrols and probing the Axis defences . Three divisions would form the initial assault : 51st Highland Division on the right , 50th Division in the centre and the 4th Indian Division on the left . There was a concentrated artillery barrage . In the opening stages of crossing the minefield and anti - tank ditch under darkness , the 7th Bn of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders captured their objective . In the course of holding the bridgehead their commander Lt - Col Lorne MacLaine Campbell earned a Victoria Cross for continuing to inspire and direct his unit despite being wounded . Aftermath . At dawn on the following day , 6 April , it was found that the Axis forces had quietly withdrawn . The mobile 2nd New Zealand Division and 1st Armoured Division were released to pursue the withdrawing Italian and German troops . The pursuit crossed a coastal plain which changed from being open semi - desert to large olive groves which offered opportunities for ambush . There was , however , little resistance until close to Enfidaville , but prisoners , sometimes surprised to see Allied troops beyond the supposed front line , and large amounts of materiel ( including previously captured US supplies ) were taken . Neither pursuers nor pursued forced major actions , particularly if the opposition was too great , but at one point , the Greeks attached to the New Zealand Division attacked and destroyed a German tank . Although they had nothing but small arms , it ' s assumed that spare petrol cans had ignited . In this way , some 140 miles ( 226 kilometres ) north of Wadi Akarit were covered , including the towns of Sfax and Sousse . The Axis had chosen easily defensible positions north and west of Enfidaville which were not given up until the general surrender in north Africa .