Scenario Forty-Five

While the 16th Infantry Regiment bled on the slopes of Hill 482, its sister regiment, the 26th Infantry, had the task of clearing the northern section of Djebel el Mcheltat. There they faced a dominating height that allowed full visibility of the flat ground west of the Djebel el Mcheltat, and battle-hardened panzer grenadiers atop the heights of Ras ed Dekhla. The Americans went forward at 0600 and almost immediately came under intense small arms fire.

The 26th Infantry Regiment did better than the 16th Infantry on their right flank and managed to secure a lodgement on the Djebel el Mcheltat, but at a heavy cost. A dispatch from the battlefield described the fighting in four words: "This place is hell." Staff officers claimed that the 1st Infantry Division's commander, General Terry de la Mesa Allen, "fussed and fumed, lit one cigarette after another, (and) was beside himself" over the division's lack of progress.