Mareth Museum

Proud to be Tunisian

beautiful place to visit and to discover nice place to visit and discover

Interesting, it is worth 👍👍

A museum dating to the World War II era has many weapons used at their time Worth a visit Entry and photography for a fee

The defensive line of Mareth is located in southern Tunisia in the region of Mareth-Toujane, governorate of Gabes. This line played an important role in the running of operations during the Campaign of Tunisia: November 1942-May 1943. French forces built this defensive line between 1936 and 1940 in response to a possible attack by the Italian forces on Tunisia from Libya, then an Italian colony. The defensive line of Mareth, called "Desert Maginot Line" stretches for 45 Km and connects the sea to the Matmata Mountains. It is based on the Oued Zigzaou. The fortifications of this line include 40 infantry casemates, 8 large artillery casemates, 15 command posts and 28 points of support. These concrete works were reinforced by anti-tank guns and anti-aircraft guns. In addition to these casemates, anti-tank ditches were dug, barbed wire installed and minefields completed. In the aftermath of the French defeat in June 1940, after the German occupation of French territory and the signing of a Franco-German and Franco-Italian armistice treaty, a German-Italian technical commission proceeded to demilitarize the defensive line of Mareth. Following their defeat against the 8th British army commanded by General Montgomery, on 4 October 1942 at the Battle of El Alamein, German-Italian forces commanded by Marshal Rommel began their withdrawal to Tunisia through Tripolitania. The Axis High Command then ordered the rearming and strengthening of Mareth's defensive line to allow Rommel's forces to delay the British 8th Army's push. This rearmament operation was carried out between November 1942 and March 1943. Seven thousand soldiers and civilians were mobilized for this operation which made it possible to make 25 km of anti-tank ditches, to arrange the beds and the banks of western Zigzaou and its tributaries, to lay 100 km of barbed wire, 10000 anti-tank mines and 70000 anti-personnel mines. Thanks to the rearming of its defensive positions and their reinforcement by these various obstacles, the Mareth line has become a difficult obstacle to overcome, especially during floods in Wadi Zigzaou. It was in March 1943 that the battle of Mareth took place. It coincided with the pressure exerted at the center and north of Tunisia by the Allied forces, commanded by General Anderson on the Axis forces commanded by General Von Arnim, as well as the beginning of maritime supremacy and Allied forces in the Mediterranean basin. The forces present during this battle were of the order of 240000 men including 160000 allied forces and 76000 Axis forces. The Allied forces were armed with 750 tanks, 700 field artillery pieces, 1000 anti-tank guns, 535 aircraft, in addition to the warships. As for the Axis forces, they had only 150 tanks, 450 pieces of artillery, 500 anti-tank guns and 123 planes. The Battle of Mareth began on March 16, 1943 when the VIIIth Army launched an attack on the defensive line of Mareth along 2 axes: the 1st axis along the coastal region between Mareth and the coast, the 2nd consists of a bypass around the Tunisian Dahar plateau. The battle raged during the days of March 20 and 21, 1943 when the British VIIIth Army attempted to break through the Zigzaou wadi; however, she had met with fierce resistance from the Axis forces commanded by General Messe. This battle ended on March 28, 1943 after the success of the British forces in the bypass operation through the El Hamma-Tebaga gap which forced the Axis forces to abandon their defensive positions on the line. from Mareth and retreat to the North. Read 40483 times