in heavy fighting against the tank-led attacks by the Americans coming from Algeria at Medjez El Bab. Those were beaten back until the superior enemy pressure forced the regiment to give up the position on 25 November. The bulk of the Hermann Göring Division, still not fully organized, was despatched piecemeal to Tunisia in February–March 1943 forming a combat group numbering 7,000-11,000 thousand men under command of Colonel Joseph Schmid; who was promoted to Generalmajor shortly after. This Kampfgruppe Schmid was committed into battle dispersed and attached to various Army units, and they quickly earned a reputation for aggression in the attack and reliability under fire. Under the title of Division Hermann Göring, the combat group was commended in official Wehrmacht communiqués in April 1943 for their "exemplary fighting spirit and intrepid valour". When Axis forces surrendered on 12 May 1943, almost all of the remainder of the Kampfgruppe was taken into captivity, including its most experienced veterans. Some 400 Hermann Göring soldiers were killed in action in Tunisia. Sicily General Schmid and a few of his men escaped to mainland Italy, on Göring's express orders, before the surrender. These survivors would join the newly reformed division entitled Panzer-Division Hermann Göring. Generalmajor Schmid was awarded the Knight's Cross on 21 May 1944 for his leadership of the HG Kampfgruppe in Tunisia. The new division, meanwhile, was built around those scattered elements still working up in France, the Netherlands and Germany, which now gathered in the Naples area. Efforts to mould these troops into a cohesive fighting force went ahead at full speed, as the Germans expected an Allied invasion of Sicily. Over the next few weeks, HG troops would cross over to the island; this new extremely powerful armoured division being ready in June 1943, taking positions around Caltagirone. The divisional order of battle in Sicily was: Divisionsstab (divisional HQ) Panzer-Regiment "HG" (2 tank battalions, 1 assault gun battalion) Panzergrenadier-Regiment 1 "HG" (3 mechanized infantry battalions) Panzergrenadier-Regiment 2 "HG" (3 mechanized infantry battalions) Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung "HG" (armoured reconnaissance battalion) Flak-Regiment "HG" (2, later 3 battalions) Panzer-Artillerie-Regiment "HG" (3, later 4 battalions plus attachments) Panzer-Pionier-Abteilung "HG" (armoured engineers) Panzer-Nachrichten-Abteilung "HG" (armoured signals) Feldersatz-Battailon "HG" (replacement and training) Divisions-Kampfschule (combat school company) Nachschub-Abteilung "HG" (supply battalion) Instandsetzungs-Abteilung "HG" (repair workshop battalion) Verwaltungstruppe "HG" (administrative troops) Sanitäts-Abteilung "HG" (medical battalion) Operation Husky initiated on 10 July 1943, and saw the Hermann Göring and the