If this attack failed to break the Axis lines, then XXX Corps would attack south-west from its salient west of El Alamein and try and get into the enemy rear area. This would give Auchinleck enough confidence to order a counterattack on the following day. Before Alamein, it seems as if the British commanders in the Western Desert would never find a way to defeat the Desert Fox, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. In August 1942, General … The British Commonwealth forces, under General Claude John Eyre Auchinleck, emerged victorious in the battle, having stopped the Afrika Korps under Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in Egypt. SANDF Documentation Centre). The New Zealanders managed to fight their way to El Mreir, but this only meant that they were isolated on the Axis side of the minefields. On 11 July the Australians took the western end of Tell el Eisa, and then raided towards Deir el Abyad, ten miles to the south. The perception already existed that the latter had an irresponsible attitude towards human losses. Loading... Unsubscribe from Lego World War 2 Stop Motion? The 50th Division had a more difficult task, and had to break out west, through the Italian front line, turn south to get past Bir Hacheim and then east to head for the Egyptian frontier. The second came on 8 August, when Auchinleck turned down the offer of the new Middle East command as it then stood. Thus, Auchinleck's efforts were frustrated. Archival Sources: SANDF Documentation Services: Divisional Documents (Div Docs) 68, File 64: Operational Report, 1 st SA Division, El Alamein Defensive Battle, 29 June to 30 September 1942. South African losses on this day entailed nine dead and 42 wounded (Roll of Honour, 19391945; Div Docs 105, File 1 SAD/A2/ 2: Battle Casualties, 13 July 1942). It marked the beginning of the end for the Axis in North Africa. The task facing the South Africans was made much easier by events to the south-west of their positions. However, as soon as the forces made contact, the South Africans beat off several attacks with ease. The Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 11 November 1942) was a battle of the Second World War that took place near the Egyptian railway halt of El Alamein.The First Battle of El Alamein and the Battle of Alam el Halfa had prevented the Axis from advancing further into Egypt.. The South African field artillery also had only sixty 25-pounder guns available for the coming battle (Divisional Documents 88, File 1 Div 81/A2, Strengths; June-October 1942). However, Rommel's forces had also been weakened by the continuous fighting since the start of the offensive at Gazala on 26 May. Only twenty Grant medium tanks could match the German forces in a armoured showdown (Barnett, 1983, pp 189-99). Apart from the damage to the British tanks, no losses were suffered (C L de W du Toit: Herinneringe, III, pp 8-9). This would result in the battle of Alam Halfa (31 August-7 September), but for the moment Rommel had to go onto the defensive. On 26 May Rommel launched an attack on this line (battle of Gazala, 26 May-14 June 1942). Quote Reply Topic: First, second and third Battle OF El Alamein Posted: 26 Jun 2013 at 15:48: First battle 1-27 July 1942-After victory at Battle of Gazala ,Rommel advance toward Egypt was checked by General Auchinleck. By 28 July, Auchinleck decided that he would have to postpone the intended destruction of Panzerarmee Afrika. Having been badly defeated by Axis forces at Gazala in June 1942, the British Eighth Army retreated east into Egypt and assumed a defensive position near El Alamein. The reason for this was that without the oil of the Persian Gulf and the use of the Suez Canal, its war effort would be crippled (Hancock, 1968, pp 366-7). (Photo: By courtesy, SANDF Documentation Centre). The Middle East Defence Committee asked for advice, and on 12 July Churchill replied that the only way that they would be able to do that would be by 'defeating or destroying General Rommel and driving him to at least a safe distance'. Prasad, B (ed), Official History of the Indian Armed Forces in the Second World War, 1939-1945. 90th Light Division would advance on the Korps left flank. Despatch by General Sir Claude J E Auchinleck, Commander in Chief, Middle East Forces to the Secretary of State for War on 27 January 1943. By last light on 1 July, Rommel's forces had not progressed further east than Deir el Shein and the Eighth Army was still in control of the situation (Playfair, 1960, p 341). The one thing that Moorehead missed was the Battle of El Alamein. By holding on to the El Alamein Box, the pivot of the El Alamein line was kept intact at a critical stage when the British armour was still on its way from Mersa Matruh to El Alamein. UWH 177, File 22926/1: War Diaries Deutches Afrika "Korps, June and July 1942. There was some concern that the Russians wouldn't defend the Caucasus, as an advance in that area would take the Germans further away from Moscow, and the British began to consider the possibility that they would need to form an army to reinforce Persia. The danger to the … The First Battle of El Alamein took place near the El Alamein train station almost by the sea, between 1 and 27 July 1942. During these attacks, the South Africans played mainly a supportive role. Auchinleck thought it might be the start of a German withdrawal from their salient, and ordered both corps to be ready for a pursuit. Help - F.A.Q. It was a battle that lasted 27 days and prevented Afrika Korps from reaching Cairo. The advance would be supported by XIII Corps coming from the south. Next was the 7th Motorised Brigade. He then went back and covered it up until the moment that Churchill sacked the commanders in Egypt … He then turned south to eliminate the Bir Hacheim Box, at the southern end of the line, which was abandoned on the night of 10-11 June. Until 25 June the British had been intending to defend the Mersa Matruh position, but on that day General Auchinleck, the commander-in-chief in the Middle East, decided to remove General Ritchie and take over command of the army in person. 105, File 1 SAD/A2/2, Battle Casualties, 2 July 1942). British artillery fire plan, Northern Sector. On 5 July, Lieutenant-General W H C Ramsden replaced Norrie as the corps commander and the 79th British Anti-Tank Regiment was detached to the South Africans (WD 347, File A3/ME 37: War Diary, 1st SA Division HQ, 5 July 1942). Fortuna… Therefore, the army headquarters issued instructions to the corps commanders to prepare to defend their positions, bringing the 1st Battle of El Alamein to an end (Playfair, 1960, p 359). Too little time to prepare, movement over unknown terrain, and insufficient reconnaissance, doomed it from the start. The Afrika Korps commander believed this to be the start of a major attack, and summoned 21 Panzer to help. However Rommel had begun to cover his front with a dense minefield, mainly using mines taken from the British lines around Mersa Matruh. 1-4 July 1942 Theatre: North Africa Area: Around the Egyptian town of El Alamein, 100km (60 miles) west of Alexandria. Between them the Germans and Italians had 500 guns, but only 29 of the precious 88mms. Realising what was at stake, Pienaar urged him to move his tanks, but both the tank commander and Ramsden wasted even more time because they wanted to personally inspect the breaches, mistrusting Pienaar. However, during this battle, the British commander in the Middle East and of the Eighth Army, General C J E Auchinleck, succeeded in stopping the advance of Rommel's forces and laid the foundation for his later defeat. It was part of the Western Desert Campaign.The Field Marshal Commander Erwin Rommel led the … The position was also meant to include an east-west line that ran back from the main line, to protect Tobruk, but this part of the line hadn't been completed. The attack was cancelled at 1000 hours, ending the first battle of El Alamein. He insisted that Rommel prepare for one final attack on the British lines, to be carried out after reinforcements had arrived. Mersa Matruh was defended by XIII Corps, which had escaped from Gazala in better condition, and X Corps. The tanks advanced too early and could not be supported by the South African artillery. WD 358, File A6/ME 49: War Diary 1 st South African Brigade Headquarters. At first this gamble appeared to be failing, as Rommel's advance ran out of steam and he ended up apparently trapped on the wrong side of the Gazala Line, but the British failed to take advantage of a good chance to defeat him. 90th Light and the Afrika Korps were to push to the coast, while Ariete and Triestewere to attack south to pin down XIII Corps. The Union of South Africa entered the Second World War on 6 September 1939. Rommel, however, knew that he had by this point lost the chance for a quick dash to the Delta, and the high rates of attrition meant that he was reluctant to pursue further attacks. The danger to the Eighth Army had not diminished completely. The attack began at 0300 hours on 26 July, but soon got bogged down, and any gains were taken back by counterattacks. When South African ex-servicemen annually commemorate the last named event, they refer to the battle conducted during October and November 1942. 1st Armoured Division was on the left flank of the New Zealanders, and the 22nd Armoured Brigade was provide support for the attack. His biggest problem, however, was to keep this meagre force supplied along a long line of communication. War Diaries(WD) 343, File C28/33: War Diary 1st South African Division Administrative Headquarters. The importance of the South African contribution was that it was part of a team effort. First Battle of El Alamein (1-27 July 1942) by David Aldea March 15, 2010. written by David Aldea March 15, 2010. WD 372, File A 15/ME 63: War Diary 1 st Field Regiment South African Artillery. Both sides were now exhausted, but the British were able to recover quicker than Rommel. The division executed a very important function on 1 July, but their losses would have been higher without the action of the brave men of the 18th Indian Brigade at Deir el Shein. The relief didn’t got as planned – the South Africans left before Ackcol arrived, and a party from the 90th Light Division had to be forced out of the position. (Source: P Young (ed) Atlas of the Second World War, p 47). (Source: S Bidwell, Gunners at War.). The Eighth Army on the defensive, 28 July 1942. This small battle cost them 18 of their 55 tanks, far too high a cost for the limited success. The New Zealanders took 1,600 prisoners, but lost 1,500 men and a great deal of their trust in the British armour. Churchill suggested that Brooke take over the post, while Brooke and Auchinleck suggested appointing General Bernard Montgomery. Neither attack achieved much. On 15 August he resigned as C-in-C Middle East and commander of the Eighth Army, and returned to the Indian Army (Alexander and Montgomery were already in Egypt by that date). Supplement to The London Gazette, 13 January 1948. A Biography of Field-Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck (London, 1959). What is less well known is that South African forces played a more important role in the so-called First Battle of El Alamein, 1-30 July 1942, a battle that could have cost the British Empire the war in North Africa. (Playfair, 1960, p 341). The initiative now passed to the British. They did not have adequate anti-tank guns and the accuracy of the German artillery support cut the telephone cables of the South Africans, making field artillery support difficult. Also, from Tobruk eastward the Axis supply columns were within striking distance of the Royal and South African Air Forces deployed in the Nile Delta (Van Creveld, 1977, pp 194-7). Eventually Auchinleck was drawn into the argument during the night of 2/3 July and Pienaar got his way (Playfair, 1960, p 343). Having been driven east by Axis forces in 1942, the British had established a strong defensive line at El Alamein, Egypt. Battles of El-Alamein, (1–27 July 1942, 23 October—11 November 1942), World War II events. On the same day the Australians attacked towards Miteiriya, on the southern side of their salient on the coast, and once again defeated part of the Sabratha division, before withdrawing to their original positions. He ordered his tanks north and he was then helped by nature. (Photo: by courtesy, Luckily, Ramsden realised his mistake and withdrew the force. Essame, H, 'First Alamein' in War Monthly, 22, January 1976. General Claude Auchinleck XIII Corps (General Gott) was posted on the southern half of the line. A series of British counterattacks also achieved little, and the battle ended as a stalemate. Thus, in total, the division had only between 3 000 and 4 000 men available. In the first Battle of El Alamein, beginning July 1st, 1942, German General Erwin Rommel tried in vain to attack the Allied defensive positions with his Afrika Corps (and Italian allies), yielding tremendous losses to his army forces in turn. Initially, a sandstorm aided the 90th Light Division in getting quite close to the El Alamein Box without being detected. This would have been the right time to launch the XXX Corps attack in the north, but General Morshead, commander of the 9th Australian Division, objected to his role, on the grounds that his men were exhausted. They repeated the exercise on 17 July, and took a large number of Italian prisoners. Rommel demanded reinforcements, supplies, tanks, 88mm guns, ammo and petrol. The eventual British counterattack, on 5 June, was so badly handled that Rommel was able to launch his own counterattack later on the same day. The tactical headquarters of the Eighth Army was situated to the east of this position on the Alam el Haifa Ridge (Dorman O'Gowan, 1967, p 1 062). Based on this experience, Montgomery, Auchinleck's replacement as commander of the Eighth Army, could later find suitable solutions to defeat Rommel at El Alamein (Dorman O'Gowan, 1967, pp 1 072-5). Also, if they could not hold on to their positions, the rest of the division would be enveloped from the south. However, Auchinleck's attack pre-empted this action, forcing Rommel to rush his German forces to the north, where they launched several counterattacks against the Australians, preventing them from cutting his lines of communication, but failing to dislodge them from Tell el Eisa (Playfair, 1960, p 341). Rommel launched a counterattack, and by the late afternoon had recaptured Point 63. Home page. His academic qualifications include the B Mil, University of Stellenbosch, 1976; BA Hons, Strategic Studies, UN/SA, 1981; Hons B Mil, Military History, University of Stellenbosch, 1984; MA, Cum Laude, History, University of Stellenbosch, 1988; and PHD, History, University of the Orange Free State, 1994. The 4th New Zealand Brigade had the hardest task, advancing north-west to Point 63. Richards, D and H St George Saunders, Royal Air Force, 1939-1945, Volume II. Rommel decided to sent the Afrika Korps east towards Alam el Onsol, to the south-east of El Alamein, to cut the coast road. All they could offer in the short term were the Ramcke and Folgore parachute brigades, which had been preparing for the invasion of Malta (Operation Hercules). In the Nile Delta, 10 Corps was deployed in depth. He hinted that the South Africans had played far too passive a role in the battle and should be more directly involved in supporting the Australians. 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