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First Battle of El Alamein
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The First Battle of El Alamein 1–27 July 1942 was a battle of the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War, fought between Axis forces commanded by Erwin Rommel, and Allied forces commanded by Claude Auchinleck. The battle halted the second (and final) advance by the Axis forces into Egypt, El Alamein being only 66 miles from Alexandria.
owing the defeat at the Battle of Gazala in June 1942, the Eighth Army had retreated from the Gazala line to Mersa Matruh, roughly 100 miles inside the Egyptian border.
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The First Battle of El Alamein 1–27 July 1942 was a battle of the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War, fought between Axis forces commanded by Erwin Rommel, and Allied forces commanded by Claude Auchinleck. The battle halted the second (and final) advance by the Axis forces into Egypt, El Alamein being only 66 miles from Alexandria.
Prelude
Retreat from Gazala
Following the defeat at the Battle of Gazala in June 1942, the Eighth Army had retreated from the Gazala line to Mersa Matruh, roughly 100 miles inside the Egyptian border. On 25 June General Claude Auchinleck, C-in-C Middle East Command relieved Neil Ritchie and assumed direct command of Eighth Army himself. He decided not to seek a confrontation at the Mersa Matruh position: it had an open left flank to the south of the sort well exploited by Rommel at Gazala. He decided instead to withdraw a further 100 miles or more east to near El Alamein on the Mediterranean coast. Only 40 miles (60 km) to the south of El Alamein the steep slopes of the Qattara Depression ruled out the possibility of armour moving round the southern flank of his defenses and limited the width of the front he had to defend.
Battle of Mersa Matruh
While preparing the Alamein positions Auchinleck fought strong delaying actions, first at Mersa Matruh on 26 June and then Fuka on 28 June. The late change of orders resulted in some confusion in the forward formations (X Corps and XIII Corps) between the desire to inflict damage on the enemy and the intention not to get trapped in the Matruh position but retreat in good order. The result was poor coordination between the two forward Corps and units within them. Inland, the 2nd New Zealand Division found itself surrounded by 21st Panzer Division at Minqar Qaim. It succeeded in breaking out on the night of 27 June to join the rest of XIII Corps at the Alamein position without serious losses. However, the withdrawal of XIII Corps had left the southern flank of X Corps on the coast at Matruh exposed and their line of retreat compromised. They too had had to break out and in the process sustained heavy casualties, including the destruction of the Indian 29th Infantry Brigade at Fuka. Axis forces captured more than 6,000 prisoners, in addition to 40 tanks and an enormous quantity of supplies.
Defences at El Alamein
Alamein itself was an insignificant railway station on the coast. Some ten miles to the south lay the Ruweisat ridge, a low stony ridge that nonetheless gave excellent observation for many miles over the surrounding desert. Twenty miles to the south of that lay the Qattara Depression. The line the British chose to defend stretched between the sea and the Qattara Depression, which meant that Rommel could only outflank it by taking a significant detour to the south and crossing the shifting sands of the Sahara Desert. Before the war the British Army in Egypt had recognized this, and the Eighth Army had commenced construction of several "boxes" (localities with dug-outs and surrounded by minefields and barbed wire), the most developed being around the railway station at Alamein. Still, in reality most of the "line" was just open, empty desert.
The British position in Egypt was in a critical state. The rout from Mersa Matruh had created a panic in the British headquarters at Cairo, something later called "the Flap". On what came to be referred to as "Ash Wednesday", at British headquarters, rear echelon units, and the British Embassy, the British frantically burned confidential papers in anticipation of the entry of Axis troops into the city. The Axis too believed that the capture of Egypt was imminent - Italian leader Benito Mussolini, sensing an historic moment, flew to Libya to prepare for his triumphal entry to Cairo.
On 30 June Rommel's Afrika Korps approached the Alamein position. The Axis forces were exhausted and understrength, but Rommel was confident that he could advance to the Nile. Rommel's plan was for the 90th 'Afrika' Division to screen the 1st South African Division (which occupied the northern most position around Alamein), while 15th Panzer Division and 21st Panzer Division struck past the Ruweisat Ridge. However, Axis intelligence had failed to disclose the presence of 18th Indian Brigade, which had occupied an exposed position just west of Ruweisat Ridge at Deir el Shein late on 28 June, after a hasty journey from Iraq.
Battle
Panzer Army Africa attacks
On 1 July 90th Light Infantry Division attacked along the coast, but the South African 1st Division in the Alamein box, supported by heavy artillery fire, repulsed them. At about 1000 hours on 1 July 21st Panzer Division attacked Deir el Shein. 18th Indian brigade held out the whole day in desperate fighting, but by evening the Germans succeeded in overrunning them. Still, the time they bought allowed Auchinleck to organise the defence of the western end of Ruweisat Ridge.
On 2 July Rommel ordered the resumption of the offensive, intending for Afrika Korps to drive over the Ruweisat ridge to outflank the South African positions at Alamein. By this time Afrika Korps strength was just 37 tanks out of the 55 with which it had begun the attack, while the British defence of the ridge relied on an improvised formation called Robcol, comprising a regiment each of Field artillery and light anti-aircraft artillery and a company of infantry. Robcol, in line with normal British army practice for ad hoc formations, was named after its commander, Brigadier Robert Waller, the artillery commander of Indian 10th Infantry Division. Robcol was able to buy time, and by late afternoon two British armoured brigades joined the battle. They drove back repeated attacks by the Axis armour, who then withdrew before dusk. The British reinforced Ruweisat on the night of 2 July. The now enlarged Robcol became Walgroup. All this time, the Royal Air Force subjected the Axis units to heavy air attacks.
The next day, 3 July, Rommel resumed the attack on the Ruweisat ridge. This time the Italian XX Motorised Corps led, an indication of the exhaustion and low strength of Afrika Korps. Within the morning, the combination of British artillery fire and constant air attacks halted Afrika Korps' advance - on 3 July the Royal Air Force flew a total of 780 sorties. Although the British had succeeded in halting Afrika Korps, the Italian Ariete Armoured Division initially made good progress along Ruweisat ridge until they met the more numerous and better armed British tanks of 4 Armoured Brigade.
To relieve the pressure on the right and center of the Eighth Army line, XIII Corps on the left advanced from the Qattara box (known to the New Zealanders as the Kaponga box). The plan was that the 2nd New Zealand Division, with the remains of 5th Indian Division and 7th Motor Brigade under its command, would swing north to threaten the Axis flank and rear. This force encountered the Ariete Armoured Division's artillery, which was driving on the southern flank of the division as it attacked Ruweisat. The Italian commander ordered his battalions to fight their way out independently but the Ariete lost 531 men (about 350 were prisoners), 36 pieces of artillery, six or eight tanks and 55 trucks. By the end of the day the Ariete Division had only five tanks. A fierce tank battle between the Afrika Korps and the British 22nd Armoured and 4th Armoured Brigades frustrated Rommel's attempts to resume the attack .
To the south, on 5 July the New Zealand group resumed its advance. However, heavy fire from the "Brescia" Division at El Mreir led XIII Corps to call off its attack.
Rommel digs in
At this point Rommel decided his exhausted forces could make no further headway without resting and regrouping. Afrika Korps had just 36 Panzers, his three German Divisions numbered just 1200-1500 men each, and his men were exhausted and operating at the end of their supply lines. On 4 July Rommel ordered the Axis forces to go on the defensive.
Rommel was by this time suffering from the extended length of his supply lines. The Allied Desert Air Force was concentrating fiercely on his fragile and elongated supply routes while British mobile columns moving west and striking from the south were causing havoc in the Axis rear echelons. Rommel could afford these losses even less since shipments from Italy had been substantially reduced (during June he received 5,000 tons of supplies compared with 34,000 in May and 400 vehicles compared with 2,000 in May) Meanwhile, the Eighth Army was reorganising and rebuilding, benefitting from its short lines of communication. By 4 July, the Australian 9th Division had entered the line in the north, and on 9 July Indian 5th Infantry Brigade also returned taking over the Ruweisat position. At the same time the fresh Indian 161st Infantry Brigade reinforced the depleted Indian 5th Infantry Division.
Tel el Eisa
Before dawn on 10 July the 26th Australian Brigade launched an attack against the ridge north of Tel el Eisa station along the coast (Trig 33). The attack was preceded by the heaviest barrage yet experienced in North Africa, which created panic in the inexperienced soldiers of the Italian “Sabratha” Division who had only just occupied sketchy defences in the sector. The Australian attack took more than 1,500 prisoners, routed an Italian Division and overran the German Signals Intercept Company 621. But elements of the German 164th Light Division and Italian “Trieste” Division arrived to plug the gap torn in the Axis defences. That afternoon and evening, tanks from the 15th Panzer Division and the Italian “Trieste” Division launched counter-attacks against the Australian positions, the counter-attacks failing in the face of overwhelming Allied artillery and the Australian anti-tank guns.
At first light on 11 July the 26th Australian Brigade attacked the western end of Tel el Eisa hill (Point 24). Ground was gained and held against a series of Axis counter-attacks throughout the day, and more than a 1000 Italian prisoners taken.. On 12 July the 21st Panzer Division launched a counter-attack against Trig 33 and Point 24, which was beaten off after a two and a half hour fight, with more than 600 German dead and wounded left strewn in front of the Australian positions.. The next day 21st Panzer Division launched an attack against Trig 33 and South African positions in the Alamein box. The attack was halted by intense artillery fire from the defenders. Rommel was still determined to drive the British forces from the northern salient. Although the Australian defenders had been forced back from Point 24, heavy casualties had been inflicted on 21st Panzer Division. Another attack was mounted on 15 July, but made no ground against tenacious resistance. On 16 July the Australians, supported by British tanks, launched an attack to try and take Point 24, but were forced back in the face of German counter-attacks suffering nearly fifty percent casualties.
After seven days of fierce fighting the battle in the north for Tel el Eisa salient petered out. 9th Australian Division estimated at least 2,000 Axis troops had been killed and more than 3,700 prisoners of war taken in the battle for Tel el Eisa. Possibly the most important feature of the battle, however, was that the Australians had captured Signals Intercept Company 621. This unit had provided Rommel with priceless intelligence, gleaned from intercepting British radio communications. That source of intelligence was now lost to Rommel.
Ruweisat Ridge
As the Axis forces dug in, Auchinleck developed a plan to attack the Ruweisat ridge, codenamed Operation Bacon. The intention was for the 4th New Zealand Brigade and 5th New Zealand Brigade to seize the ridge in a night attack, then for the 2nd Armoured Brigade and 22nd Armoured Brigade to move forward to protect the infantry as they consolidated on the ridge. The attack commenced at 2300 hours on 14 July. The two New Zealand brigades successfully took the ridge in the night attack, but minefields and pockets of resistance created disarray among the attackers. As a result, the New Zealand brigades occupied exposed positions on the ridge without support weapons. More significantly, communications with the two British armoured brigades failed, and the British armour did not move forwards to protect the infantry. The 15th Panzer Division launched an immediate counter-attack, which drove the New Zealanders from the ridge with heavy losses. The Allies captured more than 2000 Axis prisoners of war, mostly from the "Brescia" and "Pavia" Divisions; the New Zealand division suffered 1405 casualties. Captain Charles Upham gained a second Victoria Cross for his actions including destroying a German tank and several guns and vehicles with grenades and although he was shot through the elbow by a machine gun bullet and had his arm broken.
While the 2nd New Zealand Division attacked the western slopes of Ruweisat ridge, the 5th Indian Brigade made small gains on Ruweisat ridge to the east. The overrunning of the New Zealanders left the 5th Indian Brigade in a most exposed position. Unlike the New Zealanders, however, 5th Indian Brigade had had time to dig in their anti-tank guns and prepare for the German assault. 15th Panzer Division and 21st Panzer Division attacked 5th Indian Brigade at 1605 on 16 July; the Indians, with support from 2nd Armoured Brigade, repelled the German attack. After the battle the Indians counted 24 destroyed tanks, as well as armoured cars and numerous anti-tank guns left on the battlefield.
Ruin Ridge
To relieve pressure on Ruweisat ridge Auchinleck ordered the 9th Australian Division to make another attack from the north. In the early hours of 17 July the 24th Australian Brigade assaulted Miteriya ridge (known as ‘Ruin ridge’ to the Australians). The initial night attack went well, with 736 prisoners taken, mostly from the “Trento” and “Trieste” divisions. Once again, however, a critical situation for the Axis forces was retrieved by vigorous counter-attacks from hastily assembled German and Italian forces, which forced the Australians to withdraw back to their start line with the loss of 300 casualties. Although the Australian Official History of 24th Brigade's 2/32 battalion describes the counterattack force as "German", the Australian historian Mark Johnston reports that German records indicate that it was the Trento Division that overran the Australian battalion. Barton Maughan, Australia's official historian has written that "two forward platoons of the 2/32nd's left company were overrun, 22 men were taken prisoner" but fails to shed more light on this attack.
El Mreir
Eighth Army now enjoyed a massive superiority in material over the Axis forces – Eighth Army possessed more than 300 tanks, while Rommel possessed only 38 German tanks and 51 Italian tanks. Auchinleck’s plan was for 161st Indian Brigade to attack along Ruweisat ridge, while the 6th New Zealand Brigade attacked south of the ridge to the El Mreir depression. At daylight, two British armoured brigades – 2nd Armoured Brigade and the fresh 23rd Armoured Brigade - would sweep through the gap created by the infantry. The plan was complicated and ambitious. The infantry night attack began at 1630 hours on 21 July. The attack by 161st Indian Brigade ran into heavy defensive fire and failed. The New Zealand attack took their objectives in the El Mreir depression. But at daybreak on the 22 July the British armoured brigades, once again, failed to advance. Instead, German panzer divisions responded with a rapid counter-attack which quickly overran the New Zealand infantry in the open, inflicting more than 900 casualties on the New Zealanders. Compounding the disaster, at 0800 hours the commander of 23rd Armoured Brigade ordered his brigade forwards, intent on following his orders to the letter. The brigade charged the anti-tank guns of 21st Panzer Division, and were then counter-attacked by German armour. The 23rd Armoured Brigade was destroyed, with the loss of 80 tanks.
To the north, 9th Australian Division continued its attacks. At dawn on 22 26 July Australian Brigade attacked Tel el Eisa. It was during this fighting that Arthur Stanley Gurney performed the actions for which he was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. The fighting for Tel el Eisa was costly, but by the afternoon the Australians controlled the feature. That evening 24th Australian Brigade attacked Ruin Ridge, preceded by a tank attack, which failed to coordinate with the Australian infantry. The result was that the Axis forces destroyed 23 British tanks as their attack lacked infantry support.
Once more, the Eighth Army had failed to destroy Rommel’s forces, despite its overwhelming superiority in men and equipment. On the other hand, for Rommel the situation continued to be grave as, despite successful defensive operations, his infantry had suffered heavy losses and he reported that “the situation is critical in the extreme”.
Eighth Army's final attacks fail
On 26/27 July, Auchinleck launched Operation Manhood in the northern sector in a final attempt to break the Axis forces. This was the third attempt on Ruin Ridge, and the Axis defenders were expecting the attack. Like Auchinlek's previous attacks, it was poorly planned. The 24th Australian Brigade managed to take their objectives on Ruin Ridge by 0200 hours of 27 July. To the south of Ruin Ridge, the British 69th Brigade followed and managed to take their objectives by about 0800. However, the supporting units became lost in the darkness or delayed by minefields, leaving the attackers isolated and exposed. The British armoured brigades did not advance as planned. Rommel launched an immediate counterattack and the German armoured battlegroups overran the attackers before noon. The British and Australians suffered more than 1000 casualties for no gain.
The Eighth Army was exhausted, and on 31 July Auchinleck ordered an end to offensive operations and the strengthening of the defences to meet a major counter-offensive.
Rommel was later to blame the failure to breakthrough to the Nile on how the sources of supply to his army had dried up and how :
Rommel complained bitterly about the failure of important Italian convoys to get through to him desperately needed tanks and supplies-always blaming the Italian Supreme Command, never suspecting British codebreaking.
Aftermath
The battle was a stalemate, but it had halted the Axis advance on Alexandria (and then Cairo and ultimately the Suez Canal). Eighth Army had suffered over 13,000 casualties in July (including 4,000 in the New Zealand Division, 3,000 in the Indian 5th Infantry Division and 2,552 battle casualties in the Australian 9th Division) but had taken 7,000 prisoners and inflicted heavy damage on the Axis forces in terms of men and armour.
In early August Winston Churchill and General Alan Brooke, the British Chief of the Imperial General Staff visited Cairo on their way to meet Joseph Stalin in Moscow. They decided to replace Auchinleck, appointing XIII Corps commander Lieutenant-General William Gott to the Eighth Army command and General Sir Harold Alexander as C-in-C Middle East Command. Persia and Iraq were to be split from Middle East Command as a separate Persia and Iraq Command and Auchinleck offered the post of C-in-C (which he refused). However, Gott died on the way to take up his command when a Messerschmitt intercepted his air transport and its fire shot Gott through the heart. Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery was appointed in his place.
A second attempt by Rommel to bypass or break the Commonwealth position was repulsed in the Battle of Alam Halfa in August, and in October the Eighth Army decisively defeated the Axis forces in the Second Battle of El Alamein.
See also
Footnotes
External links
- a free/educational lunch-hour boardgame of the battle, to print off, assemble, and play
- New Zealand Electronic Text Centre
- Royal Engineers and Second World War (Deception and mine clearance at EL Alamein)
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