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). In August 1942, General … The supporting troops had to retreat on 16-17 June, and Tobruk fell to an Axis attack on 20-June 1942. On the night of 8-9 July the New Zealanders completed the move to Alam Nayil. Another problem was that the British' armour had not been ordered to advance through the minefields at a specific time and it was left to the discretion of their commander to decide when to do so. The first battle of El Alamein (1-27 July 1942) was a series of engagements in the area south of El Alamein in which Rommel's run of victories in 1942 was finally brought to an end. That attack now had to be cancelled, and the parachute infantry was rushed to the front. From 4 until 7 July, the Eighth Army conducted limited counter-attacks against Italian deployments and the South Africans had to despatch several patrols to determine their exact positions (WD 347, File A3/ME 37: War Diary, 1st SA Division HQ, 2 July 1942). The 69th British Infantry Brigade then had to move through the breach and breach the second minefield so that the British armour could exploit the breakthrough (WD 347, File A3/ME37: War Diary 1 SA Division HQ, Appendix, 30th Corps Operational Order No 68 of 26 July 1942, pp 1-2). The first came on 7 August, when General Gott was killed when his aircraft was shot down. 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. Rommel attempted to retake the area around Point 64, but two counterattacks on 16 July were repulsed by British anti-tank and artillery fire. On the British side XIII Corps was ordered to attack. 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. It was from here to the northern slope of the Ruweisat Ridge that the 1st South African Between February and May 1942 the front line in North Africa had been the Gazala Line, a British defensive position that ran south from the sea at Gazala, and that was built around a series of defensive 'boxes', brigade sided strong points that were meant to be large enough to defend themselves for at least a week. Thus, he could use forces from Iraq and Persia to enable the Eighth Army to conduct offensive operations. He cancelled the attack east, and moved north with his own HQ and a battle group from 15 Panzer. 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. UWH 224, Draft Narratives: Radio Message, 21st Panzer Division - Deutsches Afrika Korps, 05.40, 2 July 1942. The main attack was to be carried out by the New Zealand division, which would attack the western end of the ridge from the south, and the 5th Indian Brigade, which would advance west along the ridge from its positions around Point 64. Rommels attack started badly and it seemed as if his Afrika Korps would be wiped out. The Allies had placed a huge number of land mines south of El Alamein at Alam Halfa. The 1st South African Division escaped along the coast, and was at Tobruk by the following day. In the Western Desert, the war encompassed Egypt and Italian Libya. (Source: S Bidwell, Gunners at War.). During the main attack on 10 July the South African occupation of Tell el Makh Khad protected the southern flank of the Australians and retarded Rommel's efforts during the next two days to dislodge them from Tell el Eisa. Early on 1 July, the German 90th Light Division tried to break through the line between the El Alamein Box and Ruweisat Ridge in an effort to reach the coast east of the South African position. 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 (Germany and Italy) of the Panzer Army Africa (Panzerarmee Afrika) commanded by Field Marshal (Generalfeldmarschall) Erwin Rommel, and Allied (specifically, British Imperial) … The task facing the South Africans was made much easier by events to the south-west of their positions. 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. This appointment spelled disaster for relations with the corps headquarters. The aim of this study is to analyse the role of the South Africans during the First Battle of El Alamein with specific reference to the 1st South African Infantry Division. The German move was detected by 1st Armoured Division at around 1400hours. Only twenty Grant medium tanks could match the German forces in a armoured showdown (Barnett, 1983, pp 189-99). The British position was soon untenable, and a retreat towards the next defensive position, at Fuka, was planned. Auchinleck was now under pressure to attack, although this time the pressure came from events on the Russian front rather than directly from Churchill. First Battle of El Alamein 1 Jul 1942 - 27 Jul 1942 Contributor: C. Peter Chen El Alamein was a small railway town on the Egyptian coast that was chosen by British Commander-in-Chief Claude Auchinleck to be the main defensive position against the mid-1942 offensive conducted by Erwin Rommel. He was also hampered by supply issues particularly fuel. The second came on 8 August, when Auchinleck turned down the offer of the new Middle East command as it then stood. (Essame, 1976, p 36). Div Docs, 105, File 1 SAD/A22: Battle Casualties, June to July 1942. Prime Minister J C Smuts believed that the Union Defence Forces (UDF) had to make a major contribution in the Middle East, deemed to be the most important theatre of operations for the British Empire. He also served at the SANDF Documentation Services (Archives). Rommel launched the Afrika Korps on one last attempt at 1600 hours, but it was stopped nine miles east of Deir el Shein. Du Toit, C L de W, 'Die Herinneringe van Generaal Christiaan Lodolph De Wet Du Toit, Deel III' in Militaria, 10/4, 1980. Both commanders ordered an offensive for 2 July. The Wireless Intercept Section under the command of Lieutenant Seebohm was wiped out on 10 July during an Australian counter-attack (Handel, 1990, p 286). 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. However, Pienaar did not want the 1st South African Rommel forced to defend his Brigade to suffer the same fate as positions the 18th Indian Brigade. The Northern Front would only be threatened by the Axis powers if their forces in the Soviet Union could break through in the Caucusus region and advance south. On the other side, Rommel concentrated his German formations to break through at Bab el Quattara. Return to Journal Index OR Society's Thirty miles inland was the Qattara Depression, a low lying area that is below sea level, and that is bordered by a steep escarpment. When they eventually did, the element of surprise was lost and they were, as in the past, driven back by German anti-tank fire. It marked the beginning of the end for the Axis in North Africa. Hence the El Alamein Box would become a thorn in the side of Rommel as the South Africans constantly harassed them with patrols and artillery fire until the end of the battle (Agar-Hamilton and Turner, 1952, p 271). Connell, J, Auchinleck. Union War Histories (UWH) Narratives and Reports, Middle East, Vol. He wanted at least a South African brigade to attack the Miteirya Ridge to the south. XIII Corps would pull out of its southern positions and move them onto the Alam Nayil ridge, in order to concentrate his artillery more closely. After the capture of the Tell el Eisa hill by the Australians on 10 July, the South Africans only played an active role on 13 July and again in Operation 'Manhood'. Dorman O'Gowan, E, "1st Alamein - The battle that saved Cairo" in Purnell's History of the Second World War, 7, 3/6, 1967. 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. 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). 7th Light Armoured Division was further south, watching the German 90th Light Division. This small battle cost them 18 of their 55 tanks, far too high a cost for the limited success. He was a desert correspondent from 1940 and, by 1942, he was tiring. 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). During the afternoon 2 Armoured Brigade attempted to pass through the gap, but ran into heavy enemy fire and had to retreat, having lost 21 tanks for no purpose. 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. During July 1942, 12 700 officers and men of the Eighth Army were reported killed, wounded or missing in action (Auchinleck, January, 1948, p 330). Pienaar replied that, without armoured support, this would be suicide, but, against his better judgement, eventually gave in to the suggestion that a South African column of the 2nd Brigade, supported by seventeen British tanks, occupy part of the ridge with the aim of conducting raids to the south Following its defeat at the Battle of Gazala in Eastern Libya in June 1942, the British Eighth Army had retreated east from the Gazala line into northwestern Egypt as far as Mersa Matruh, roughly 100 mi (160 km) inside the border. The First Battle of El Alamein took place near the El Alamein train station almost by the sea, between 1 and 27 July 1942. The fate of the New Zealanders was still unclear, and so work on clearing gaps in the minefield continued. The Afrika Korps set off nearly four hours late, at 0645 hours, tired and recovering from an air attack. In the north, near the small railway siding of El Alamein, a defensive position had been prepared in 1941 by the 2nd South African Division, but by now it was in a dilapidated state. The Afrika Korps was down to 55 tanks and 500 infantry, the 90th Light Division had 1,500 infantry, and the three Italian corps had 30 tanks and 5,500 infantry. Thus, in retrospect, the South Africans had thwarted the key component of Rommel's plan. Thus, the South African participation in the campaign is also not generally seen in proper perspective. That evening Auchinleck decided to call the newly arrived 9th Australian Division up from the Delta to join his army. Brooke disagreed, believing Gott to be too tired. Its two panzer divisions now only had 42 running tanks. Once the British line here was broken, he would be free to advance towards Cairo, leaving the Eighth Army isolated on the coast. Apart from this, the British commanders were too inflexible to adapt their tactics at critical junctions in the battle. Gott's front line ran south/ south-west from the western end of Ruweisat Ridge. Pienaar was determined that the same fate would not befall his own men (Hartshorne, Cape Town, pp 157-8; C L de W du Toit: The importance of the South African contribution was that it was part of a team effort. The reasons for this were that, only on 13 July did the German panzers attack them specifically, and Pienaar did everything in his power to prevent a repetition of Tobruk and Deir el Shein. At nightfall he was recovered by stretcher bearers and taken to an Advance Dressing Station where his wound was considered fatal and a grave was dug for him. On the British side Auchinleck decided to attack the Italians on the coast. Thus, Auchinleck's efforts were frustrated. This time they inflicted heavy losses on the Trieste division. The New Zealanders were to be supported by 2nd Armoured Brigade, coming from the eastern end of the ridge. During the period 1977 to 1980, he served in various appointments in the operational areas of SWA and on the Zimbabwe-Rhodesia border. However Rommel had begun to cover his front with a dense minefield, mainly using mines taken from the British lines around Mersa Matruh. By 28 July, Auchinleck decided that he would have to postpone the intended destruction of Panzerarmee Afrika. He claimed his right to consult with the Australian Government, and had to be won over by Auchinleck in person. Auchinleck would remain in charge of the area east of the Suez Canal, while a new Commander-in-Chief in the Near East would take over west of the Canal. The first stage in this plan came on the night of 7-8 July, when an Australian force raided the 15 Panzer position. In attempting this, Rommel was losing tanks fast. El Alamein battles Three major battles occurred around El Alamein between July and November 1942, and were the turning point of the war in North Africa. The New Zealanders took 1,600 prisoners, but lost 1,500 men and a great deal of their trust in the British armour. From a British perspective, the situation in North Africa did not look good by July 1942. On 20 July, with the prospect of his triumphal march fading rapidly, a humiliated Mussolini flew back to Rome. Montgomery inherited Auchinleck's defensive plans at Alam Halfa, although did make some modifications of his own, and Rommel's attack was very quickly repelled. Both attacks began on the afternoon of 2 July, and neither of them made much progress. Build up to Battle Pienaar and Ramsden had already been at loggerheads at Gazala in May because of Ramsden's callousness regarding human losses (Hartshorne, Cape Town, p 162). On 5 August Churchill visited the front, where he met with Gott, Auchinleck and the leaders of the Desert Air Force. Its 3rd South African Brigade was given the task of defending the western side of the fortifications. On the Allied side the New Zealand Division (XIII Corps) was to the south of the ridge, facing north from the Alam Nayil Ridge (facing the Pavia division). Battles of El-Alamein, (1–27 July 1942, 23 October—11 November 1942), World War II events. Consequently, without realising it, Rommel let an opportunity slip through his fingers. Fact File : First Battle of El Alamein. Thus, Rommel's forces found time to recuperate and retain their positions, with heavy British losses. If a hole could be punched in the defensive line and if the El Alamein Box could be captured from the east, the whole Eighth Army position could be rolled up from north to south by defeating the British formations in detail (WD 403, File 34374/3: Report, Panzerarmee Afrika - Commander Southern Front, 1 July 1942). He was replaced by Alexander as Commander-in-Chief in the Middle East, Montgomery as commander of the Eighth Army and General Maitland Wilson as commander-in-chief Persia and Iraq Command (a shrunken version of Churchill's original idea for a reduced Middle East Command). Rommel was planning to chance his axis of attack. Hartshorne, E P, Avenge Tobruk (Cape Town, 1960). The salient had been turned into more of a curve. Auchinleck's First Offensive At the western end of the ridge was the 18th Indian Brigade, newly arrived from Iraq. Rommel decided to use the 90th Light Division to bypass El Alamein and cut the coast road somewhere to the east. The First Battle of El Alamein was fought July 1-27, 1942, during World War II (1939-1945). Pienaar's concern for his men was proved correct the next day, when a column of the British 50th Division (Accol) was driven out of the same position by a German attack with heavy losses, just as he had predicted (Hartshorne, Cape Town, p 158). The First Battle of El Alamein (1–27 July 1942). Without the help of the 1st British Armoured Division on Ruweisat Ridge and the British and Australian artillery, the South Africans would not, on their own, have been able to withstand the onslaught of the panzers on 13 July. Auchinleck expected Rommel to try and bypass the defended Alamein position, and these units were posted to provide defence in depth. 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. The British response was also affected by the sandstorm. WD 372, File A 15/ME 63: War Diary 1 st Field Regiment South African Artillery. By this point XXX Corps, which had been badly battered at Gazala, was already in the Alamein position, attempting to recover. The First Battle of El Alamein (1–27 July 1942) was a battle of the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War, fought in Egypt between Axis forces (Germany and Italy) of the Panzer Army Africa (Panzerarmee Afrika) (which included the Afrika Korps under Field Marshal (Generalfeldmarschall) Erwin … 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. Howard, M, The Mediterranean Strategy in the Second World War (London, 1966). The activities of this division will be examined within the context of the battle design of the British Eighth Army, with specific focus on 30th Corps, under whose command the South Africans resorted. For once Churchill was able to intervene in the Middle East in person. 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. He had decided  to fly to Moscow to visit Stalin and try and explain why the Western Allies were invading North Africa and not France. 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.. Rommel attacked at Mersa Matruh late on 26 June. Unlike most of the other positions fought over in North Africa it couldn’t be outflanked to the south. The Sabratha division suffered very heavy losses, and was temporarily out of action. However, the biggest threat to the security of the Suez Canal and the Persian Gulf oilfields were the Axis forces operating from Libya under the command of Rommel (Calvocoressi and Wint, 1973, pp 397-8). Kruger, D W, The Making of a Nation. of it. A series of British counterattacks also achieved little, and the battle ended as a stalemate. 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. Loading By last light, the 79th British Anti-Tank Regiment was also deployed near the threatened point but, by that time, the German attack had lost its momentum (Tungay, Cape Town, pp 252-3). It was then Montgomery's turn to prepare for an offensive, but unlike his predeciessors he was able to convince Churchill of the need to wait until the Eighth Army was fully prepared, and the Second battle of El Alamein didn’t begin until 23 October 1942, a full month after the date Auchinleck had been removed for insisting on. The first battle of El Alamein (1-27 July 1942) was a series of engagements in the area south of El Alamein in which Rommel's run of victories in 1942 was finally brought to an end. On July 1 the German-Italian Afrika Korps led by Erwin Rommel attacked. However, their fire-power was augmented by the detachment of 28 medium guns of the 7th British Medium Artillery Regiment for deployment in the El Alamein Box (Bidwell and Graham, 1982, p 239). The Axis attacks from 11 to 13 July exhausted Rommel's forces. He would visit the Middle East twice on this trip, on the way out and on the way back. By 4 July, it was clear that it was going to take a major Axis effort to break through the El Alamein line. He went to war in 1914as a lieutenant but suffered a bullet wound to the chest in October of that year during an attack on the village of Meteren. Bernard Montgomery was born in London in 1887 and trained at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. The Afrika Korps commander believed this to be the start of a major attack, and summoned 21 Panzer to help. Next was the 7th Motorised Brigade. Once again Auchinleck insisted that he couldn't attack until mid-September, and this convinced Churchill that the time was right for change. The defensive position was divided into three corps areas with 30th Corps near the coast and 13th Corps in the south. An attempt to hold onto Tobruk failed. Rommel's First Attack The field artillery of the 9th Australian Division, as well as the 7th British Medium Regiment in the Box, had to help halt the German advance (WD 347, File A3/ME 37: War Diary, 1st SA Division HQ, 2 July 1942). The El Alamein Box still constituted an important component of the British defensive line, but the operations from 14 to 23 July were conducted mainly in the vicinity of Ruweisat Ridge. The advance would be supported by XIII Corps coming from the south. Armoured support came from the 22nd Armoured Brigade (1st Armoured Division), which was posted just to the south of Ruwesiat Ridge, and by the 4th Armoured Brigade (7th Armoured Division), which arrived just to the north of the 2nd South African Brigade on 1 July, just ahead of the Germans, after fighting a series of delaying actions further to the west. Map showing British Eighth Army positions on 30 June 1942. The Northern Front consisted of Palestine, Trans Jordan, Syria, Iraq and Iran. 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