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→Ruweisat
On 14 July and 22 July, General Auchinleck attacks Ruweisat Ridge in the centre. In the fist attack, the New Zealand 2nd Division and Indian 5th Division attack under the cover of darkness and capture 2,000 Italians, but are unable to completely break though the remaining strongpoints from the ''Pavia'' and ''Brescia'' Divisions due to unexpected fierce Italian resistance. With the arrival of daylight, reinforcements from the 15th Panzer Division counterattack and capture 1,600 Allied troops, the majority from the 4th New Zealand Brigade. In the fighting, Captain [[Charles Upham]] from the New Zealand 20th Battalion, wins the Victoria Cross for the second time (winning his first VC during the Battle of Crete) after blowing up a German truck with reinforcements, using a hand-grenade.
On 14 July and 22 July, General Auchinleck attacks Ruweisat Ridge in the centre. In the fist attack, the New Zealand 2nd Division and Indian 5th Division attack under the cover of darkness and capture 2,000 Italians, but are unable to completely break though the remaining strongpoints from the ''Pavia'' and ''Brescia'' Divisions due to unexpected fierce Italian resistance. With the arrival of daylight, reinforcements from the 15th Panzer Division counterattack and capture 1,600 Allied troops, the majority from the 4th New Zealand Brigade. In the fighting, Captain [[Charles Upham]] from the New Zealand 20th Battalion, wins the Victoria Cross for the second time (winning his first VC during the Battle of Crete) after blowing up a German truck with reinforcements, using a hand-grenade.
Soon after the battle, the 4th/6th Rajputana Rifles ambush a strong German armoured column, accounting for a large number of tanks, armoured cars, anti-tank and anti-aircraft guns.[17]
In the second battle, Colonel Gherardo Vaiarini's 65th Regiment along with Colonel Umberto Zanetti's 66th Regiment from the ''Trieste'' Division and the ''Brescia'' Division play a very important role in containing the attack of the New Zealand 2nd Division long enough to allow the 21st Panzer Division to arrive and deliver a devastating counterattack. In the German attack, the British 23rd Armoured Brigade attempts to regroup, runs into a minefield. Colonel [[Gerhard Mueller]]'s 5th Panzer Regiment, in what one observer described as ''"a real balaclava charge"'' destroys more than forty British tanks. The rest of the Panzer division finishes off the remainder of the British armoured brigade.
The failure of British armour to reach the infantry in time results in the loss of 800 men. More than 2,300 New Zealanders were killed, wounded, or captured in the two battles. Both Vaiarini de Piacenza and Zanetti were killed in the fighting and posthumously decorated (Gold and Silver Medals respectively) for their bravery. In the same action, Private [[Günter Halm]] from the the 104th Panzergrenadier Regiment wins the Knights Cross and a commission, for single-handedly putting out of action half a dozen British tanks or more, before his captured Russian 76.2mm anti-tank gun was destroyed in the counter fire.
== Notes ==
== Notes ==
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[[Category:World War II Battles]]
[[Category:World War II Battles]]