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German infantry attacked again, in battalion strength as Baffe recalls:
German infantry attacked again, in battalion strength as Baffe recalls:
''"When the infantry were about 500 yards out we opened up, but in the posts that could reach them we had only two Brens, two antitank rifles and a couple of dozen ordinary rifles. The Jerries went to ground at first, but gradually moved forward in bounds under cover of their machine guns. It was nearly dusk by this time, and they managed to reach the antitank ditch. From there they mortared near-by posts heavily. We hadn't any mortars with which to reply, and our artillery couldn't shell the ditch without risk of hitting our own posts."''<ref>The Australian 9th Division Versus the Afrika Corps, Colonel Ward A. Miller, p. 21, Pickle Partners Publishing, 2014]</ref>
''"When the infantry were about 500 yards out we opened up, but in the posts that could reach them we had only two Brens, two antitank rifles and a couple of dozen ordinary rifles. The Jerries went to ground at first, but gradually moved forward in bounds under cover of their machine guns. It was nearly dusk by this time, and they managed to reach the antitank ditch. From there they mortared near-by posts heavily. We hadn't any mortars with which to reply, and our artillery couldn't shell the ditch without risk of hitting our own posts."''<ref>The Australian 9th Division Versus the Afrika Corps, Colonel Ward A. Miller, p. 21, Pickle Partners Publishing, 2014</ref>
At the El Adem road, Axis tanks clashed with reinforcements from the [[1st Royal Tank Regiment]], and four Italian tanks and one German panzer were lost. Two British tanks were also lost, but the British forced the Axis force to withdraw. The 2/13th Battalion's mortar platoon, equipped with two Italian 47mm antitank guns, also knocked out two Italian tanks in the El Adem road action.
At the El Adem road, Axis tanks clashed with reinforcements from the [[1st Royal Tank Regiment]], and four Italian tanks and one German panzer were lost. Two British tanks were also lost, but the British forced the Axis force to withdraw. The 2/13th Battalion's mortar platoon, equipped with two Italian 47mm antitank guns, also knocked out two Italian tanks in the El Adem road action.