Difference between revisions of "First Battle of El Alamein"

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==Miteiriya==
 
==Miteiriya==
  
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General Auchinleck is determined to retain the initiative and orders another two brigade-sized attacks on the night of 26/27 July, with the Australian commanders planning in pushing through the supposedly demoralized Italian defenders on Sanyet el Miteiriya<ref>"The aim was to breach a section of line held by Italian troops, the more brittle element in Rommel's army." [https://www.awm.gov.au/talks-speeches/1942-ruin-ridge/ Remembering 1942: Ruin Ridge]</ref>, also known as Ruin Ridge. However, the Australian attack against Miteiriya Ridge meets unexpected tough resistance from machinegunners and antitank gunners from the ''Trento'' and the attack is halted soon after dawn, with the 2nd/28th infantry battalion surrounded by armoured cars from the ''Trieste''.<ref>"The Bn was completely surrounded by ARMORED CARS which worked forward under cover of fire from enemy tanks further back, while 20mm, MMG and mortar fire kept the heads of our own troops well down. In this manner the enemy was able to cut off and dispose of sections and platoons one by one, until at 1030 hrs Bn HQ area was occupied by several ARMORED CARS and surviving personnel taken prisoner. An effort had been made to hinder the enemy armored vehicles by bringing Arty fire to bear on them before they dispersed. Unfortunately the only communication with Bde was by one wireless set WT repaired by Sigs, after about eight hours work. Messages reporting the situation were sent immediately once this set was capable of functioning, i.e., about 0930 hrs onwards. Last message was “All up, overrun!”." [https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/RCDIG1026672/?image=5  July 1942 Diary by Lieutenant S. A. Walker]</ref>Supporting British armour runs into a minefield, and the Australians are forced to surrender to the Italians.<ref>"Assuming that the Italians were demoralized and easy pickings was a mistake, which the 9th Australian Division, the heroes of the defense of Tobruk in 1941, learned to its regret. A night attack against the Trento and Trieste Divisions, after some initial success, was bloodily repulsed, one entire battalion of Australian infantry being overrun." Field Marshal: The Life and Death of Erwin Rommel, Daniel Allen Butler, p. 352, Casemate, 2015</ref>The Australian battalion loses 65 men killed and 490 captured in the attack against the ''Trento'' and ''Trieste'' Divisions.
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General Auchinleck is determined to retain the initiative and orders another two brigade-sized attacks on the night of 26/27 July, with the Australian commanders planning in pushing through the supposedly demoralized Italian defenders on Sanyet el Miteiriya<ref>"The aim was to breach a section of line held by Italian troops, the more brittle element in Rommel's army." [https://www.awm.gov.au/talks-speeches/1942-ruin-ridge/ Remembering 1942: Ruin Ridge]</ref>, also known as Ruin Ridge. However, the Australian attack against Miteiriya Ridge meets unexpected tough resistance from machinegunners and antitank gunners from the ''Trento'' and the attack is halted soon after dawn, with the 2nd/28th infantry battalion surrounded by armoured cars that arrived from the ''Trieste''.<ref>"The Bn was completely surrounded by ARMORED CARS which worked forward under cover of fire from enemy tanks further back, while 20mm, MMG and mortar fire kept the heads of our own troops well down. In this manner the enemy was able to cut off and dispose of sections and platoons one by one, until at 1030 hrs Bn HQ area was occupied by several ARMORED CARS and surviving personnel taken prisoner. An effort had been made to hinder the enemy armored vehicles by bringing Arty fire to bear on them before they dispersed. Unfortunately the only communication with Bde was by one wireless set WT repaired by Sigs, after about eight hours work. Messages reporting the situation were sent immediately once this set was capable of functioning, i.e., about 0930 hrs onwards. Last message was “All up, overrun!”." [https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/RCDIG1026672/?image=5  July 1942 Diary by Lieutenant S. A. Walker]</ref>Supporting British armour runs into a minefield, and the Australians are forced to surrender to the Italians.<ref>"Assuming that the Italians were demoralized and easy pickings was a mistake, which the 9th Australian Division, the heroes of the defense of Tobruk in 1941, learned to its regret. A night attack against the Trento and Trieste Divisions, after some initial success, was bloodily repulsed, one entire battalion of Australian infantry being overrun." Field Marshal: The Life and Death of Erwin Rommel, Daniel Allen Butler, p. 352, Casemate, 2015</ref>The Australian battalion loses 65 men killed and 490 captured in the attack against the ''Trento'' and ''Trieste'' Divisions.
  
 
The British attack had also been unsuccessful, and about 600 were captured in a German counterattack with tanks and infantry that arrive in trucks.
 
The British attack had also been unsuccessful, and about 600 were captured in a German counterattack with tanks and infantry that arrive in trucks.

Revision as of 03:56, June 15, 2016

The First Battle of El Alamein took place near railway depot near the sea, between 1 and 27 July. The British Commonwealth forces, under General Claude John Eyre Auchinleck, emerged victorious in the battle, having stopped the Afrika Korps under General Erwin Rommel in Egypt. The battle marked the end of several Axis victories obtained at Gazala, Tobruk, Mersa Matruh, Fuka and elsewhere, and was the first in a series of battles which would result in the liberation of French Algeria and Tunisia from Axis forces, and the invasion of Italy.

The Afrika Korps had been successfully fighting their way ever closer to the Egyptian border. Italian "battleship convoys" personally commanded by Admiral Angelo Iachino, and good solid intelligence from the Italian Military Information Service (Servizio Informazione Militare or SIM) obtained through theft from the US Embassy in Rome, had greatly assisted Rommel in winning battles at Benghazi, Tobruk and Mersa Matruh. Unfortunately for Rommel, the British discovered this and the deciphered daily reports to Washington coming from Colonel Bonner Fellers (US military attache in Cairo), stopped almost a week after the fall of Tobruk. To make matters worse, his divisions were now running very low on fuel. The scenario was soon set for a major Allied counteroffensive, that aimed to completely break through the Italian divisions and the panzer divisions sent forward to assist them.

El Mreir

On 1 July 1942, the Axis forces commenced their advance. However, the Afrika Korps encountered disorganized but spirited resistance from the Indians and South Africans, forcing the Trento Division and supporting 7th Bersaglieri Regiment to take up defensive positions, and defeating the attacks from the 21st Panzer Division and 90th Light Division.

On 3 July, the 4th New Zealand Brigade, supported by four artillery batteries, attacked the Ariete Armoured Division forward positions, taking 350 prisoners and capturing or destroying 24 field guns and six or eight tanks. Rommel lambasted the performance of the Ariete and in a report to General Albert Kesselring, would claim the Italian armoured division had lost one-hundred tanks in the New Zealand infantry attack.

Determined to encircle and capture the rest of the Ariete, the New Zealander infantry attacked again on 5 July, but were repelled by heavy fire from the Brescia Division dug in near El Mreir.

The Allied attacks continued, and the Indian 5th Infantry Division in the form of the 9th Brigade and 7th Motorised Brigade, pushed north into Rommel's flank and in three days of fighting almost reached Deir el Shein. A Maori battalion from the 2nd New Zealand Division overran part of the Brescia, but were unexpectedly counterattacked by the Pavia Division and forced to retreat. The Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War confirms that "enemy forces seeping south threatened to outflank the Division" but reveals nothing else.

During the initial fighting, Major Terence O'Brien-Butler from the 3rd Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery, displayed enormous control when surrounded by German armour, saving his battery from capture and winning the Military Cross (MC) for his courage.

Tel el Eisa

On the night of 10/11 July, the Australian 9th Division attacked the 60th Sabratha Infantry Division defending Tel el Eisa, very close to the Afrika Korps' Command Post. The German 621st Radio Intercept Company and 835 Italians from the Sabratha are captured. The attacking 2nd/48th Battalion, under Lieutenant-Colonel Heathcote Hammer, had been greatly assisted by the supporting fire from 100 artillery guns. The night, the South Africans also attacked and captured Tel el Makh Khad.

The next morning, a battalion from the 7th Bersaglieri Regiment, under Lieutenant-Colonel Ugo Scirocco, counterattacks and recaptures part of Tel el Eisa along with thirteen Australians. [1]The Bersaglieri suffers heavy casualties, but their attack allows the arrival of several tanks from the 15th Panzer Division and the Italians to send forward a company of tanks, under Captain Vittorio Bulgarelli, from the Trieste Division that halts the Australians.[2]

On 14 July, Colonel Erminio Angelozzi's 1st Battalion (85th Infantry Regiment) from the Sabratha, counterattacks the Australians dug in on Tel el Eisa and succeeded in recapturing the position. The defending battalion withdraws, but the 2nd/23rd Battalion and the British 8th Royal Tank Regiment (8 RTR) attack on 16 July, overrunning a good part of the Sabratha and German 382nd Regiment[3]before being forced to withdraw.[4]

On 17 July, the 9th Division resumed the advance in the Tel el Eisa sector, overrunning a good part from the Trento and Trieste Division[5], but the 3rd Battalion (62nd Trento Regiment) launches an unexpected counterattack with a column of tanks from Major Gabriele Verri's,11th Armoured Battalion, capturing 200 Australians from the 2nd/32nd Battalion.[6][7]Although the commanding officer of the 2nd/32nd Battalion claims the attacking force was "German", the Australian historian Mark Johnston reports that German records prove that Italians were responsible for overrunning and capturing the Australian rifle company.[8]Barton Maughan, Australia's official historian that covered the battles of El Alamein, minimizes the Axis success, writing that "two forward platoons of the 2/32nd's left company were overrun, 22 men were taken prisoner" and implies that the attackers belonged to the German 164th Division.[9]

On 22 July, the Australian 9th Infantry Division finally wins complete control of Tel el Eisa after much fierce fighting, almost lasting a fortnight. In the final action, Private Arthur Stanley Gurney from the 2nd/48th Australian Infantry Battalion wins posthumously the Victoria Cross for eliminating three machine-gun posts holding up the Australian advance.

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 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 battle, 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 attacking a German truck with reinforcements, using a hand-grenade.

Soon after the first battle, the 4th/6th Rajputana Rifles ambush an approaching reinforced German armoured column, accounting for a large number of tanks, armoured cars, anti-tank and anti-aircraft guns.

In the second battle, Colonel Gherardo Vaiarini's 65th Regiment along with Colonel Umberto Zanetti's 66th Regiment from the Trieste Division and part of 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, but runs into a minefield. The 5th Panzer Regiment, under Colonel Gerhard Mueller, destroys more than forty British tanks. The rest of the Panzer division joins in the fighting and complete the destruction 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.

Miteiriya

General Auchinleck is determined to retain the initiative and orders another two brigade-sized attacks on the night of 26/27 July, with the Australian commanders planning in pushing through the supposedly demoralized Italian defenders on Sanyet el Miteiriya[10], also known as Ruin Ridge. However, the Australian attack against Miteiriya Ridge meets unexpected tough resistance from machinegunners and antitank gunners from the Trento and the attack is halted soon after dawn, with the 2nd/28th infantry battalion surrounded by armoured cars that arrived from the Trieste.[11]Supporting British armour runs into a minefield, and the Australians are forced to surrender to the Italians.[12]The Australian battalion loses 65 men killed and 490 captured in the attack against the Trento and Trieste Divisions.

The British attack had also been unsuccessful, and about 600 were captured in a German counterattack with tanks and infantry that arrive in trucks.

The 8th Army is now completely exhausted, and by 31 July General Auchinleck orders an end to offensive operations in favour of strengthening the defence lines to be able to meet any future counter-offensive.

Notes

  1. ↑ According to the 2nd/48th Battalion War Diary: "[a]t approx 2000 hrs enemy tks-number unknown-and inf attacked D Coy front. They overrun posn and enemy inf forced D Coy to withdraw and occupied their psn."
  2. ↑ "That afternoon Italian tanks counter-attacked both Australian battalions in an attempt to retake Hill 33 near the coast. Maj. Gabriele Verri, commanding 11th Armd. Bn. of the Trieste Motorised Division, sent a company of M13 and M14 tanks into the assault under Capt. Vittorio Bulgarelli." War in the Desert, Neil D. Orpen, p.367, Purnell, 1971
  3. ↑ "Next day, the 16th July, the British attacked again, but this time only locally. After intensive artillery preparation, the Australians attacked in the early hours of the morning with tank support and took several strong-points held by the Sabratha.“ History of the Second World War, Volume 3, p.1074, Purnell and Sons Limited, 1967
  4. ↑ "On Tell el Eisa the situation was now too hot for the Australians. The area was swept by fire, and they had no artillery, no Vickers guns and no anti-tank guns, and casualties were mounting. They withdrew again.“ Dance of War: The Story of the Battle of Egypt, p.165, Peter Bates, Pen and Sword, 1992
  5. ↑ "On 16 July, the Australians had broken through the remnants of Sabratha, and on the 17th through the Trento and Trieste Divisions, but each time had been repulsed by elements of the German 164th Division." Forgotten Allies: The European Theatre, J. Lee Ready, p. 118, McFarland, 1985
  6. ↑ "Soon the companies had seized the enemy positions on the ridge, but, in the dark, the men of A Company overshot their objective, Point 22, by 1,500 yards. By the time they realised their mistake they were under such heavy fire that they could not withdraw. By 08.00 hours Italian tanks and infantry began to encircle their positions and eventually forced the entire company to surrender." Pendulum Of War: Three Battles at El Alamein, Niall Barr, p. 148, Random House, 2010
  7. ↑ "The attack began on 17 July at 2.30 am. The 2/32nd captured the Trig 22 and linked with the 2/43rd but the Germans resisted fiercely and counter-attacked with tanks. The 2/32nd suffered heavily: nearly half its number were either killed or wounded and nearly 200 became prisoners of war. 2/32nd Australian Infantry Battalion
  8. ↑ "There were some courageous efforts by Italian units against Australians at Alamein, but these have gone largely unnoticed in Australian writings ... In wartime and published Australian accounts of Alamein actions, it is not always possible to determine whether "the enemy" referred to was German or Italian ... However, the lack of credit probably derives more from a desire to inflate Australian achievements, and an unwillingness to acknowledge reverses against Italians." Fighting the Enemy, Mark Johnston, pp. 12-13, Cambridge University Press, 2006]
  9. ↑ "However, the official history mentions the capture of only twenty-two men and implies they were captured by Germans; the battalion history states that 101 men were captured by Germans. German records indicate that Italians of the Trento Division were responsible." Fighting the Enemy, Mark Johnston, p. 13, Cambridge University Press, 2006
  10. ↑ "The aim was to breach a section of line held by Italian troops, the more brittle element in Rommel's army." Remembering 1942: Ruin Ridge
  11. ↑ "The Bn was completely surrounded by ARMORED CARS which worked forward under cover of fire from enemy tanks further back, while 20mm, MMG and mortar fire kept the heads of our own troops well down. In this manner the enemy was able to cut off and dispose of sections and platoons one by one, until at 1030 hrs Bn HQ area was occupied by several ARMORED CARS and surviving personnel taken prisoner. An effort had been made to hinder the enemy armored vehicles by bringing Arty fire to bear on them before they dispersed. Unfortunately the only communication with Bde was by one wireless set WT repaired by Sigs, after about eight hours work. Messages reporting the situation were sent immediately once this set was capable of functioning, i.e., about 0930 hrs onwards. Last message was “All up, overrun!”." July 1942 Diary by Lieutenant S. A. Walker
  12. ↑ "Assuming that the Italians were demoralized and easy pickings was a mistake, which the 9th Australian Division, the heroes of the defense of Tobruk in 1941, learned to its regret. A night attack against the Trento and Trieste Divisions, after some initial success, was bloodily repulsed, one entire battalion of Australian infantry being overrun." Field Marshal: The Life and Death of Erwin Rommel, Daniel Allen Butler, p. 352, Casemate, 2015
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