Difference between revisions of "Second Battle of El Alamein"

Revision as of 21:20, August 11, 2016

The Second Battle of El Alamein took place from 23 October to 5 November 1942, outside the El Alamein train station near the sea and the large Quattara Depression to the south. General Bernard Montgomery commanded the British 8th Army and General Erwin Rommel commanded the Panzerarmee Afrika' during this battle.

General Rommel's Italo-German forces had been pushing ever closer to the Suez Canal and the oil-rich fields of Egypt, thanks in large part to the Italian "battleship convoys" (under Admiral Angelo Iachino) that delivered much needed fuel and tanks, and intercepted Allied signals from the Italian Military Information Service (Servizio Informazione Militare or SIM), that helped Rommel obtain the Axis victories at Gazala, Tobruk, Mersa Matruh and Fuka.

Unfortunately for the Axis, this important source of intelligence intercepted from the reports that the US military attache in Cairo, Colonel Bonner Fellers sent to Washington, stopped at the start of the First Battle of El Alamein. Rommel then tried to overrun the opposing British Commonwealth forces during the Battle of Alam el Halfa, but this attack also failed. The scenario was now set for what would prove be the final confrontation in Egypt, that would result in the Axis retreat across Egypt and deep into Tunisia.

Operation Lightfoot

Operation Supercharge

On the night of 1-2 November, General Montgomery launched a new attack along the Rahman Track, aimed at capturing Tel el Aqqaqir, where Rommel had dug in several German 88 mm and Italian 90 mm anti-aircraft guns. The attack started with a seven-hour aerial bombardment focused on taking out the heavy guns on Tel el Aqqaqir and Sidi Abd el Rahman. This air attack was followed by an intense four-and-a-half hour bombardment from 360 guns, firing 15,000 shells. The initial infantry attacks of Supercharge was to be carried out by the 151st Durham and 152nd Seaforth and Camerons Brigades, backed up by the British 9th Armoured Brigade, all under the command of General Bernard Freyberg. Also taking part in the attacks, would be the 133rd Royal Sussex Brigade and 23rd Armoured Brigade, without the 40th and 46th Royal Tank Regiments. General Bernard Freyberg, had tried to prevent his division from taking part, as the New Zealanders were under strength and had already lost a brigade. The New Zealand contribution to Supercharge would be the 5th Brigade with the 28th (Maori) Battalion attached to the 151st Brigade.

Axis retreat

General Rommel sent a message to Hitler explaining his untenable position, seeking permission to withdraw but was told to fight till the end. Von Thoma, who had been promoted to Lieutenant-General on 1 November, told Rommel, "I've just been around the battlefield. 15th Panzer's got ten tanks left, 21st Panzer only fourteen and Littorio seventeen." Rommel read him Hitler's message, and von Thoma left to take charge of the remaining panzers.

When 150 British tanks attacked the remnants of the 15th and 21st Panzer Divisions, von Thoma directed the German defence. He was in the command tank and remained in the battlefield until the last panzer was destroyed. At the end of the tank battle, von Thoma contemplated the scene of destruction that was later nicknamed the "panzer graveyard".

A 12 miles-wide (19 km) hole had been punched in the Axis line. Rommel ordered the Axis retreat against Hitler's orders. Due to insufficient fuel and transportation, the great bulk of the Italian divisions were abandoned, with some German units commandeering Italian trucks and fuel at gunpoint.

On 4 November, the final Allied attacks were made. The British 1st, 7th and 10th Armoured Divisions (under Major-General Gatehouse) passed through the Axis lines, and advanced towards Fuka. The Germans were in full retreat. This day saw the destruction of the Ariete and Littorio Armoured Divisions, and the Trieste Motorised Division. The Ariete (under General Francesco Arena) fought well at El Alamein, effectively derailing Montgomery's plans to encircle and completely destroy the retreating Afrika Korps. The German Army High Command recognized the Italian effort and claimed that the "British were made to pay for their penetration with enormous losses in men and material. The Italians fought to the last man."

It was reported that Colonel Dall'Olio, the acting commanding of the survivors of the Bologna Divison, surrendered to his British counterpart saying, "We have ceased firing not because we haven't the desire but because we have spent every round." In a symbolic act of final defiance no one in the Bologna raised their hands.

The Fallschirmjäger brigade under General Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke was cut off in the southern desert; nevertheless the German paratroopers force marched 80 miles to catch up with Rommel, in the process ambushing and capturing a British motorized column and freeing some 100 Axis prisoners. For this achievement, Ramcke was awarded the Oaks Leaves to his Knight's Cross and promoted to Generalleutnant.

War correspondent Harry Zinder from TIME magazine visited the battlefield, noting that the Italians fought better than had been expected:

"It was a terrific letdown by their German allies. They had fought a good fight. In the south, the famed Folgore parachute division fought to the last round of ammunition. Two armoured divisions and a motorised division, which had been interspersed among the German formations, thought they would be allowed to retire gracefully with Rommel's 21st, 15th and 90th Light. But even that was denied them. When it became obvious to Rommel that there would be little chance to hold anything between El Daba and the frontier, his Panzers dissolved, disintegrated and turned tail, leaving the Italians to fight a rear-guard action."

Notes