who won the first battle of el alamein

The Eighth Army had suffered over 13,000 casualties in July, including 4,000 in the 2nd New Zealand Division, 3,000 in the 5th Indian Infantry Division and 2,552 battle casualties in the 9th Australian Division but had taken 7,000 prisoners and inflicted heavy damage on Axis men and machines. On 30 June, the 90th Light Division was still 15 miles (24 km) short of its start line, 21st Panzer Division was immobilised through lack of fuel and the promised air support had yet to move into its advanced airfields. [43] Meanwhile, the Eighth Army was reorganising and rebuilding, benefiting from its short lines of communication. [c] He decided instead to employ delaying tactics while withdrawing a further 100 mi (160 km) or more east to a more defensible position near El Alamein on the Mediterranean coast. Rommel's plan was for the 90th Light Division and the 15th and 21st Panzer divisions of the Afrika Korps to penetrate the Eighth Army lines between the Alamein box and Deir el Abyad (which he believed was defended). [110][111] For example, while Rommel was a very good tactical commander, the Italian and German High Commands were concerned that he lacked operational awareness and a sense of strategic objectives. By the end of the day's fighting, the Afrika Korps had 37 tanks left out of its initial complement of 55. The duties of comradeship, for me particularly as their Commander-in-Chief, compel me to state unequivocally that the defeats which the Italian formations suffered at Alamein in early July were not the fault of the Italian soldier. [96][99][100], Once more, the Eighth Army had failed to destroy Rommel's forces, despite its overwhelming superiority in men and equipment. Close. Once again, the anti-tank defences were overwhelmed and about 380 New Zealanders were taken prisoner including Captain Charles Upham[76] who gained a second Victoria Cross for his actions including destroying a German tank and several guns and vehicles with grenades despite being shot through the elbow by a machine gun bullet and having his arm broken. They faced some 115,000 Germans and Italians with some 550 tanks. After El Alamein, the British believed that they could beat the Germans at anytime and anywhere. [13] Montgomery began the attack with a massive artillery barrage against the entire German line. [63][64][65] Another attack was mounted on 15 July but made no ground against tenacious resistance. The two British armoured brigades started on 3 July with a total strength of 119 tanks, Barton Maughan—Australia's official historian—has written that "two forward platoons of the 2/32nd's left company were overrun, 22 men were taken prisoner", Playfair states that the "...timing soon fell behind, but by 3 am the Australians had taken their objective". [41], Rommel was by this time suffering from the extended length of his supply lines. Early on 27 June, resuming its advance, the 90th Light was checked by British 50th Division's artillery. [7] Inland from X Corps would be XIII Corps with 5th Indian Infantry Division (with only one infantry brigade, 29th Indian, and two artillery regiments) around Sidi Hamza about 20 mi (32 km) inland, and the newly arrived 2nd New Zealand Division (short one brigade, the 6th, which had been left out of combat in case the division was captured and it would be needed to serve as the nucleus of a new division) at Minqar Qaim (on the escarpment 30 mi (48 km) inland) and 1st Armored Division in the open desert to the south. While—with help from mobile infantry and artillery columns from 7th Armoured Division—they pushed back the Axis probe with ease, they were prevented from advancing north to protect the New Zealand flank. On the right, the attacking battalion broke into the Deir el Shein position but was driven back in hand-to-hand fighting. [43] Meanwhile, the Eighth Army was reorganising and rebuilding, benefiting from its short lines of communication. The Eighth Army was exhausted, and on 31 July Auchinleck ordered an end to offensive operations and the strengthening of the defences to meet a major counter-offensive. On the left, the initial attempt to clear the western end of Ruweisat failed but at 08:00 a renewed attack by the reserve battalion succeeded. The Bab el Qattara box—some 20 mi (32 km) from the coast and 8 mi (13 km) south-west of the Ruweisat Ridge—had been dug but had not been wired or mined, while at the Naq Abu Dweis box (on the edge of the Qattara Depression), 34 mi (55 km) from the coast, very little work had been done. Once again, 90th Light failed to make progress so Rommel called the Afrika Korps to abandon its planned sweep southward and instead join the effort to break through to the coast road by attacking east toward Ruweisat Ridge. That source of intelligence was now lost to Rommel. The Battle of El Alamein was to prove a turning point in the war. During the Battle of Dunkirk from May 26 to June 4, 1940, some 338,000 British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and other Allied troops were evacuated from Dunkirk to ...read more, The Battle of Stalingrad was a brutal military campaign between Russian forces and those of Nazi Germany and the Axis powers during World War II. [30] The 1st Armoured Division had been sent to intervene at Deir el Shein. The Eighth Army had suffered over 13,000 casualties in July, including 4,000 in the 2nd New Zealand Division, 3,000 in the 5th Indian Infantry Division and 2,552 battle casualties in the 9th Australian Division but had taken 7,000 prisoners and inflicted heavy damage on Axis men and machines. [20], The scattering of X Corps at Mersa Matruh disrupted Auchinleck's plan for occupying the Alamein defences. "[17] Montgomery in his memoirs noted that the victory had an immediate and discernable impact on the single most important factor in war, that is morale. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License (CC-BY-SA). At this time the Axis divisions had begun to run short of supplies and ammunition. [41], Rommel was by this time suffering from the extended length of his supply lines. Rolling forward at 3:00 AM on July 1, the 90th Light advanced too far north and became in entangled in the 1st South African Division's (XXX Corps) defenses. This allowed their lines to hold. Commencing attacks on July 1, Axis forces proved unable to break through Eighth Army. How did Mussolini become Prime Minister of Italy? Rommel defeated a British offensive and in 1942, he took Tobruk and this opened the way to Egypt. [44], On 8 July, Auchinleck ordered the new XXX Corps commander—Lieutenant-General William Ramsden—to capture the low ridges at Tel el Eisa and Tel el Makh Khad and then to push mobile battle groups south toward Deir el Shein and raiding parties west toward the airfields at El Daba. The Germans and Italian were doomed because that lacked a sufficient number of troops, relied on inadequate supplies, and had unrealistic objectives. The epic battle lasted three days and resulted in a retreat to Virginia by Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. [76] At 17:00, Nehring launched his counter-attack. An Italian division was to attack the Alamein box from the west and another was to follow the 90th Light Division.

Rubidium Facts, Girl Names That Mean Griffin, Schalcken The Painter Trailer, Joy Red Velvet Height, Weight, Mad About Mambo Watch Online, Is Pandora Jewelry Still Popular 2020,