Operation LIGHTFOOT

The Second Battle of el Alamein began with an artillery barrage heavier than any since World War I. Montgomery assigned 834 25pdr. field guns and 48 medium guns to blast a front of 12,000 yards wide. The creepíng barrage swept …

1942-10-27

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The Second Battle of el Alamein began with an artillery barrage heavier than any since World War I. Montgomery assigned 834 25pdr. field guns and 48 medium guns to blast a front of 12,000 yards wide. The creepíng barrage swept over the Axis line for five hours, cutting swaths through the hundreds of thousands of mínes Rommel had laid in front of his line. The bombardment was followed by an well prepared ínfantry assault, the kind of battle for which the British had been specially trained, and the kind of battle the Germans could not afford to fight. Rommel, who had been in Austria rccovering from a liver disorder, immediately flew to North Africa. By the time he arrived. acting commander General Ritter von Thema had committed all of the available forces, meaning the 31 panzers left in Afrika Korps, to stem the tide of Allied armor. Rommel could do little but fret while he watched the battle develop. On 27 October 1942 Rommel ordered a last-ditch offensive to regain Kidney Ridge and Hill 29. With these high ground positions he cmlld reestablish a front and hope to trap the spearhead of the Allied offensive. At 1500 hours Colonel Teege led Kampfgruppe Stifflemaier, consisting of the 8th Panzer Regiment and an armored battalion of Littorio Division, into an assault of Kidney Ridge, a position known as “Snipe” to the British. Here, the 2nd/Rifle Brigade and elements of the 7th Motor Brigade awaited the assault. In support were the new 6pdr guns of the 239th Battery/76th Antitank Regiment, and the Shermans of 24th Armoured Brigade.

El Alamein, Egypt

The Second Battle of El Alamein was a battle of the Second World War that took place near the Egyptian railway halt of El Alamein. The First Battle of El Alamein and the Battle of Alam el Halfa had prevented the Axis from advancing further into Egypt. In August 1942, General Claude Auchinleck had been relieved as Commander-in-Chief Middle East Command and his successor, Lieutenant-General William Gott was killed on his way to replace him as commander of the Eighth Army. Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery was appointed and led the Eighth Army offensive. The Allied victory was the beginning of the end of the Western Desert Campaign, eliminating the Axis threat to Egypt, the Suez Canal and the Middle Eastern and Persian oil fields. The battle revived the morale of the Allies, being the first big success against the Axis since Operation Crusader in late 1941.

Wikipedia: Second Battle of El Alamein

German / Italian

British Commonwealth