THE BATTLE OF ALAM HALFA

The German threat to the Middle East had caused a great stir in the British camp, and convoy after convoy was now heading for the Suez Canal to try and ward off any further advances. These were just the prelude of an immense influx of troops and equipment, which by September would give the 8th Army overwhelming superiority. Finally, to start with a clean slate, on August 13th Montgomery would replace Auchinleck as commander of this revitalized 8th Army.
Rommel was well aware of the 8th Army build-up and was determined to launch a major offensive which would break through to the Suez Canal and checkmate any future British offensives. His plan was to use head-on attacks by the Italian XXI and X Corps in the north to hold the enemy's attention., while his DAK, including the Italian XX Corps swung south to break through the British defenses and then sweep north to the coast road behind the 8th Army. If this attack was successful a threefold pursuit of the enemy would ensue. Gruppe Bismark, made up of 21st Panzer Division and 164th Light Division would strike out for Alexandria. The Afrika Korps, led by 15th Panzer and the 90th Light would cross the Nile at Cairo and strike out immediately for the Suez Canal. The Italian XX Corps, with Ariete, Littorio armored divisions and Trieste motorized division would clean up any British resistance still existing in the rear areas.
Rommel had used this southern sweep approach in most of his earlier attacks, and the British had always responded by sending their armor to intercept him. However, their new commander Montgomery would have none of it, and insisted that in the event of this type of attack the British armor would take up defensive hulldown positions, and the artillery, anti-tank guns and the RAF would take on the German armor.

While "Ultra" fed Montgomery any information it could glean from the German radio intercepts, the British were planting false information of their own. A phoney map, developed by Brigadier Francis de Guingand, was planted is a damaged armored car which had to be left behind, with the hope that the Germans would find it. Colonel Fritz Bayerlein confirmed that indeed the Germans did find it and treated it as authentic. The map supposedly showed the minefield positions, soft sand areas, and the condition of the various desert tracks in the XIII Corps sector. Undoubtedly it added to the confusion of the battles to follow.


Rommel was ready to strike with the full moon on the night of August 26th, but supply difficulties forced him to postpone until the 30th. At 0200 hours on the 31st the DAK reached the British mine fields. The 15th and 21st Panzer Divisions were in the lead, followed by the Italian XX Corps, and 90th Light in the rear. Their total tank strength was 515, of which 234 were German and included 26 of the newly arrived PzKpfw. IV/F2 models with the long 75mm gun. The towed artillery included 72 mobile 88mm guns, but these would find few suitable targets, since Horrock's XIII Corps had been warned not to play into Rommel's hand by engaging him with their armor.

From the start, things went badly, as Rommel received reports that his armor had come up against unmarked minefields, or was bogged down in bad terrain. The anticipated thirty mile penetration by daybreak had dissolved to a mere ten miles, and his sweep north would now lead him under the guns on the crest of Alam el Halfa ridge. To add to his problems he learned that Major-General Georg von Bismark, commander of 21st Panzer Division had been killed by a mine explosion, and Lt-General Walther Nehring, commanding the Afrika Korps had been badly wounded during an air attack. An assault on the highest point of Alam Halfa ridge was repulsed and the Italian XX Corps on the left was halted in its tracks. Major-General Kleeman, commanding the 90th Light Division opposite the New Zealand Division was also seriously wounded in an air attack, and on Sept. 1st Rommel himself barely escaped another British bombing raid.
The RAF continued to pound the Axis forces at every opportunity, and on Sept. 3rd Rommel decided to withdraw. Axis losses were 536 dead, 1,760 wounded, and 569 missing, along with 49 tanks, 55 guns and 395 trucks captured or destroyed. The great dream of a quick thrust to the Nile was now extinguished.
Rommel's health had been failing for some time and on Sept. 19th, General Georg Stumme arrived to act as a temporary replacement. On the 23rd Rommel flew from Derna to Rome, then on to Germany for public appearances and medical treatment.