It was part of the Western Desert Campaign of World War 2 was fought between the British Eighth Army led by General Claude Auchinleck and the Axis forces consisting of German and Italian units of Panzerarmee Afrika (Panzer Army Africa) led by Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. Hartshorne, E P, Avenge Tobruk (Cape Town, 1960). XXX Corps (General Norrie) was given the task of defending the northern part of the line. The Italian XX Corps, to the south, had 50 tanks, but they were generally rather outdated. Rommel was confident of victory, but he had misread the British deployment. The First Battle of El Alamein (1–27 July 1942) was a battle of the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War, fought between Axis forces (Germany and Italy) of the Panzer Army Africa (Panzerarmee Afrika) commanded by Field Marshal (Generalfeldmarschall) Erwin Rommel, and Allied (specifically, British Imperial) … Thus, Auchinleck decided to change over to an offensive posture. He joined the SADF in 1973 and served as an armour officer at 1 Special Service Battalion in Bloemfontein. On 2 July, the 1st South African Brigade was in the brunt of the fighting, being hit by the left wing of attacks by the German panzers. Unfortunately this meant that it had to be postponed to 26/27 July. II, 1 st SA Division, Tobruk to El Alamein. The salient had been turned into more of a curve. The first battle of El Alamein (1-27 July 1942) was a series of engagements in the area south of El Alamein in which Rommel's run of victories in 1942 was finally brought to an end. Both sides were now exhausted, but the British were able to recover quicker than Rommel. Between them the Germans and Italians had 500 guns, but only 29 of the precious 88mms. Ariete was hit by the New Zealanders, and by noon had lost 350 men and 44 guns, and only have five tanks left. Montgomery inherited Auchinleck's defensive plans at Alam Halfa, although did make some modifications of his own, and Rommel's attack was very quickly repelled. The relief didn’t got as planned – the South Africans left before Ackcol arrived, and a party from the 90th Light Division had to be forced out of the position. This time they inflicted heavy losses on the Trieste division. Two years of constant strain and combat … He prepared orders for a full scale attack on the southern front, to be carried out on the following day. of it. They had just arrived from Iraq and were placed in hastily prepared defensive positions. British losses were already high, while Rommel had by then received some reinforcements (Liddell Hart, 1974, p 300). Total South African losses, from 26 June to 30 July 1942, were 433 officers and other ranks of whom 164 were killed, 253 wounded, and eight taken prisoner of war, while eight received treatment for shell shock (Roll of Honour, World War 11,1939-1945; Div Docs 105, File1 SAD/A2/2: Battle Casualties, 1-30 July 1942). The first Battle of El Alamein occurred between July 1-27, 1942. 90th Light and the Afrika Korps were to push to the coast, while Ariete and Triestewere to attack south to pin down XIII Corps. During the First Battle of El Alamein, the British tank force clearly had a numerical advantage over German armored forces. Without the help of the 1st British Armoured Division on Ruweisat Ridge and the British and Australian artillery, the South Africans would not, on their own, have been able to withstand the onslaught of the panzers on 13 July. 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