Battle of Alam Halfa Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
The Battle of Alam el Halfa took place between 30 August and 6 September 1942 during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War, between the Deutsches Afrikakorps commanded by Erwin Rommel and the British Eighth Army commanded by Bernard Montgomery.In an effort to bypass the British position and cut it off from its base in Egypt, the Axis forces attacked the weaker Southern sector of the British line. Rommel's main offensive force then struck north. Decrypted German Enigma signals gave Montgomery the time and place of the assault, enabling him to put batteries of artillery in position on the Alam el Halfa ridge to destroy the German tanks.
On 31 August Rommel's troops were halted after bitter fighting and heavy losses just to the southwest of Alam el Halfa. Another assault on the ridge on 1 September was repulsed. By now the Axis forces were suffering from supply shortages especially fuel, and on 2 September Rommel ordered a withdrawal by stages. Both sides clashed again on the night of the 3 September when the retreating Germans were attacked by New Zealand units. All the while the Desert Air Force were adding to Rommel's supply problems by attacking his supply columns.
By 5 September the Axis forces had reached the eastern side of the old British minefields. Sporadic fighting continued on 6 September, with the British making small gains against the Germans and on 7 September, with a lull in the fighting, both sides regrouped and the battle ended. The German's had gained about five miles of the southern Alamein front.
The next major clash on the Alamein front was a British attack on 23 October 1942, beginning the Second Battle of El Alamein.
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