Battle Timeline"Everyone must be imbued with the desire kill Germans, one for weekdays and two on Sundays." PRELUDE TO ACTION
His advance stalled at the first Battle of El Alamein, Rommel knew that a major allied offensive on his delicate position was inescapable and went about preparing for it. Accepted as "a master of mobile warfare"2, Rommel was forced to stray from the tactics he favoured by the crippling lack of fuel and transport the face by the Axis forces. Rommel chose to shield the majority of the Italian and Afrika Korps force with 'the Devil's Gardens' - an intricate and complex minefield bolstered by powerful anti-tank gun emplacements and positions. Things, however, were far from going well in the German camp. Rommel was plagued by illness and left the front for Germany to be hospitalised on the 23rd of September, leaving the command of a fatiguing Afrika Korps and depleted Panzerarmee to General Georg von Stumme. By the Second Battle of El Alamein the Commonwealth forces in Egypt were truly up against their corner, pushed back incredibly close to their supplies and logistic centres while enjoying a steady stream of fresh reinforcements following the halted Axis advance resulting after the first Battle of El Alamein. At the same time, holding the highly strategic island of Malta gave free reign to harass German supplies at sea, and Axis lines of supply had to be covered as they crossed a vast and empty desert. Rommel was at a considerable disadvantage and found himself unable to hold the El Alamein position forever. Towards the beginning of September 1942 again Rommel tried to force away through the British lines at the Battle of Alam Halfa, decisively defeated by Bernard Montgomery newly appointed commander in North Africa. Since the events of EL Alamein, conclusion of the war and significant historical review and revision, far more recognition is given to Montgomery's predecessor, Claud Auchinleck, who was the first to face the Axis advance on Egypt during the summer of 1942, standing between Egypt and first the Italian 10th Army and then Rommel and the Afrika Korps. Adviser to the Pentagon and assistant professor at the American Military University, David Zabecki claims the Germans "tend to give Auchinleck the credit for stopping Rommel"3, a claim of certain credibility, regarding El Alamein as the last in a sequence of missteps on the Axis part and fortunate or strategic advantages exploited by the Allies leading up to a turn in the North African Campaign, General Claud Auchinleck's previous victories as giving Montgomery "an upper hand, going into Alamein, that was pretty hard to squander"4. ACTION AT THE SECOND BATTLE OF EL ALAMEIN
Under a full moon the night of October 23rd 1942, the Allies began a intensive barrage against the Axis depositions as 4 infantry divisions from XXX Corps advanced across the "Devil's Garden", engineers clearing a path for tanks behind them. As the mines were cleared, the armour began to press forward but progress was slow and a bottleneck developed. This initial assault on Rommel's lines was assisted by diversionary attacks further south. The German defence became severely hampered before dawn as Von Stumme died of a heart attack during the attack. Ritter von Thoma took control of the situation and immediately begun to mount counterattacks against the advancing infantry. Though hindered, the Commonwealth forces overcame the assaults and the first major tank engagement of the battle was fought as the armoured divisions of X Corps moved in. Montgomery began shifting the weight of the 8th Army north and to the six mile wide path cleared into Rommel's position in the phase of the battle referred to as the "Break In". The initial thrust had ended by Sunday and on the 25th of October, when Rommel returned from Germany to reassume command of the Axis forces, he found them stretched and with only three days fuel remaining. Moving divisions up from the south, Rommel found they did not have the fuel to withdraw and were left exposed and in the open. The Axis position grew dire a fuel tanker headed for the front was sunk by aircraft just off Tobruk. Montgomery, however, continued to have difficulty breaking through the Axis lines despite Rommel's affliction as a stubborn defence was maintained by Axis anti-tank guns. Two days later, a considerable push northwest of Tel el Eisa succeeded in reaching the coast road and was able to repel all enemy counterattacks. After a German assault on the position on November 1st again yielded nothing, Rommel began to concede the battle was lost and began to plan a retreat west to Fuka. Montgomery initiated Operation Supercharge on the 2nd of November with the goal of forcing the battle into the open and reaching Tel el Aqqaqir. The 2nd New Zealand Division assisted by elements of the 1st Armored Division attacked under an intense artillery barrage and met stiff opposition. The resulting engagement, however, pressured Rommel to commit his armour reserves, costing the Axis over 100 tanks. OUTCOME
"In a man to man fight, the winner is he who has one more round in his magazine." - Erwin Rommel 6 Assessing Axis armour, Rommel discovered fewer than 50 tanks remained and even these few were soon destroyed by British attacks. Entire Axis units were being overrun and destroyed as Montgomery attacked, opening a 12-mile hole in Rommel's line. On the 2nd of November, after only eleven days of conflict, Hitler was warned by Rommel that his army faced annihilation. Intercepted by the Allies, Montgomery had the message in his hands by the next morning. Rommel was ordered by Hitler to 'stand and die', but the Axis forces had already begun to retreat by the time the order was received. At midday on 4 November, Rommel's last defences caved in and that evening he received orders from Hitler to withdraw. - Historian Andrew Roberts states, "Because of the invaluable advantage of being able to read Rommel's Enigma communications, Montgomery knew how short the Germans were of men, ammunition, food and above all fuel. When he put Rommel's picture up in his caravan he wanted to be seen to be almost reading his opponent's mind. In fact he was reading his mail"5. Montgomery pressed on with his final assault at El Alamein on the 4th of November, the 1st, 7th, and 10th Armoured Divisions breaking the German and Italian lines and pushing through to open desert. All In all, by the 11th of November 1942, the Second Battle of El Alamein had stretched on for 20 days and left 13,500 casualties. Possibly one of the greatest questions of the war discussed and debated by historians is whether Bernard Montgomery would have seen the same level of success at El Alamein, a battle that changed the fate of the war, had Rommel been in charge and in the field instead of Von Stumme. Richard Holmes professor of military and security studies at Cranfield University argues Rommel's presence would not have changed the course of the battle. "Rommel had gone home because he was worn out, and, given the political need to hold positions as far forward as possible, the Germans, regardless of the commander on the day, had few real tactical alternatives at Alamein." 7 Rommel was a man with "a feel for the battlefield like no other" according to U.S. General Norman Schwarzkopf8. El Alamein saw Rommel routed, one battle saw the entire desert war take a completely different turn. Rommel no longer posed the massive threat to British Command and morale Auchinleck had once regarded him, writing to his Officers before El Alamein: "There exists a real danger that our friend Rommel is becoming a kind of magical or bogey-man to our troops, who are talking far too much about him. He is by no means a superman, although he is undoubtedly very energetic and able. Even if he were a superman, it would still be highly undesirable that our men should credit him with supernatural powers... …(you must) dispel by all possible means the idea that Rommel represents anything other than the ordinary German general………. PS, I’m not jealous of Rommel."9 |
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Gallery - El alamein
1 Taylor, J. (2013). Walking Wounded: The Life and Poetry of Vernon Scannell (Vol. 1). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
2 Prados, J. (2011). Normandy Crucible: The Decisive Battle that Shaped World War II in Europe. New York, New York State.
3 Zabecki, D. (1999). World War II in Europe. Washington DC., District of Columbia: Library of Congress.
4 Mourby, A. (2002, October 28). Did Monty's strategic flair win El Alamein or was it a sick Rommel and five times more tanks. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
5 Roberts, A (2009), The Storm of War: A New History of the Second World War, UK: Penguin, p
6 Rommel, E. (1937). Infanterie greift an. Berlin.
7 Holmes, R. (2006). Battlefield. Decisive Conflicts in History. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
8 McNeese, Tim (2003), H. Norman Schwarzkopf, New York City, New York. Chelsea House Publishing
9 Palmers, A. (n.d.). Erwin Rommel. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
2 Prados, J. (2011). Normandy Crucible: The Decisive Battle that Shaped World War II in Europe. New York, New York State.
3 Zabecki, D. (1999). World War II in Europe. Washington DC., District of Columbia: Library of Congress.
4 Mourby, A. (2002, October 28). Did Monty's strategic flair win El Alamein or was it a sick Rommel and five times more tanks. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
5 Roberts, A (2009), The Storm of War: A New History of the Second World War, UK: Penguin, p
6 Rommel, E. (1937). Infanterie greift an. Berlin.
7 Holmes, R. (2006). Battlefield. Decisive Conflicts in History. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
8 McNeese, Tim (2003), H. Norman Schwarzkopf, New York City, New York. Chelsea House Publishing
9 Palmers, A. (n.d.). Erwin Rommel. Retrieved May 11, 2015.