El Alamein Pt 2

 

Time to go back to El Alamein were in the middle of 1942 there was great Axis pressure on the desert fighters. It was in June 1942 that Rommel was finally able to capture Tobruk with 35,000 prisoners of war.

At the end of June, the Australian 9^th division was ordered back to Egypt, arriving in July. The following battles prevented Rommel from advancing further into Egypt also even though he gained ground this took him further away from his supply lines in Libya. The Allies bombing of the German supply ships caused him stress, he was worried about the lack of petrol. In October he was planning a 12-day battle but only had enough fuel for 11 days.

It was under a full moon on 23 October the Allies let lose a massive bombardment against Rommel’s lines, at 9pm fire from 900 medium and field guns lit up the night sky. The front extended about 60 kilometres running North to South.

There were three phases of the battle with the first two days being devoted to preparing the way for the Eighth Army to break through the enemy line. The next seven days and nights saw crumbling operations, with the final phase saw the Allies break through and Rommel retreating.

Although there was only around 14,000 Aussies involved out of the 220,000 strong Allies their contribution was considered a crucial one.

The main task of the Aussies was to form a strong flank in the northern sector they were required to draw Axis fire on the northern flank while other divisions broke through on the south. The fighting was fierce and at times hand to hand with many amazing, courageous acts as soldiers stormed the enemy post dying will doing so.

The 2/48^th battalion received four posthumous Victoria Crosses during the war.

Rommel wrote that the British resisted desperately, with rivers of blood being poured over miserable stirps of land.  

Another miserable but important strip of land was near the railway and was known as the “saucer”. This position was under attack for several days and was defended by the 2/24^th & 2/28^th and reinforced by a British tank regiment and a Rhodesian battery of anti-tank guns.

The climax of the battle of El Alamein came at the start of November with the start of operation Supercharge which succeeded in storming through enemy lines.

By the end of 1942 even though Aussie’s were still under fire the prospects were much improved compared with the start of the year. The Japanese had withdrawn from Papua and the Yanks were fighting back on Guadalcanal. Northern Australia was now a secure military base for the Aussies and the Yanks.

Winston Churchill said after the battle od El Alamein “his is not the end, it is not even the beginning of the end, but it is, perhaps the end of the beginning”.