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Artillery fire at El Alamein

Explosions from Allied artillery fire light up the horizon at El Alamein, October 1942. This photograph was taken from a ridge in front of 5th (NZ) Brigade Headquarters.

Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: DA-09697
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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NZ Division helps Allies break through at El Alamein

At El Alamein in Egypt, the 2nd New Zealand Division opened the way for British armour, allowing the Allies to make a breakthrough and send the Axis forces into retreat.

The North African campaign was important to the Allies because of the strategic importance of the nearby Suez Canal and the Middle East oilfields. The New Zealanders had been fighting German and Italian forces around the border between Egypt and Libya since 1941. The Second Battle of El Alamein, which began on 23 October 1942, was to determine the outcome of the Western Desert campaign.

The 2nd New Zealand Division, boosted by two British infantry brigades, was given the responsibility of leading Operation Supercharge, which began at 1.05 a.m. on 2 November. The aim was to destroy as many enemy tanks as possible and clear the way for Allied tanks to break through. An air offensive preceded the advance on the ground, which was supported by an artillery barrage in which nearly 350 guns fired more than 50,000 rounds.

The fighting during the day was fierce. By the evening of the 2nd, the German Afrika Korps was in a desperate position. With many of his tanks destroyed and fuel supplies low, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel began withdrawing the mobile parts of the Axis army. By 4 November it was in headlong retreat, with the British armoured divisions and 2nd New Zealand Division in hot pursuit. With no transport available, thousands of Italian and German troops were taken prisoner. While Rommel lived to fight another day, there was no hiding the fact that the Axis had suffered a decisive defeat.

Image: El Alamein campaign map

El Alamein campaign map, 1942

El Alamein campaign map, June-October 1942

On 28 June 1942 the New Zealand Division completes a famous 'breakout' at Minqar Qaim. Having been surrounded by German forces, the New Zealanders launch a ferocious night attack against the 21st Panzer Division to the east. The onslaught catches the Germans by surprise and the majority of the New Zealand Division is able to escape back to El Alamein.

In mid-July the New Zealand Division suffers heavy casualties at Ruweisat Ridge and El Mreir Depression. On both occasions, the New Zealanders achieve their objectives but are let down by a lack of armoured support. More than 1400 men are killed, wounded, or captured at Ruweisat; while another 900 are lost at El Mreir.

Two battles are fought at El Alamein in 1942. The first is not an Allied success, but the second in October is a decisive victory for the British 8th Army. German and Italian forces begin a headlong retreat westwards that ends with their surrender in Tunisia in May 1943.

Map from Megan Hutching (ed.), The Desert Road: New Zealanders Remember the North African Campaign, Auckland, 2005

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Artillery shells explode at El Alamein

Artillery shells explode on a ridge in the southern sector of El Alamein, September 1942. The photograph was taken from positions occupied by New Zealand gunners of 27 Battery, 5th (NZ) Field Regiment.

Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: PAColl-5547-057
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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El Alamein - The North African Campaign

Disasters at Ruweisat and El Mreir

Following the breakout at Minqar Qaim in late June 1942, the New Zealand Division fell back to the Alamein Line, where it took part in the first Battle of Alamein. At Ruweisat Ridge on 15 July 1942, and the El Mreir Depression a week later, the New Zealanders seized their objectives after successful night assaults. But on both occasions they were left unsupported by British armoured units, and when German tanks appeared they had no choice but to surrender.

Keith Elliott VC

The inability to get anti-tank and other heavy weapons forward to the New Zealanders contributed to the debacles at Ruweisat and El Mreir. But its main cause was the failure of the British armour to move forward. Faulty orders and a lack of initiative on the part of the exhausted British tank commanders lay at the heart of the problem. The 4th, 5th and 6th (NZ) Brigades suffered heavy casualties in these battles, and several thousand more New Zealanders were captured.

A stalemate developed on the Alamein Line. Rommel, conscious that a lack of reinforcements and supplies were weakening his position in North Africa, tried to grab the initiative before it was too late. On 30 August 1942 German and Italian forces breached the Alamein minefields and headed south in an attempt to outflank the Allied forces. Deciphered German codes – dubbed ULTRA intelligence by the Allies – allowed the Allies to track Rommel’s intended movements and they pounded his columns with artillery and from the air. Having made little progress and with his tanks short on fuel Rommel fell back to his original positions. This action marked the debut of the 8th Army’s new commander, Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery. While he was fortunate to assume command just as conditions began to favour the Allies, Montgomery had more than good luck on his side. He brought a new uncompromising approach to the campaign, immediately indicating that there would be no thought of further retreat.

Breakthrough at El Alamein

El Alamein campaign map, 1942

The New Zealand Division played a key role in the second Battle of El Alamein, which began on 23 October 1942. Its task, along with South African, Australian and British divisions, was to 'break in' through the enemy defences, which were now covered by deep minefields. At 9.40 p.m. the skies around El Alamein lit up as around 900 guns opened fire on known Axis positions. Twenty minutes later the infantry began their assault, advancing forward under a First World War-style creeping barrage. While the New Zealanders seized their objectives, the overall battle did not develop as Montgomery expected. Congestion, poor coordination and cautious leadership prevented Allied armoured units from taking advantage of gains made by the infantry.

Montgomery planned a new attack – Operation Supercharge – further to the south, which would essentially repeat the process of the initial attack. He looked to the New Zealand Division's experienced headquarters to plan the ‘break in’ component of Supercharge, although the division itself was too weak to provide the necessary punch. Two British brigades, with New Zealand support, would carry out the attack while New Zealand infantry battalions protected their flanks.

Artillery fire at El Alamein

Operation Supercharge began at 1.05 a.m. on 2 November, with the British infantry brigades forcing open a path for British armour to pour through. Having breached the prepared Axis positions, the tanks ran into Rommel’s panzers (German tanks). Both sides incurred heavy losses in the ensuing battle, but by evening the Afrika Korps were facing defeat. Realising his battered armoured units were fast running out of fuel, Rommel decided to withdraw. Despite Hitler ordering the German-Italian troops to ‘stand fast’, by 4 November Axis forces in North Africa were in headlong retreat. Many Italian troops, without adequate transport, were taken prisoner. Rommel’s defeat at El Alamein would prove to be the decisive moment of the North African campaign.

The Axis position in North Africa was furthered weakened when Anglo-American forces landed in Vichy-French Morocco and Algeria in November 1942. To meet the new threat, Axis forces poured into Tunisia, forming a new army commanded by General Hans-Jurgen von Arnim. The Germans and Italians were now fighting on two fronts.