First Battle of El Alamein





First Battle of El Alamein 1 - 27 July 1942.

The Allied Eighth Army under General Claude Auchinleck had retreated from
Mersa Matruh to the Alamein Line, a forty mile gap between El Alamein and
the Qattara Depression, in Egypt.

On July 1 the German-Italian Afrika Korps led by Erwin Rommel attacked. The
Allied line near El Alamein was not overrun until the evening and this hold
up stalled the Axis advance.

On July 2 Rommel concentrated his forces in the north, intending to break
through around El Alamein. Auchinleck ordered a counter-attack at the centre
of the Axis line but the attack failed. The Allies also attacked in the
south and were more successful against the Italians. As a result of the
Allied resistance, Rommel decided to regroup and defend the line reached.

Auchinleck attacked again on July 10 at Tel el Eisa in the north and over
one thousand prisoners were taken. Rommel's counter at Tel el Eisa achieved
little. Auchinleck then attacked again in the centre at the Ruweisat Ridge
in two battles - the First and Second Battles of Ruweisat on July 14 and
July 21. Neither battle was succcessful and the failure of armour to reach
the infantry in time at the Second Battle led to the loss of 700 men.
Despite this another two attacks were launched on July 27. One in the north
at Tel el Eisa was a moderate failure. The other at Miteiriya was more
calametous, as the minefields were not cleared and the infantry was left
without armour support when faced with a German counter-attack.

The Eighth Army was exhausted, and by July 31 Auchinleck ordered an end to
offensive operations and the strengthening of the defences to meet a major
counter-offensive.

The battle was a stalemate, but the Axis advance on Alexandria (and then
Cairo) was halted. See Second Battle of El Alamein for the sequel.