When British General Bernard Law Montgomery began preparations for his own offensive at El Alamein later that autumn, therefore, he had Ruweisat Ridge’s beleaguered defenders to thank for his own decisive victory. As a result, Malta would remain a thorn in the German rear, and a base from which British aircraft and submarines could interdict the Axis seaborne supply line to North Africa. In gambling on a breakthrough, meanwhile, Rommel had forced the cancellation of Operation Herkules, the planned airborne invasion of the British-held islands of Malta. By the time he was done, the British had further dug in and reinforced the El Alamein position, effectively ending any hope the Germans had of reaching the Suez Canal. towards their own starting positions, in order to open up a supply line. By the end of the first day, the Panzers had formed up into a laager behind the British lines, and in the next days, Rommel had them launching an attack backwards, i.e. Reduced to a handful of tanks and close to running out of supplies, he had nothing left with which to penetrate the British position, and had no choice but to pull back and begin the long process of refitting. British M3 Grant (left) and Lee (right) at El Alamein (Egypt), 1942. In 1942, Rommel's Desert Afrika Corps faces off against Montgomery's Eighth Army.This is the story of the climax in the struggle for North Africa, which would change the course of the Second World War. With Neville Gillman, Wilhelm Hagios, Jack Hodgkins, Herbert Huntemann. The Battle of El Alamein begins On July 1, 1942, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel is brought to a standstill in the battle for control of North Africa. In assaulting Ruweisat Ridge, Rommel had come close to breaking through, but in the process had spent his last effective reserves. The Battle of El Alamein: Directed by Paul Kilback. German and Italian prisoners captured at Ruweisat Ridge, July 1942. Finally that afternoon, just as the position was about to collapse, tanks of the British 22nd Armoured Brigade, backed by six-pounder anti-tank guns able to work effectively at longer range, engaged Rommel’s panzers and brought them to a halt. ![]() As the panzers drove along the ridge, spraying gun emplacements with machine guns and crushing redoubts with their defenders inside, the British and Indian gunners and infantry engaged them at close range and refused to back down despite heavy casualties on both sides. ![]() All that remained to hold the ridge’s eastern end was a ragtag formation of various units called “ Robcol.” Told that there was no retreat and they had to fight it out on the spot, the anti-tank gunners responded heroically. Meanwhile, his depleted panzers pushed hard to the east along Ruweisat Ridge, hoping to complete its capture and punch a hole in the British defenses that could never be closed. On July 2, Rommel’s artillery brought the Hotbox under heavy artillery fire, pounding the South Africans there with shrapnel and shards of rock from the stony ground.
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