Battle of Alam El Halfa - Background

Background

After Rommel′s failed attempt to break through during the First Battle of Alamein and the subsequent counters by Auchinleck′s 8th Army during July 1942, both sides were exhausted. They dug in to rebuild their strength. At Alamein, Rommel′s supply position, however, was precarious. His lines of supply were very extended: his main supply ports of Benghazi and Tobruk were 800 mi (1,300 km) and 400 mi (640 km) from the front respectively, and Tripoli—1,200 mi (1,900 km) away—had almost dropped out of use because of its remoteness. Furthermore, the original Axis plan for the Battle of Gazala in June had been to pause for six weeks on the Egyptian frontier after the capture of Tobruk to regroup and rearm. Rommel, however, had decided to maintain his momentum to prevent 8th Army from organising new defenses and thus pursue the British and Commonwealth forces to Cairo and possibly the Suez Canal. The result of this was that Axis air forces which had been allocated to take part in an attack on Malta had to join the improvised pursuit into Egypt. As a consequence, the British were able to rebuild their strength to attack Axis shipping carrying supplies to North Africa resulting in heavy Axis losses at sea. At the end of August, Rommel′s forces, although reinforced by fresh troops which had been flown in from Crete, were short of key supplies, notably ammunition and petrol.

General Alexander—the newly appointed land Commander-in Chief Middle East Command—had only a short distance from his supply bases and ports in Egypt to the front line. Nevertheless, his lines of supply to Britain, the Commonwealth and the U.S. were very long which resulted in a long gap between requirements being identified and equipment arriving in theatre. By the summer of 1942, however, large quantities of equipment were arriving, notably Sherman tanks were starting to arrive and 6-pounder anti-tank guns were replacing the obsolete 2-pounder. The British and Commonwealth air forces were becoming increasingly influential, supported by newly arrived U.S. squadrons which were building their battle worthiness.

German intelligence had warned Rommel of the arrival of a 100,000 long tons (100,000 t) Allied convoy bringing new vehicles for the Allies in Egypt. Realizing that time was against him, and that the arrival of reinforcements for the British would tilt the balance in their favour, he decided to attack. He informed the Italian Comando Supremo in Rome that he would need 6,000 short tons (5,400 t) of fuel and 2,500 short tons (2,300 t) of ammunition before the planned start date at the end of the month. By 29 August, over 50% of the ships sent had been sunk and only 1,500 short tons (1,400 t) of fuel had arrived at Tobruk. Rommel could not postpone the attack because of his enemy′s growing strength and so decided to take a chance on gaining a quick success. At the start of the battle, after Albert Kesselring had agreed to lend some of the Luftwaffe′s fuel stock, Rommel had enough fuel for 150 mi (240 km) per vehicle with the troops and 250 mi (400 km) for other vehicles.