Battle of Alam El Halfa - Rommel Withdraws

Rommel Withdraws

In a message to the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW), Rommel justified his decision to abandon the offensive by the lack of fuel, Allied air superiority and the loss of the element of surprise. On 2 September, the situation continued to deteriorate for the Axis. Armoured cars of the 4/8th Hussars (of the 4th Armoured Brigade) broke into the Axis supply echelons near Himeimat and attacked a group of 300 lorries, destroying 57 of them. As a result, Italian armoured units had to be moved to protect the supply lines and prevent further attacks.

The 2nd was not an active day on either side, except in the air, where the Desert Air Force (DAF) flew 167 bomber and 501 fighter sorties

Montgomery realised the Afrika Korps was about to withdraw. He devised offensive plans for 7th Armoured and 2nd New Zealand Divisions, though still under the proviso that they would not incur losses that would jeopardize further offensives.

While the 7th Armoured Division′s operations never got beyond harassment raids, the New Zealander attack was more serious. It involved the experienced 5th New Zealand Brigade and the green 132nd Brigade (under command from 44th Infantry Division), with armoured support, to attack southward across the supply lines of the Afrika Korps and isolate them east of the Allied lines. The attack, dubbed Operation Beresford, commenced at 22:30 on 3 September. The assault by the 5th New Zealand Brigade on the left of the attack inflicted heavy losses on the Italian defenders, and the New Zealanders beat off Axis counter-attacks the next morning. However, the attack by 132nd Brigade was a shambles. They were an hour late arriving at their start line by which time their enemy had been thoroughly roused by diversionary raids by New Zealand 6th Infantry Brigade on their right flank. The brigade commander—Brigadier Robertson—was wounded and the 6th New Zealand Brigade commander, Brigadier Clifton, captured. The Valentine tanks of 46 Royal Tank Regiment got lost in the darkness and ended up in a minefield where 12 of them were put out of action. The 90th Light Division dealt fiercely with the 132nd Brigade (who suffered 697 casualties in addition to the 275 casualties suffered by the New Zealanders), without being able to prevent Rommel′s escape. The vigorous Axis defence suggested to Freyberg—the New Zealand division commander—that a renewed attack was unlikely to succeed. He therefore advised that the troops should be withdrawn from their very exposed positions and the operation called off. Montgomery and Horrocks agreed and the troops were withdrawn on the night of 4 September.

A different account of the night action of the New Zealand infantry brigades is given by Generalleutnant Fritz Bayerlein. It should be noted that 10th Indian Infantry Division were at the time in Cyprus. The position north of the New Zealand Division, however, was held by 5th Indian Infantry Division (it was relieved by 4th Indian Infantry Division on 9 September):

An attack by our Luftwaffe against the 10th Indian Div, which was in the assembly area for a counter attack against the centre of the front, caused the units which were assembled there to scatter to the winds. Also, all other attacks launched by other units against our flanks, especially the New Zealanders, were too weak to be able to effect a penetration—they could be repulsed. A night attack conducted against the X Italian Corps resulted in especially high losses for the British. Countless enemy dead lay on the battlefield and 200 prisoners were taken among whom was Gen (sic) Clifton, commanding general of the 6th New Zealand Brigade.

— Generalleutnant Fritz Bayerlein

After this failure against the Folgore Parachute Division, Montgomery decided to refrain from further attacks. The Afrika Korps was allowed to retire, though not without being further harried by the DAF, who carried out 957 sorties in 24 hours. On 5 September, the Axis units were back almost on their starting positions and the battle was over.