The Australian 9th Division in the Second Battle of El Alamein

The Australian 9th Division in the Second Battle of El Alamein With Craig Tibbitts Part of a series of shows to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the battle of El Alamein on WW2TV    • El Alamein   More Australian and New Zealand content    • Australia and New Zealand in WWII   Text from https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/encyc... Three major battles occurred around El Alamein between July and November 1942, and were the turning point of the war in North Africa. The Australian 9th Division, led by Lieutenant General Leslie Morshead, played a key role in two of these battles, enhancing its reputation earned defending Tobruk during 1941. From August until the end of October 1942, the Allied army grew steadily in strength with the arrival of more troops and equipment. The Axis forces, on the other hand, were weakening, with their supply lines strangled by Allied air and naval attacks. A change in command of the Eighth Army occurred in mid-August when Auchinleck was replaced by Lieutenant General Bernard Montgomery. “Monty” – as he was universally known – set about making positive changes in the Eighth Army, training it and preparing it for the battles to come. On the last day of August Rommel launched another offensive. In this last and desperate attempt to oust the Allies from the Alamein line, German and Italian armoured forces massed in the southern sector and made a sweeping hook that drove the Allies back to the Alam el Halfa Ridge. The Allied strength, however, soon proved itself as they pushed the Axis forces back over the next few days. In addition, they faced incessant Allied bombing from the DAF, an acute shortage of petrol for their tanks, and a diversionary raid by Australians in the north. After this battle, Rommel went on the defensive, and prepared for the Allied offensive he knew would soon come. On the night of 23 October 1942, a massive artillery barrage heralded the great Allied offensive. The infantry successfully captured most of their objectives; however, the tanks were unable to follow through and continue the thrust. With the Axis forces stubbornly holding their lines intact, Montgomery worried that his offensive was becoming bogged down. Changing tactics from the drive westwards, he ordered the Australians of 9th Division to switch their attack northward. What followed was a week of extremely fierce fighting, with the Australians grinding their way forward over well-defended enemy positions. As had happened in July, their gains so worried Rommel that he again diverted his strongest units to stop them. Places such as Thompson’s Post, the Fig Orchard, the Blockhouse and the Saucer became an inferno of fire and steel as the Australians weathered the storm of bombs, shells and bullets. With Rommel’s attention firmly on the Australians in the north, naturally this left his line weakened further south, and on 2 November the British tanks struck a decisive blow there. The Panzerarmee had suffered crippling losses and Rommel was forced to order a general withdrawal, or face total annihilation. His army now began a headlong retreat that would soon see them ejected from Africa altogether. Between July and November 1942, the Australian 9th Division suffered almost 5,500 casualties. Although the price was fearfully high, they had without doubt played a crucial role in ensuring an Allied victory in North Africa. Craig Tibbitts is a senior historian at the Australian War Memorial, Initially he worked in the Research Centre where he was Senior Curator of Official and Private Records. During much of that time he was also in charge of administration and research for the Memorial’s Roll of Honour. https://www.awm.gov.au/about/our-peop... Other WW2TV shows you may be interested in: The Battle of Sidi Rezagh - Operation Crusader 1941    • The Battle of Sidi Rezagh - Operation Crus...   Australians in the Mediterranean in WW2    • Australians in the Mediterranean in WW2   80th Anniversary of the Raid on Salamaua - New Guinea 1942    • 80th Anniversary of the Raid on Salamaua -...   You can become a YouTube Member and support us here    / @ww2tv   You can become a Patron here   / ww2tv   Please click subscribe for updates Social Media links -   / ww2tv     / ww2tv     / ww2tv   WW2TV Bookshop - where you can purchase copies of books featured in my YouTube shows. Any book listed here comes with the personal recommendation of Paul Woodadge, the host of WW2TV. For full disclosure, if you do buy a book through a link from this page WW2TV will earn a commission. UK - https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/WW2TV USA - https://bookshop.org/shop/WW2TV