Battle of Alam el Halfa order of battle

This is the order of battle for the Battle of Alam el Halfa, a World War II battle between the British Commonwealth and the European Axis Powers Germany and Italy in North Africa between 30 August and 5 September 1942.[1]

The Panzerjäger-Abteilung 39 (part of "Kampfgruppe Gräf", part of the 21st Panzer Division) of the Afrika Korps on the move, 1942

Allied forces

Eighth Army

Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery

XIII Corps

Lieutenant-General Brian Horrocks

Axis forces

Panzer Armee Afrika

Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel

Deutsches Afrika Korps

Generalleutnant Walther Nehring (wounded in an air attack on 31 August and replaced by Rommel's Chief-of-Staff Oberst Fritz Bayerlein)[2]

Italian XX Motorised Corps

Major General Giuseppe De Stefanis
  • 132 Armoured Division Ariete – Major General Adolfo Infante
  • 133 Armoured Division Littorio – Major General Gervasio Bitossi
  • 101 Motorised Division Trieste – Major General Francesco La Ferla

Italian X Corps

Lieutenant general Edoardo Nebbia
  • 17 Motorised Division Pavia – Major General Nazzareno Scattaglia
  • 27 Motorised Division Brescia – Major General Brunetto Brunetti
  • 185 Airborne Division Folgore – Major General Enrico Frattini

Tanks in use by both sides

A British Valentine tank in North Africa

Deutsches Africa Korps had 229 German and 243 Italian tanks[3] The Germans had 27 of the Panzer IV F2the long-barreled gun 75mm gun. This longer barrelled gun gave the Mark IV superior range than the Allied tanks. A total of 472.

The Allies had 500 that would see action during this battle. 170 of these were M3 Grants, the best tank the Allies had access to at this time. The remaining tanks were made up of M3 Stuarts light tanks, Crusader Mk II cruiser tanks and Valentine infantry tanks. A total of 500.

Notes

  1. Buffetaut pp. 85–86
  2. Bungay p. 136
  3. Panzer Battles by MAJ.GEN.F.W.VON MELLENTH1N

References

  • Buffetaut, Yves (1995). Operation Supercharge-La seconde bataille d'El Alamein (in French). Histoire Et Collections.
  • Bungay, Stephen (2002). Alamein. Aurum Press.
  • Hammond, Bryn (2012). El Alamein: The Battle that Turned the Tide of the Second World War. Osprey Publishing.
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