Battle of Alam el Halfa Battle of Alam el Halfa The Battle of Alam el Halfa took place between 30 August and 5 September 1942 south of El Alamein during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. "Panzerarmee Afrika"—a German–Italian force commanded by "Generalfeldmarschall" Erwin Rommel—attempted an envelopment of the British Eighth Army, commanded by Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery. In the last major Axis offensive (Operation Brandung/"Unternehmung Brandung") of the Western Desert Campaign, Rommel had planned to defeat the Eighth Army before Allied reinforcements made an Axis victory in Africa impossible. Montgomery, who had been forewarned of Rommel's intentions by Ultra intelligence intercepts, left
John Nichols (British Army officer) John Nichols (British Army officer) Brigadier John Sebastian Nichols, (5 July 1896 – 7 February 1954) was a British Army officer who fought during both the First World War and the Second World War. During the latter his most notable role was when he commanded the 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division during the Second Battle of El Alamein and in the Tunisian Campaign from 1942 to 1943. Nichols was born on 5 July 1896 in the town of Markington, Harrogate, North Yorkshire. His father was the Reverend Sebastian Elijah Nichols, an Anglican clergyman, and his mother was Caroline Isabel Mare. Nichols