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
2/8th Field Regiment (Australia) possible German invasion, until July 1942 when the 9th Division was hurriedly transferred to El Alamein, after the fall of Tobruk. There, the regiment subsequently took part in both the First and Second Battles of El Alamein between July and November, firing over 163,000 shells, mainly in support of the 26th Brigade. In January 1943, the 2/8th was withdrawn to Australia as the 9th Division was brought back to join the fight against Japanese forces in the Pacific. The regiment, sailing aboard the Dutch transport, "Nieu Amsterdam", made landfall at Melbourne on 24 February 1943, and in April the 2/8th