25th Battalion (New Zealand) Halfa, Rommel's failed attempt to cut off the 8th Army. The battalion at this time numbered 362 personnel, which included one company which had been left back at Maadi and brought forward to rejoin the survivors of the El Mrier battle. Burton, promoted to lieutenant colonel, commanded the battalion until 12 September at which time he went on leave and was replaced by Lieutenant Colonel Ian Bonifant. The 8th Army was now under the command of General Bernard Montgomery, who was planning for offensive operations against the "Panzer" Army Africa, which had formed a defensive position at Alamein. Minus its
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