Military history of the United Kingdom during World War II take command of it himself. After Matruh there was only one more defensive position before Cairo itself; El Alamein. Auchinlek managed to stop Rommel with the First Battle of El Alamein. A new command team arrived in the Middle East, with Lieutenant General Sir Bernard Montgomery assuming command of the Eighth Army. Rommel tried to break through again during the Battle of Alam Halfa, but his thrust was stopped. Montgomery then began preparations for a great breakthrough offensive that would result in the pursuit of Axis forces all the way to Tunisia. 8 November 1942 saw the first great amphibious
Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) A. G. V. Paley. On the outbreak of war the 2nd Battalion, commanded since July 1938 by Lieutenant Colonel Edward Williams, was stationed in Palestine as part of the 14th Infantry Brigade of the 8th Infantry Division. The battalion, then commanded by Lieutenant Colonel James Renton, later fought with distinction as part of the 7th Motor Brigade in the 1st Armoured Division in the Western Desert Campaign, especially in the "Snipe" action during the Second Battle of El Alamein in October 1942, when the four 6-pounders of the battalion, supported by a 6-pounder Anti-Tank battery of the Royal Artillery, knocked