Military history of Italy during World War II of Egypt, but at the First Battle of El Alamein (July 1942) General Claude Auchinleck halted Rommel's advance only from Alexandria. Rommel made a final attempt to break through during the Battle of Alam el Halfa but Eighth Army, by this time commanded by Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery, held firm. After a period of reinforcement and training the Allies assumed the offensive at the Second Battle of Alamein (October/November 1942) where they scored a decisive victory and the remains of Rommel's German-Italian Panzer Army were forced to engage in a fighting retreat for to the Libyan border with Tunisia. After the
British Army during the Second World War the end of the peninsula, when they were halted by a smaller Japanese force and the offensive was a total failure. In North Africa the Axis forces attacked in May, defeating the Allies in the Battle of Gazala in June and capturing Tobruk and 35,000 prisoners. The Eighth Army retreated over the Egyptian border, where the German advance was stopped in the First Battle of El Alamein. Claude Auchinleck, who had assumed command of the Eighth Army following the defeat at Gazala, was sacked and replaced by General Sir Harold Alexander, who became C-in-C Middle East, at the same time