Indian Army during World War II Cunningham. Over time, the Eighth Army would be commanded by Generals Neil Ritchie, Claude Auchinleck and Bernard Montgomery. In the early years of the war, the Eighth Army suffered from poor leadership and repeated reversals of fortune until the Second Battle of El Alamein when it advanced across Libya into Tunisia. The Ninth Army was formed on 1 November 1941 with the re designation of the Headquarters of the British Troops in Mandate Palestine and Transjordan. It controlled British and Commonwealth land forces stationed in the eastern Mediterranean. Its commanders were General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson and Lieutenant-General Sir William
Battle of the Chinese Farm 217th Armored Brigade, Colonel Gabi Amir's 460th Armored Brigade and Aryeh Keren's 500th Armored Brigade. A paratrooper brigade would be transferred to Adan's division during the course of the battle. Kalman Magen's 252nd Armored Division would initially launch diversionary attacks elsewhere to draw attention from Sharon's operations at Deversoir. Thereafter the division would hold and secure the corridor and bridgehead. Egyptian forces in the area formed the southern flank of the Second Field Army. These units were the 21st Armored Division, commanded by Brigadier General Ibrahim Oraby, and the 16th Infantry Division, commanded by Brigadier General Abd Rab el-Nabi Hafez.