British Army during the Second World War Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery was given command of the Eighth Army. The Axis forces made a new attempt to break through to Cairo in August, in the Battle of Alam el Halfa but were stopped after the British fought a purely defensive battle. The much-reinforced Eighth Army launched a new offensive in October the Second Battle of El Alamein, decisively defeating the Axis forces. Eighth Army then advanced westward, capturing 10,000 German and 20,000 Italian prisoners, 450 tanks and 1,000 guns. In France the Dieppe Raid was carried out in August, the main assault was by the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division,
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