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
El Alamein Fountain 2011. The El Alamein Fountain was commissioned as a memorial to soldiers who died in 1942 during World War II in two battles at El Alamein, Egypt, and was designed by the Australian architect The Australian 9th Division fought in both the first (July 1942) and second (November 1942) battles of El Alamein during World War II. Both were important for the course of the war. They halted the advance of Axis forces into Egypt and routed them, and are considered a turning point in the Western Desert Campaign. The El Alamein Fountain in Sydney commemorates the Australian army's roles