Battle of Alam el Halfa Battle of Alam el Halfa The Battle of Alam el Halfa took place between 30 August and 5 September 1942 south of El Alamein during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. "Panzerarmee Afrika"—a German–Italian force commanded by "Generalfeldmarschall" Erwin Rommel—attempted an envelopment of the British Eighth Army, commanded by Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery. In the last major Axis offensive (Operation Brandung/"Unternehmung Brandung") of the Western Desert Campaign, Rommel had planned to defeat the Eighth Army before Allied reinforcements made an Axis victory in Africa impossible. Montgomery, who had been forewarned of Rommel's intentions by Ultra intelligence intercepts, left
Battle of Mersa Matruh flooded sections of the Nile Delta, prepared to demolish infrastructure and built up defensive positions at Alexandria and the Suez canal. A scorched earth policy was discussed but decided against. Mellenthin said of this: "Rommel may have been lucky, but Mersa Matruh was certainly a brilliant German victory and gave us great hopes of 'bouncing' 8th Army out of the Alamein line." This was not to be. In the event Auchinleck solidified 8th Army and in a month's worth of fighting checked the German advance at the First Battle of El Alamein. After it was over both sides were exhausted,