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,
Second Battle of El Alamein based on his usual manoeuvre tactics but no clear picture emerged of how he would fight the battle and British plans seriously underestimated the Axis defences and the fighting power of the . The Battle of El Alamein is usually divided into five phases, consisting of the break-in (23–24 October), the crumbling (24–25 October), the counter (26–28 October), Operation Supercharge (1–2 November) and the break-out (3–7 November). No name is given to the period from 29–31 October, when the battle was at a standstill. Prior to the main barrage, there was a diversion by the 24th Australian Brigade, which involved