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,
Marshal of the Russian Federation Field Marshal. The only officer to have held the rank is the former Minister of Defence Igor Sergeyev, who had been elevated from the General of the Army of the Strategic Rocket Forces. Sergeyev was Marshal from 1997 until his death in 2006. The insignia for Marshal of the Russian Federation is similar to the one for the Marshal of the Soviet Union, with the Soviet crest replaced by the Russian one. An officer who is given this rank would also wear the Marshal's star. Marshal of the Russian Federation Marshal of the Russian Federation () is the highest military