Second Battle of El Alamein order of battle Second Battle of El Alamein order of battle The Second Battle of El Alamein order of battle is a listing of the significant formations that were involved in the Second Battle of El Alamein during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War, 23 October – 4 November 1942. Under the command of Lieutenant General Bernard Montgomery Under command of Lieutenant-General Herbert Lumsden under Major-General Raymond Briggs under Brigadier Arthur Fisher 92 Sherman, 68 Crusader, one Grant = 161 tanks under Brigadier Thomas J. Bosville "(Attached to Hammerforce for mine clearance)"<br> Under Commanding Officer, 2nd Bn Rifle Brigade under
First Battle of El Alamein some east of Matruh, and at 21:20 he issued the orders for a withdrawal to Fuka. Confusion in communication led the division withdrawing immediately to the El Alamein position. X Corps, having made an unsuccessful attempt to secure a position on the escarpment, were out of touch with Eighth Army from 19:30 until 04:30 the next morning. Only then did they discover that the withdrawal order had been given. The withdrawal of XIII Corps had left the southern flank of X Corps on the coast at Matruh exposed and their line of retreat compromised by the cutting of the coastal