In late March 1942 the division moved from Scotland down to Aldershot in South-Eastern Command, then commanded by Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery, who had been an instructor of Wimberley's at the Staff College, for its final stages of training before being sent overseas. Wimberley's rank of major-general was made temporary on 21 May 1942, and, towards the end of June, the 51st Division left the United Kingdom, destined for North Africa. In August the division arrived in Egypt to join the Eighth Army. Missing the Battle of Alam el Halfa, the 51st Division went into the line in mid-September, initially as part of XIII Corps, under Lieutenant-General Brian Horrocks, later transferring in October to XXX Corps, under Lieutenant-General Oliver Leese (a fellow student at the Staff College), as the new Eighth Army commander, Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery began preparing for the offensive which would defeat the Axis forces, which were led by "Generalfeldmarschall" Erwin Rommel, in North Africa. In October and November, the division figured prominently in the "break-in" and "crumbling phase" of the Battle of El Alamein and actions round Kidney Ridge. Before the battle, Wimberley had briefed his COs with a model of the battlefield and instructed them to repeat their tasks as he had shown them, so as to ensure the unity of the division's battle plan.