|
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 Bernard Montgomery. In the last major Axis offensive (Operation ''Brandung'') of the Western Desert Campaign, Rommel had planned to defeat the British 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 a gap in the southern sector of the front, knowing that Rommel planned to attack there, and deployed the bulk of his armour and artillery around Alam el Halfa Ridge, behind the front. In a new tactic, the tanks were used in an anti-tank role, remaining in their positions on the ridge. Montgomery intended to hold the armour back, refusing to allow them to sortie out as they had in the past. With the attacks on the ridge failing and his supply situation precarious, Rommel ordered a withdrawal. Montgomery chose not to exploit his defensive victory, preferring to continue the methodical build up of strength for his autumn offensive, the Second Battle of El Alamein. However, the New Zealand 2nd Division launched an abortive attack on Italian positions, suffering heavy losses. Rommel was to claim that British air superiority played a decisive factor in winning the battle, being unaware of British Ultra intelligence. Rommel noted that the damaging attacks had a great impact on Axis motorised forces and forced him to break off his offensive.〔Cox & Grey 2002, p. 102.〕 Rommel adapted to the increasing Allied dominance in the air by keeping his forces dispersed. The price of the battle to the Axis was not just a tactical defeat and retreat.〔 With the Alam Halfa failure, Rommel was deprived not only of the operational ability to initiate offensives, he lost the operational and tactical ability to defend the German base in Africa.〔 Axis strategic aims in the African theatre were no longer possible.〔 ==Background== After Rommel's failed attempt to break through during the First Battle of Alamein and the subsequent counters by Auchinleck's Eighth Army during July 1942, both sides were exhausted. They dug in to rebuild their strength. At Alamein, Rommel′s supply position, however, was precarious. His lines of supply were very extended: his main supply ports of Benghazi and Tobruk were and from the front, respectively, and Tripoli— away—had almost dropped out of use because of its remoteness.〔Playfair Vol. III, p. 379〕 Furthermore, the original Axis plan for the Battle of Gazala in June had been to pause for six weeks on the Egyptian frontier after the capture of Tobruk to regroup and rearm. Rommel, however, had decided to maintain his momentum to prevent the Eighth Army from organising new defences and thus pursue the British and Commonwealth forces to Cairo and possibly the Suez Canal. The result of this was that Axis air forces which had been allocated to take part in an attack on Malta had to join the improvised pursuit into Egypt. As a consequence, the British were able to rebuild their strength to attack Axis shipping carrying supplies to North Africa resulting especially from mid-August onwards in heavy Axis losses at sea notably from a reinforced Mediterranean submarine force.〔Hinsley, pp. 418–419〕 At the end of August, Rommel′s forces, although reinforced by fresh troops which had been flown in from Crete,〔Playfair Vol. III, pp. 338 and 379〕 were short of key supplies, notably ammunition and petrol.〔Playfair Vol. III, p. 392〕 Despite his supply difficulties, the ''Panzerarmee Afrika'' managed to rebuild its armoured strength during August. German tank strength rose from 133 "runners" to 234 at the end of the month and the equivalent Italian figure rose from 96 to 281 (of which 234 were medium tanks).〔Hinsley, p.412〕 Air strength was also built up with ''Luftwaffe'' strength rising to 298 aircraft by the end of August (compared with 210 before the Battle of Gazala) and the Italian number rising to 460 aircraft.〔 General Alexander—the newly appointed land Commander-in-Chief Middle East Command—had only a short distance from his supply bases and ports in Egypt to the front line. Nevertheless, his lines of supply to Britain, the Commonwealth and the U.S. were very long which resulted in a long gap between requirements being identified and equipment arriving in theatre. By the summer of 1942, however, large quantities of equipment were arriving, notably Sherman tanks were starting to arrive and six-pounder anti-tank guns were replacing the obsolete two-pounders. The British and Commonwealth air forces were becoming increasingly influential, supported by newly arrived U.S. squadrons which were building their battle worthiness.〔 Furthermore, following a review in July of its performance during the first half of 1942, the intelligence function had been reorganised on a more integrated basis and by mid August British and Commonwealth forces were benefiting from this and the new protocols introduced to maximise the utility of intelligence information acquired from all sources.〔Hinsley, p. 410-411〕 German intelligence had warned Rommel of the arrival of a convoy bringing new vehicles for the Allies in Egypt.〔Carver p.48〕 Realizing that time was against him, and that the arrival of reinforcements for the British would tilt the balance in their favour, he decided to attack.〔Fraser p.351〕 He informed the Italian ''Comando Supremo'' in Rome that he would need of fuel and of ammunition before the planned start date at the end of the month. By 29 August, over 50% of the ships sent had been sunk and only of fuel had arrived at Tobruk. Rommel could not postpone the attack because of his enemy′s growing strength and so decided to take a chance on gaining a quick success. At the start of the battle, after Albert Kesselring had agreed to lend some of the ''Luftwaffe''′s fuel stock, Rommel had enough fuel for per vehicle with the troops and for other vehicles.〔Playfair Vol. III, p. 382〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Alam el Halfa」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|