Defences at El Alamein

Defences at El Alamein


The Western Desert Battle Area July 1942
Alamein itself was an insignificant railway station on the coast. Some 10 mi (16 km) to the south lay the Ruweisat Ridge, a low stony ridge that nonetheless gave excellent observation for many miles over the surrounding desert. 20 mi (32 km) to the south of that lay the Qattara Depression. The line the British chose to defend stretched between the sea and the Qattara Depression, which meant that Rommel could outflank it only by taking a significant detour to the south and crossing the Sahara Desert. The British Army in Egypt recognized this before the war  and had the Eighth Army begin construction of several "boxes" (localities with dug-outs and surrounded by minefields and barbed wire), the most developed being around the railway station at Alamein. Most of the "line", however, was just open, empty desert. Lt.-Gen. C. W. M. Norrie (GOC XXX Corps), organize the position and started to construct three defended "boxes". The first and strongest, at El Alamein on the coast, had been partly wired and mined by 1st South African Division. The Bab el Qattara box, some 20 mi (32 km) from the coast and 8 mi (13 km) southwest of the Ruweisat Ridge, had been dug but had not been wired or mined, while at the Naq Abu Dweis box (on the edge of the Qattara Depression), 34 mi (55 km) from the coast, very little work had been done.
The British position in Egypt was in a critical state. The rout from Mersa Matruh had created a panic in the British headquarters at Cairo, something later called "the Flap". On what came to be referred to as "Ash Wednesday", at British headquarters, rear echelon units, and the British Embassy, the British frantically burned confidential papers in anticipation of the entry of Axis troops into the city. Auchinleck, although believing he could stop Rommel at Alamein, felt he could not ignore the possibility that he might once more be outmanoeuvered or outfought. In order to maintain his army, he therefore believed that must plan for the possibility of a further retreat whilst maintaining morale and retaining the support and co-operation of the Egyptians. Defensive positions were constructed west of Alexandria and on the approaches to Cairo while considerable areas in the Nile delta were flooded.
The Axis too believed that the capture of Egypt was imminent; Italian leader Benito Mussolini—sensing an historic moment—flew to Libya to prepare for his triumphal entry to Cairo.
The scattering of X Corps at Mersa Matruh disrupted Auchinleck's plan for occupying the Alamein defences. On 29 June, he ordered XXX Corps (1st South African, 50th and 10th Indian Infantry Divisions) to take the coastal sector on the right of the front and XIII Corps (New Zealand and 5th Indian Divisions) to be on the left. The remains of 1st and 7th Armoured Divisions were to be held as a mobile army reserve. His intention was the fixed defensive positions should canalize and disorganize the enemy's advance while mobile units would attack their flanks and rear.
On 30 June, Rommel's Panzer Army Africa approached the Alamein position. The Axis forces were exhausted and understrength. Rommel had driven them forward ruthlessly, being confident that, provided he struck quickly before Eighth Army had time to settle, his momentum would take him through the Alamein position and he could then advance to the Nile with little further opposition. Supplies remained a problem because the Axis staff had originally expected a pause of six weeks after the capture of Tobruk. While captured supplies proved useful, water and ammunition were constantly in short supply while shortage of transport impeded the distribution of the supplies that the Axis forces did have.