Battle of Alam el Halfa order of battle

The Panzerjäger-Abteilung 39 (part of "Kampfgruppe Gräf", part of the 21st Panzer Division) of the Afrika Korps on the move, 1942

This is the order of battle for the Battle of Alam el Halfa, a World War II battle between the British Commonwealth and the European Axis Powers Germany and Italy in North Africa between 30 August and 5 September 1942.^[1]

Allied forces

Eighth Army

Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery

XIII Corps

Lieutenant-General Brian Horrocks

• 2nd New Zealand Division – Lieutenant-General Bernard Freyberg
  • 4th New Zealand Infantry Brigade – Brigadier Lindsay Inglis
  • 5th New Zealand Infantry Brigade – Brigadier Howard Kippenberger
  • 6th New Zealand Infantry Brigade – Brigadier George Clifton (captured 4 September)
  • British 132nd Infantry Brigade (detached from 44th Division) – Brigadier C.B. Robertson
• 44th (Home Counties) Division – Major-General I.T.P. Hughes
  • British 131st Infantry Brigade – Brigadier E.H.C. Frith
  • British 133rd Infantry Brigade – Brigadier L.G. Whistler
• 7th Armoured Division – Major-General Callum Renton
  • 4th Light Armoured Brigade – Brigadier Carr
  • 7th Motor Brigade – Brigadier Bosville
• 10th Armoured Division – Major-General Alexander Gatehouse
  • 22nd Armoured Brigade – Brigadier George Roberts
  • 8th Armoured Brigade – Brigadier Custance
  • 23rd Armoured Brigade – Brigadier Richards

Axis forces

Panzer Armee Afrika

Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel

Deutsches Afrika Korps

Generalleutnant Walther Nehring (wounded in an air attack on 31 August and replaced by Rommel's Chief-of-Staff Oberst Fritz Bayerlein)^[2]

• 15th Panzer Division – Generalmajor Gustav von Vaerst
• 21st Panzer Division – Generalmajor Georg von Bismarck
• 90th Light Division – Generalmajor Ulrich Kleemann

Italian XX Motorised Corps

Major General Giuseppe De Stefanis

• 132 Armoured Division Ariete – Major General Adolfo Infante
• 133 Armoured Division Littorio – Major General Gervasio Bitossi
• 101 Motorised Division Trieste – Major General Francesco La Ferla

Italian X Motorised Corps

Lieutenant general Edoardo Nebba

• 17 Motorised Division Pavia – Major General Nazzareno Scattaglia
• 27 Motorised Division Brescia – Major General Brunetto Brunetti
• 185 Airborne Division Folgore – Major General Enrico Frattini

Tanks in use by both sides

A British Valentine tank in North Africa

Panzer Armee Afrika had 34 light and 193 medium tanks, of these 27 tanks were the new Panzer IV F2 with the long-barreled gun 75mm gun. This longer barrelled gun gave the Mark IV superior range than the Allied tanks. The Italian armoured divisions were made up of 243 tanks but these were mostly the obsolete M13/40s.^[3]

The Allies had 500 that would see action during this battle. 170 of these were M3 Grants, the best tank the Allies had access to at this time. The remaining tanks were made up of M3 Stuarts light tanks, Crusader Mk II cruiser tanks and Valentine infantry tanks.

Notes

1. Buffetaut pp. 85–86
2. Bungay p. 136
3. Buffetaut p. 85

References

• Buffetaut, Yves (1995). Operation Supercharge-La seconde bataille d'El Alamein (in French). Histoire Et Collections.
• Bungay, Stephen (2002). Alamein. Aurum Press.
• Hammond, Bryn (2012). El Alamein: The Battle that Turned the Tide of the Second World War. Osprey Publishing.