 In the morning, the supporting British armour was nowhere to be seen and the artillery and anti-tank units were unable to break through, leaving the two New Zealand brigades in position on the exposed ridge. Kippenberger inspected the brigade's position and found his battalions under fire from German tanks. Unable to contact nearby units by radio and realising the degree to which his men were exposed, he raced off under fire in a Bren carrier to locate the British armour. Coming across an armoured brigade four miles away, he implored its commander to bring his unit forward but was refused meaningful support until the intervention of Major General Herbert Lumsden, commander of the British 1st Armoured Division. By the time the tanks had arrived, the men of the 22nd Battalion had been largely killed or captured. The headquarters element of the 23rd Battalion were also prisoners of war. By nightfall, the 4th Brigade had been overrun. Kippenberger asked for and received permission to withdraw his brigade from the ridge. Although awarded a Bar to his DSO for his dash for help from the British, Kippenberger was bitter about the poor planning of the operation and admitted his own errors of judgement.
