page_title: Middlesex Yeomanry
section_title: Alamein
hierarchical_section_title: Middlesex Yeomanry / World War II / 9th Armoured Brigade Signals / Alamein
caption_attribution_description: English: The Battle of Egypt, 1942- Inside an Armoured Command Vehicle in Action image: The interior of a cramped working space crowded with electrical equipment. In the foreground two officers sit at a reporting table on which lies a jar of pencils, paper and a fly-swat. One has a pipe in his mouth, and the other has a pair of headphones round his neck. In the background on the right two communications soldiers wearing headphones sit close to the wireless equipment. The scene is lit by a desk-lamp on the table.
context_page_description: The Middlesex Yeomanry was a volunteer cavalry regiment of the British Army originally raised in 1797. It saw mounted and dismounted action in the Second Boer War and in World War I at Gallipoli, Salonika and in Palestine, where one of its officers won a Victoria Cross at the Battle of Buqqar Ridge and the regiment rode into Damascus with 'Lawrence of Arabia'. Between the world wars the regiment was converted to the signals role and it provided communications for armoured formations in World War II, including service in minor operations in Iraq, Palestine, Syria and Iran, as well as the Western Desert, Italian and North-West European campaigns. It continued in the postwar Territorial Army and its lineage is maintained today by 31 Signal Squadron, Royal Corps of Signals, which forms part of the Army Reserve.
context_section_description: As an independent formation, 9th Armoured Bde was assigned to support the 2nd New Zealand Division in the Second Battle of El Alamein. In the first phase (Operation Lightfoot) on 23 October, the New Zealanders took most of their objectives, but 9th Armoured ran into an undetected minefield and was held up. At daybreak it was in the open and under fire. During the 'Dog fight' phase of the battle over succeeding days the New Zealand Division and 9th Armoured Bde were withdrawn into reserve, and 9th Armoured was given priority for re-equipment. It went into action again in the second phase of the battle (Operation Supercharge), tasked with advancing beyond the New Zealanders' first objective to smash through the deeper Axis defences. It left its rest area near El Alamein station by 20.00 on 1 November and made a difficult approach march through darkness and dust, and its delayed attack began just before dawn. The brigade ran into heavy opposition and lost most of its tanks, but tried to hold the ground taken so that 1st Armoured Division could pass through and continue the attack.
  After Alamein 9th Armoured Bde was sent off with 2nd New Zealand Division to pursue the beaten Axis forces, though it was badly held up by road congestion and only managed 12 miles (19 km) on the first day (4 November). Two days later it was running short of fuel. On 11 November, while the New Zealanders continued their pursuit, 9th Armoured Bde was withdrawn and returned to join 10th Armoured Division in the Delta. By the beginning of 1943 it was back in Syria.
  10th Armoured Division was not required for the Sicilian or Italian campaigns, where the terrain was not suitable for large armoured formations, and divisional HQ and signals were finally disbanded on 15 June 1944. Its component brigades, however, continued as independent formations. 9th Armoured Bde joined Ninth Army in May 1943 and remained with it Palestine and Syria until returning to Egypt in March 1944. On 30 April the brigade embarked and joined Eighth Army in Italy on 5 May.
caption: Inside an Armoured Command Vehicle in Action, sketch by Anthony Gross, Egypt 1942.
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