page_title: Second Battle of El Alamein
section_title: D + 3: 26 October
hierarchical_section_title: Second Battle of El Alamein / Battle / Phase three: the counter / D + 3: 26 October
caption_attribution_description: English: A British soldier gives the "insult" version of a V-for-Victory sign to German prisoners captured at El Alamein, 26 October 1942. A British soldier gives a V-for-Victory sign to German prisoners captured at El Alamein, 26 October 1942.
context_page_description: The Second Battle of El Alamein was a battle of the Second World War that took place near the Egyptian railway halt of El Alamein. The First Battle of El Alamein and the Battle of Alam el Halfa had prevented the Axis from advancing further into Egypt.
  In August 1942, General Claude Auchinleck had been relieved as Commander-in-Chief Middle East Command and his successor, Lieutenant-General William Gott was killed on his way to replace him as commander of the Eighth Army. Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery was appointed and led the Eighth Army offensive.
  The Allied victory was the beginning of the end of the Western Desert Campaign, eliminating the Axis threat to Egypt, the Suez Canal and the Middle Eastern and Persian oil fields. The battle revived the morale of the Allies, being the first big success against the Axis since Operation Crusader in late 1941. The battle coincided with the Allied invasion of French North Africa in Operation Torch on 8 November, the Battle of Stalingrad and the Guadalcanal Campaign.
context_section_description: Rommel, on his return to North Africa on the evening of 25 October, assessed the battle. Casualties, particularly in the north, as a result of incessant artillery and air attack, had been severe. The Italian Trento Division had lost 50 per cent of its infantry and most of its artillery, the 164th Light Division had lost two battalions. The 15th Panzer and Littorio divisions had prevented the Allied tanks from breaking through but this had been a costly defensive success, the 15th Panzer Division being reduced to 31 tanks. Most other units were also under strength, on half rations and many men were ill; Panzerarmee Afrika had only enough fuel for three days.
  Rommel was convinced by this time that the main assault would come in the north and determined to retake Point 29. He ordered a counter-attack against it by the 15th Panzer Division and the 164th Light Division, with part of the Italian XX Corps to begin at 15:00 but under constant artillery and air attack this came to nothing. According to Rommel this attack did meet some success, with the Italians recapturing part of Hill 28,
  Attacks were now launched on Hill 28 by elements of the 15th Panzer Division, the Littorio and a Bersaglieri Battalion, supported by the concentrated fire of all the local artillery and AA. In the evening part of the Bersaglieri Battalion succeeded in occupying the eastern and western edges of the hill.
  The bulk of the 2/17th Australian Battalion, which had defended the position, was forced to retreat. Rommel reversed his policy of distributing his armour across the front, ordering the 90th Light Division forward from Ed Daba and 21st Panzer Division north along with one third of the Ariete Division and half the artillery from the southern sector to join the 15th Panzer Division and the Littorio Division. The move could not be reversed because of the fuel shortage. The Trieste Division was ordered from Fuka to replace the 90th Light Division at Ed Daba but the 21st Panzer Division and the Ariete Division made slow progress during the night under constant attack from DAF bombers.
  At the Kidney feature, the British failed to take advantage of the absent tanks; each time they tried to move forward they were stopped by anti-tank guns. Churchill railed, "Is it really impossible to find a general who can win a battle?" Three Vickers Wellington torpedo bombers of 38 Squadron destroyed the oil tanker Tergestea at Tobruk during the night. Bristol Beaufort torpedo bombers of 42 Squadron, attached to 47 Squadron, sank the tanker Proserpina at Tobruk, removing the last hope for refuelling the Panzerarmee.
  By 26 October, XXX Corps had completed the capture of the bridgehead west of the second mine belt, the tanks of X Corps, established just beyond the infantry, had failed to break through the Axis anti-tank defences. Montgomery decided that over the next two days, while continuing the process of attrition, he would thin out his front line to create a reserve for another attack. The reserve was to include the 2nd New Zealand Division (with the 9th Armoured Brigade under command), the 10th Armoured Division and the 7th Armoured Division.
  The attacks in the south, which lasted three days and caused considerable losses without achieving a breakthrough, were suspended.
caption: A British soldier puts his fingers up at German prisoners captured at El Alamein, 26 October 1942
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