Dr John Peaty on the Battle of Alam Halfa, 1942
Tuesday 24th September 2024
Dr John Peaty, former Chair of the SAHR's Templer Medal judging panel, offered unique insight into the 1942 Battle of Alam Halfa in a talk on September 24th 2024.
A recording of the event is now available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/VAxljxaFIfU
Synopsis
Rommel was one of the most formidable as well as one of the wiliest opponents ever faced by Commonwealth land forces. In the deserts of Libya and Egypt more than 80 years ago the so-called Desert Fox reached the height of his fame before his Axis forces were first frustrated by, and then defeated by, Commonwealth land forces.
On 21 June 1942 he took Tobruk in Libya in a day (one of the worst disasters in Commonwealth military history), received a Field Marshal’s baton and penetrated deep into Egypt. At First Alamein (1-27 July), Auchinleck stopped his drive on the Nile Delta, Cairo, Alexandria and the Suez Canal. Churchill descended on Egypt in August, replacing Auchinleck with the team of Alexander and Montgomery. At Alam Halfa (30 August – 5 September), Montgomery defeated Rommel. At Second Alamein (23 October – 11 November), Montgomery’s Commonwealth forces inflicted a crushing defeat on Rommel’s German and Italian forces. On 15 November, across a dismal and weary Britain, the church bells rang out on Churchill’s orders to celebrate the victory. The name of Alamein, a railway halt in Egypt’s Western Desert, became famous around the world.
Overshadowed by Montgomery’s great victory at Alamein, Alam Halfa is not well remembered. Yet at this battle Montgomery stopped Rommel’s final offensive in the desert and forced him onto the defensive. This talk therefore will examine the battle of Alam Halfa. It will examine in particular the claim that a significant factor in Rommel’s defeat was a simple deception: the planting of false terrain intelligence (in the form of a fake ‘going’ map) on him.
With its ridges, impassable areas and areas of soft going, the geology and topography of the Alamein position gave it great natural strength, which is why it was chosen as the place to stop Rommel’s drive into Egypt. The position could not be outflanked because of the sea to the north and a vast area below sea level to the south: the Qattara Depression. Because of its salt lakes/pans, high cliffs/escarpments and ‘fech fech’ (very fine powdered sand), the Qattara Depression was impassable to tanks and all but the lightest vehicles. Between the Qattara Depression and the sea, there were several smaller depressions (known as deir) and two major ridges: Ruweisat and Alam Halfa.
Special ‘going’ maps were produced by the Commonwealth forces as an aid to the movement of armoured units in the desert. The ‘going’ information was overprinted in colour on the map: Red = firm and fast; Blue = generally impassable; Green = recce essential before movement; Yellow = fair. To refine the colour coding, overprinted text was used, such as: “Treacherous soft going”; “Very good hard sand”; “Open featureless country covered with scrub”.
This talk is based upon extensive research among Commonwealth, German and Italian sources. It will consider both Axis and Commonwealth terrain analysis, mapmaking, deception and intelligence in the North African desert in 1942. Having assessed the available evidence, it will finally decide whether the Desert Fox was himself out foxed at Alam Halfa.
Speaker biography
Dr John Peaty holds a PhD and MA in War Studies from KCL. He served for many years on the Council of the SAHR as Chair of Judges for the Templer Medal and on the Committee of the BCMH. Founder member of the RAFHS, Convenor of the HMMG and Council member of the BCS, Committee member of the REHS, member of the NAM's RCAP and life member of the University of London’s IHR. He has lectured to audiences around the world, published articles, chapters and essays and has guided groups around many battlefields.