Overview

A history of XIII Corps, southern sector, at Alamein during October and November 1942. After the protracted and bloody battles in the Gazala Line , May/June 1942, the defeated Eighth Army was in full retreat towards the positions at Alamein. Here the Eighth Army licked its wounds and replenished its stocks of men and materials. Montgomery was appointed as the new commander and instilled into his troops a new air of confidence. Most studies of Alamein focus on the northern coastal sector where the main action was fought. This study looks at the southern sector held by XIII Corps: 50th Northumbrian Division, 1st Greek Brigade under its command. 44th Home Counties Division and the 7th Armoured Division with 2nd Free French Brigade under its command. Though the fighting here was not on the same scale as the coastal sector it was none the less a series of bloody actions and hundreds of men perished. XIII Corps had the job of holding on their front German and Italian armoured divisions that would otherwise be sent north to impede the main attack by Eighth Army. After the first attacks in the north and south failed to break through the Axis forces Montgomery organised Operation Supercharge, a thrust in the north headed by infantry and artillery. 151 (Durham Brigade) was moved north to take a leading role in this attack in early November. After a bloody fight the Durhams and Scots troops broke through and the British armour streamed out into the desert as the Axis forces retreated. AUTHOR: Barrie Barnes has been interviewing veterans in the 80s and 90s and all of their accounts appear in his books. 78 b/w photographs and maps

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9781912866151

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...presents a clear and vivid worms eye view of the fighting. Highly recommended. * Military Historical Society Bulletin *

Author Information

Barrie S Barnes, BA/Hons, M/Phil, was born in the city of Hull and now resides in Market Weighton, East Yorkshire. In his early life he worked in a number of varied occupations for 18 years and eventually joined the teaching profession, where he worked for 26 years, retiring in 2007. This is his tenth book, his first 'This Righteous War' coming out in 1990 and his ninth, 'Chaos in the Sand' came out in 2017. He continues to work on other manuscripts relating to British military history and is a tireless researcher as he records the experiences of the men and women who served in the World Wars. Barrie spent the 80s and 90s recording thousands of interviews with veterans and collecting manuscripts and images of the time. All of this information he weaves into a stunning narrative that gives us an insight into how the war affected ordinary people, from the boredom of basic training to the horror of the most terrible battles in human history, and how men survived the horrors of the battle-field as they watched their friends fall one by one, month after month, year after year. He has made it his task to make sure these memories are not forgotten by future generations and that their sacrifices shall not have been in vain.

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