Montgomery, Monty, was in charge of the 8th Army
when the final, deciding conflict at Alamein began.
An 850 gun barrage erupted the night of October 23rd,
devastating Axis forward positions, manned mostly
by Italians. More than a million rounds will sail into
a twelve mile front over the next dozen days.
Still, the British advance met stiff resistance.
Rommel's Panzer Army HQ was flying blind.
Radio jamming Wellington bombers knocked out
communication from the front. Hitler's general's
knew there were multiple attacks, but the question
remained, which one had the lights out punch?
It was infantry versus infantry. The Axis minefields
needed clearing before British armor would come
into play. The British objective could not be reached
without the force of tanks delivering their high explosive
justice to the contents of their targeted bunkers.
There wasn't to be some brilliant end-around tactic.
It was a solid, fortified line between the sea and an
impassable salt marsh that needed to be penetrated.
There wasn't enough fuel for German armor to do
anything but sit around and wait until
the British made a major breakthrough in the line.
The strategy was one of attrition. Everything the
German's had as weapons, the British had twice
as much. Men, tanks, aircraft - the numeric
advantage was overwhelming. Logistics was
also a deciding factor. While Rommel's panzer
army closely rationed fuel and ammo, the British
had unlimited use of both.
They would wear down Rommel.
Churchill insisted on Rommel's defeat before the Yanks
arrived. It would be much easier for Vichy officials of
French Morocco and Algeria to back the American
invasion of their land if the Germans were
on the run.
* * * * *
OVER EASY
