The Second Battle of El Alamein - Operation Lightfoot

DATE: 28/06/2026

TIME (GMT): 18:00

ERA: WW2

MAP(S): El Alamein

TYPE: COOP

GAME: Arma 3

EVENT: Official

AUTHOR(S): W.Jarvis

SLOTS: 63 / 79

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RATING: (27)

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The Second Battle of El-Alamein, sometimes known as 2nd Alamein, was a decisive battle of the North African Campaign of the Second World War that took place near the Egyptian railway station of El Alamein, from the 23rd of October through to the 4th of November 1942. 

Early 1942 had seen a series of costly defeats inflicted on Commonwealth forces by newly arrived Axis reinforcements of the 'Panzerarmee Afrika', under the command of Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel, with Axis forces now advancing into Egypt and thus threatening British access to the Suez canal, the Middle East and its oil resources following its victory over Commonwealth forces at the Battle of Gazala (26th May – 21st June 1942). Axis forces would launch the First Battle of El-Alamein in July in a failed attempt to dislodge Commonwealth forces defending the relatively narrow frontline, running from the coast to the impassable Qattara Depression.

Despite the failure of the Axis advance, counterattacks by Eighth Army also failed as the Axis forces had managed to regroup and dig in. Eighth Army's commander, General Claude Auchinleck, would be replaced by the Chief of the Imperial General Staff (General Sir Alan Brooke, with Prime Minister Winston Churchill's approval) in response to these failures, with Lieutenant-General William Gott being selected for the job initially, however, he was killed when his aircraft was intercepted by Luftwaffe aircraft, so Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery was flown from Britain to take the role instead. 

In late August, Eighth Army, now under the command of Montgomery, successfully repulsed the armoured spearhead of the Afrika Korps at Alam el Halfa ridge and Point 102 during the Battle of Alam el Halfa. German forces would return to their start lines following this battle, as a lull in the fighting developed, allowing both sides to take stock, reinforce their positions, lay minefields and construct fortifications. 

Intelligence had been the decisive factor in the offensive planning of both commanders. In July, during 1st Alamein, the German 621st Signal Battalion had been captured by Australian forces, which had been a vital asset in Rommel's early victories against Commonwealth forces in the desert, shutting off this channel had effectively blinded Rommel as to British intentions with Allied OPSEC improving greatly in response. Montgomery, on the other hand, could rely on solid intelligence from Ultra intercepts that provided detailed information on the disposition and readiness of Axis units around El Alamein. 

Commander-in-Chief Middle East General Harold Alexander and Lieutenant-General Montgomery intended to establish a local superiority that would be sufficient to achieve a breakthrough and use that to destroy 'Panzerarmee Afrika' in its entirety. Earlier in the Western Desert Campaign, despite achieving a local victory, both sides had struggled to effectively fix and destroy a defeated army before it could withdraw to a new defensive line or the pursuing side had over-extended their own supply lines. 

On the evening of the 23rd of October a truly multinational force of troops from Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, India, South Africa, Greece, France and others launched Operation Lightfoot. Montgomery's intention was for infantry to advance under the cover of an artillery barrage of unprecedented scale (comparable to a shelling plan of the First World War with around 529,000 shells fired) as engineers cleared channels through these minefields, to allow for his armoured formations to advance through, however, the sheer scale of these minefields, also known as the 'Devil's Gardens', meant that this was not achieved, though Allied forces were on the offensive and had caught the Germans and Italians off guard.

Despite the difficulties in penetrating the Axis minefields, Allied forces had managed to secure a solid forward line where a battle of attrition set in for the next week. With German reserves exhausted, Montgomery would launch his final assault, codenamed Operation Supercharge, in the early hours of the 2nd of November, with Axis forces holding for a few more days before Montgomery had achieved his decisive breakthrough by the 4th. While Allied forces were able to destroy the bulk of the Axis infantry units, the remnants of Rommel's motorised and armoured forces were able to regroup and escape destruction. Montgomery would now pursue his defeated enemy back into Libya and Tunisia.

2nd Alamein had been an irreversible defeat on the Axis in the desert and set in motion a string of defeats (including Operation Torch to the west) that culminated in the Axis surrender in North Africa in May 1943. The victory had been a costly one, however, with Eighth Army suffering 13,560 casualties and up to 500 tanks destroyed, though Axis forces had also suffered greatly, with up to 73,000 casualties (including dead, injured and captured) and around 500 tanks lost. 

22:00 Hours, El Alamein, Egypt, 23rd October, 1942 - Following a 20 minute general bombardment from hundreds of field and medium guns, Operation Lightfoot begins with the 2/13th Australian Infantry Battalion steps off from its start line with the objective of clearing a path through the German minefields and securing local strongpoints.