Montgomery and Alamein: The Crucible of War Book 3 by Pitt Barrie

Author:Pitt, Barrie [Pitt, Barrie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sharpe Books
Published: 2019-08-05T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 5: Pause for Reflection

During the first fifteen minutes of the Battle of Alamein, the known German and Italian gun positions opposite the XXX Corps front had each received nearly one hundred 4.5- or 5.5-inch shells or their equivalent weight in 25-pounders, and although this concentration caused relatively few casualties in men, it smashed a large number of the guns and wrecked the main Panzerarmee communications. Moreover, the Wellingtons which soon arrived overhead were equipped to jam the Axis wireless in addition to dropping their bombs and so, once the main barrage preceding the infantry attack began and the thick pall of smoke and sand cloaked the area, the only information to come back was brought by German runners - usually wounded - and this was, obviously, fragmented and extremely limited.

There was no word at all from any of the forward Italian positions, for although many of them had fought bravely, they tended to disintegrate immediately they attempted withdrawal. Those right at the front were all either killed or captured and at least one Italian regiment - the 62nd of the Trento Division - seemed virtually to have disappeared. The German front-line infantry also suffered severely as a large part of the 382nd Regiment of Lungershausen’s 164th Division had been overrun, but as the night wore on it became evident that most of the posts back in the main defensive area were not only still in existence, but were defending themselves stoutly.

At Panzerarmee Headquarters on the coast near El Daba, therefore, there was for some hours ignorance as to the extent of the enemy penetration of the minefields, and doubt even as to whether the thrust in the north by the Eighth Army was the main one or, as many thought, only a feint. General Stumme had thus to spend some hours drawing deeply upon his reserves of experience and self-confidence, exhibiting his normal calm to all with whom he came into contact despite the mighty sounds of battle which came thundering in from just a few miles away to the east. He did, however, refuse permission for either German or Italian artillery to reply to the British bombardment by shelling probable enemy concentration areas, only too well aware of the fact that his slender reserves of ammunition did not allow for wastage should he have been deceived and the areas empty.

It would be time enough to reply in force to the enemy assault when he had gathered evidence of Montgomery’s real intentions, and it was with this in mind that he left his main headquarters shortly after dawn to visit 90th Light Division’s Tactical H.Q. along the road to Sidi Abd el Rahman. To Westphal’s suggestion that he should follow Rommel’s example and take with him both an escort and a signals truck, he replied jovially that he would not be long and that he certainly would not venture into danger; his driver and Oberst Buechting from the staff would be all the company he required, and his car adequate to carry them.

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