World War II in Photographs
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1942
202
1942
BELOW
Montgomery preferred to let metal,
not flesh, do the business of battle.
On the night of 23-4 October, 882
guns pounded the Axis defences before
his men began to break into them.
OPPOSITE PAGE
German reinforcements moving up by
train to the El Alamein front in October.
203
1942
ABOVE
British infantry advance in open order
on October 24. The infantry was tasked
with "crumbling" Rommel's defences.
204
1942
ABOVE
An Advanced Dressing Station, October 24.
An officer of the Royal Army Medical
Corps gives a drink to one of the wounded.
205
1942
ABOVE
German prisoners await transport at
El Alamein corner, October 25.
Some 30,000 prisoners of war were taken.
206
1942
ABOVE
General von Thoma, commander
of the Afrika Korps (now an elite
minority in the larger German-Italian
force in North Africa) introduced to
Montgomery after capture, November 4.
207
1942
ABOVE
Crusader cruiser tanks in
pursuit after Alamein.
OPPOSITE PAGE
Cecil Beaton's view of the crew of a
Martin Maryland light bomber receiving
a last-minute briefing before take-off.
Slick co-operation between ground and
air forces characterized Montgomery's
conduct of the battle in North Africa.
208
1942
209
ESCAPE OF THE SCHARNHORST
Early in 1941 the battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau broke
out into the Atlantic and sank 22 merchantmen before entering
the French port of Brest, where they were damaged by bombing.
In 1942 Hitler, who feared an Allied invasion of Norway, ordered
them to sail through the Channel with the heavy cruiser Prinz
Eugen, which had accompanied the ill-fated Bismarck. Although
the British had warning of Operation Cerberus through ULTRA
intelligence and had plans to deal with it, a combination of
German skill, British fumbling and sheer mischance enabled
the Germans to complete the Channel dash in the face of brave
but
piecemeal attacks
on
February
11-12,
1942.
ABOVE
Scharnhorst and Gneisenau were damaged
by mines on the Channel dash and required
extensive repair. Scharnhorst eventually
reached Norway, but was sunk in
December 1943. Gneisenau, crippled by
bombing in dry dock, never fought again.
210