Essay On Operation Lightfoot
Prelude
Allied plan
Operation Lightfoot, Montgomery’s plan was for a main attack to the north of the line and a sec-ondary attack to the south, involving XXX and XIII Corps, whereas X Corps was to take advantage of the suc-cess. With Operation Lightfoot, Montgomery intended to cut 2 corridors through the Axis mine-fields within the north. One passageway was to run during a south-westerly direction through the New Zealand Division's sector towards the centre of Miteirya Ridge, whereas the second was to run in awesterly direction, passing 2 miles north of the western finish of Miteirya Ridge and straddling the 9thAus-tralian and 51st (Highland) Division sectors. Armour would then advance and defeat the Ger-man armour. diversionary attacks within …show more content…
But the Italian paratroopers repelled the attack, killing or capturing over 300 attackers. It was wrongly assumed that ‘German paratroop-ers’ had manned the defences and been responsible for the Allied reverse. However, the Afrika Korps's war diary notes that the Italian paratroopers "bore the brunt of the attack. It fought well and inflicted heavy losses on the enemy."
With the failure of their offensive at Alam el Halfa, the Axis forces were now on the defensive, but losses had not been excessive. The German and Italian supply lines were over-stretched and had been relying on captured Allied supplies and equipment that had long since been consumed. Rommel had been advised by both the German and Italian staffs that his army could not be properly supplied so far from the ports of Tripoli and Benghazi. Despite these warnings, Rommel pressed ahead with his advance to Alamein and as predicted, the supply echelons could not deliver the required supplies from the ports to the front. On the other hand, the British Commonwealth forces were being re-supplied with men and materials from the United Kingdom, India, Australia and New Zealand, as well as with trucks and the newly-introduced Sherman tanks from the United States. Rommel
Allied plan
Operation Lightfoot, Montgomery’s plan was for a main attack to the north of the line and a sec-ondary attack to the south, involving XXX and XIII Corps, whereas X Corps was to take advantage of the suc-cess. With Operation Lightfoot, Montgomery intended to cut 2 corridors through the Axis mine-fields within the north. One passageway was to run during a south-westerly direction through the New Zealand Division's sector towards the centre of Miteirya Ridge, whereas the second was to run in awesterly direction, passing 2 miles north of the western finish of Miteirya Ridge and straddling the 9thAus-tralian and 51st (Highland) Division sectors. Armour would then advance and defeat the Ger-man armour. diversionary attacks within …show more content…
But the Italian paratroopers repelled the attack, killing or capturing over 300 attackers. It was wrongly assumed that ‘German paratroop-ers’ had manned the defences and been responsible for the Allied reverse. However, the Afrika Korps's war diary notes that the Italian paratroopers "bore the brunt of the attack. It fought well and inflicted heavy losses on the enemy."
With the failure of their offensive at Alam el Halfa, the Axis forces were now on the defensive, but losses had not been excessive. The German and Italian supply lines were over-stretched and had been relying on captured Allied supplies and equipment that had long since been consumed. Rommel had been advised by both the German and Italian staffs that his army could not be properly supplied so far from the ports of Tripoli and Benghazi. Despite these warnings, Rommel pressed ahead with his advance to Alamein and as predicted, the supply echelons could not deliver the required supplies from the ports to the front. On the other hand, the British Commonwealth forces were being re-supplied with men and materials from the United Kingdom, India, Australia and New Zealand, as well as with trucks and the newly-introduced Sherman tanks from the United States. Rommel