British prepare to attack in the desert

9th September 1942: Montgomery resists pressure from Churchill and insists he will not launch a major new assault until conditions are right

British troops use rocks for shelter as a German Kettenkrad tracked motorcycle burns in the background, 10 September 1942.

In Egypt Rommel's attack of 30th August was over. By the 7th September the Afrika Korps had been beaten back to virtually the lines that they had started from. What became known as the Battle of Alam el Halfa had got them nowhere. Immediately Montgomery, now commanding 8th Army in the desert, came under pressure to exploit the success and pursue Rommel with a counterattack.

Lieutenant General Montgomery and Brigadier 'Pip' Roberts stand on the turret of a Crusader tank to survey the battle area, 6 September 1942.

Note a row of captured German Panzer III tanks, assigned to the platoon, in the background with the Royal Tank Regiment red-white-red recognition stripes painted on them.