The tide turns against Rommel

3rd November 1942:The German and Italian forces in North Africa are forced into a retreat from El Alamein - even as Hitler orders "victory or death"

Men of the Middlesex Regiment with their Vickers gun in a forward position

THE GENERAL PRIEST, another new British weapon. It is a 105 mm Howitzer on a self- propelled chassis. Having a high turn of speed and being easily manouvred, it is proving a most effective weapon. One of these guns, it is claimed, has already knocked out 14 German 88 mm anti-tank guns and 2 enemy tanks.

After the ferocious tank battles of the 2nd November, which had seen so may of his tanks destroyed, Rommel was realising that the British onslaught could not be resisted. His own diminishing forces were further weakened by a 'critical' shortage of ammunition and petrol. Almost every ship in Tobruk harbour had been bombed, and the British had 'complete command' of the sea and air in the area behind the battlefield.

Rommel watching the battle from his command vehicle - Schützenpanzer Sd.Kfz. 250/3 "Greif".

I’ve made an attempt to salvage part of the army. I wonder if it will succeed. At night I lie open-eyed, racking my brains for a way out of this plight for my poor troops.