Deir el Shein sources - July 1942

A few minutes work and a name found:

From: https://www.nickmetcalfe.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Addendum-Royal-Signals-Honours-June-2024.pdf

Odd to me no commendation on record. Service Number 151450. See: https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/37528/supplement/1835/data.pdf

Commissioned 15/10/1940. From: https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/34969/supplement/6009/data.pdf

Shown on: SECTION 1 – BRITISH ARMY

 

I assume your copy conforms with this? There are two separate uploads, one with the map and one without.



Source:
Abhilekh Patal

 

Charley,

Yes, that is the report I have from the South African Archives. I did compare the report with my research and that is attached (PDF). I will send you a Word copy next. Plus anyone else who asks.

 

The South African report is here.

Dropbox

All the best

Andreas

 

The late Professor Richard Holmes in 2003 wrote a book 'Battlefields of the Second World War'[1] and included El Alamein. The book was a BBC publication for a TV series and there is a YouTube episode ‘Battlefields 1 of 4: Alamein’ that provides an introduction to the war in North Africa[2]. The defences of the defensive ‘box’ at El Alamein are visited, but the first battle of El Alamein is not covered further.


[1] See: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Battlefields-Second-World-Richard-Holmes/dp/0563488123

[2] See: Up to 14.10

 

Apologies if I've already posted this up, but my poor addled brain thinks not!!

WO 169/4034 - 30 Corps HQ G Branch:

1 JULY 42
?? 0605 hrs. 5 Div arrived posn. All tps not arrived. ETA before dark.


3 SA Bde
0633 hrs being attacked just SOUTH of rly line. Enemy colns approaching gap SOUTH of the perimeter incl 8 tanks.
(Passed to Comd. BGS. 8 Army. 13 Tac & M. 50 Div & Rear).

3 SA Bde
0735 hrs Things quietened down. Digging in. Debussed inf. 293292 1000 MET. Idents 200 LI. Major from TRENTO last night wounded German officer Marcks gp. Fair amount of MT quite a lot between rail and rd.
(Passed to 13 Corps)

13 Corps
0802 hrs 30 Corps should operate 1 Armd Div, 13 Corps administering.
7 Mot Bde under 7 Armd Div who are running their adm.
Today 7 Mot Bde will operate in area 1 Armd Div want them.
(Comd spoke DCGS)

BGS to Comd 3 SA Bde
0852 hrs C-in-C wishes any more inf that are needed for defence of box to return there. Please tell Div Comd.

Comd to 13 Corps
0912 hrs 1. C-in-C wishes 7 Mot Bde to work with Armd Div.
ANs. OK.
2. Your views distribution Armd Cars – all under 1 A Div.

Tac R
0938 hrs 0600 -0710. 837318 AA. 843287 300 MET refuelling. 855288 – 856288 1000 MT in gps. 866279 our guns E. 885282 shells bursting. 8528 – 8628 1500 MT dispersed gps 835287 – 843286, Tnk 150 MET facing NE.

P4
1132 hrs Large enemy coln moving EAST from 85222712. Enemy coln ALA incl 2 tanks moving EAST head of coln 842252. Second coln appears to be German (Map ref queried, 13 Corps doubtful of existence).

13 Corps
1150 hrs HQ 7 Armd Div 884252.

P4
1154 hrs Location 50 Div.

8 Army
1158 hrs NZ complete OK and where they should be. One coln to SW. Rest short of 3 ton. In contact with enemy 17 miles WEST of their posn.

P4
1200 hrs Comd 13 Corps wishes to see 30 Corps Comd 2 hrs time (Fixed).

18 Bde
1320 hrs Enemy attacking right rear of our posn with approx 26 tanks and lorried inf approx 2 coys strong. 500 MET mvg EAST on grid line 290. 180 MET at 865282 mvg SE. TOO 1245 hrs (Passed P4).

G(I)
1345 hrs Enemy thrust line DABA – ALAM HALFA from 6 km SW of ALAMEIN to QARET EL HIMEIMAT.

1 Armd Div Inf from Map. 90 Lt Div area 882298 to 875285. 15 and 21 Pz Divs area 8228? SABRATHA Div area 830314 TRENTO Div 872300. 21 Corps area 850312.

P4 Minder.

1 SA Div
1400 hrs 30 tanks from 879286 advancing on 1 SA Bde.

1 Armd Bde
1415 hrs The attack on 28 grid line has frizzled out and enemy tank withdrawn SW (Passed to all except 1 SA Div and 18 IB).

18 Bde
1435 hrs Enemy reported area [??]0280 strength 3000 men veh incl lt tanks 4 and 8 whld armd cars time 1330 hrs.

3 SA Bde Recce
1400 hrs 28 Mk III mvg 87932863.
1500 hrs 30 tanks and 5 MET mvg to 879284. 30 tanks and two coys lorried inf 878280.
3 SA Bde. Quiet little movement on main rd. Shot up 3 x 3 ton and 37 mm. 300 MET mvg EAST along 290 grid.

1 Armd Div
1500 hrs 875281. 38 tanks mved SE and wheeled SW.
28 tanks moved in from SW and are attacking from the SOUTH. Our other friend has been ordered to come in on southern flank of the enemy.

1 Armd Div Want fwd control of 50 Div frequency.

18 Bde 12 enemy armd cars 859282 mvg EAST 20 MPH 1300 hrs.

18 Bde
1630 hrs Can you provide help to deal with enemy infiltration from NORTH, armour if possible.
(Message sent to Comd, 1 A D told).

1 Armd Div
1652 hrs BBO on the way to help. Can 1 SA Div mob help also “Steed” helping with guns from SOUTH.

1 Armd Div
1700 hrs Armd cars have reported that in area 845288 NMS.

1 Armd Div
1708 hrs 4 A B. 36. 22 A B. 42. Strength 1 A D.

1 Armd Div
1713 hrs Armd cars report 877272 20 enemy tanks mvg SOUTH. We are sending 4 Armd Bde to engage (Passed P4).

1 Armd Div
1717 hrs Armd cars report 20 tanks are going for our friends. Appears v favourable as our friends should hold them from in front and we can harass them from behind (Passed P4).

P4
1728 hrs NZs will be in area N200 – 880360 WGL 200. Can you pass this on to them.

1 Armd Div
1756 hrs 7 Mot Bde is proving difficult to move as he says he has a commitment in the area he is in. We understood he has [sic? is?] under us and we were free to send him where we choose.

1 Armd Div
1800 hrs 870273. 150 MET and EAST of MT are 15 tanks facing SOUTH.
Some friends with guns are opposite friends, who are NOT using guns as uncertain as to identity. I am certain that these are enemy. 888268 there are 15 enemy tanks sty. Proposing to use YYD to deal with them (P4 and 50 Div told).

1 Armd Div
1820 7 Mot Bde are to revert to 7 Armd Div. Mot Bde 9 RB remain with 1 Armd Div.

Knave
1830 hrs There are inf 500 strong dispersed 868272. Coln of 100 MT which was near NZ posn, is now withdrawing from NE corner[,] situation well in hand (1 A D Rec)

P4
1835 hrs Enemy which debussed at 868272 have now rebussed and gone off WEST (1 A D rec)

1 Armd Div
1857 hrs Situation in area 876280 now quiet (P4 & 50 Div rec, & 1 SA Div).

P4
1900 hrs 13 Corps are sending at max speed NZs to deal with enemy 873273 (1 A D and 50 Div got it) (Army told).

1 Armd Div
1940 hrs BBO reports party down SOUTH is now being attacked by the 20 tanks and guns. IYD going down there to make sure. 15 tanks at 888268 believed a myth. Now believed 20 tanks near 18 Ind Inf Bde.

1 Armd Div
1940 hrs 870278 15 tanks and 50 MET mvg EAST. 2 trucks are on fire. Presume these are tanks which BBO are engaging.

1 SA Div 1900 hrs. 60 – 50 tanks reported 873284 inf debussing and A/tk guns N grid 289.

----------------------------------------

1. Can anyone suggest who/what P4 is? Later in July it's annotated as Post 4 but beyond that I'm not sure. It seems to be superior to 30 Corps so perhaps 8th Army Tac?
2. I found the entry for 0852 hrs interesting. Does that suggest that 1 SA Div 'thinned out' more than Auchinleck had expected?
3. Entry for 1756 hrs from 1 Armd Div. Suggests 'command friction' between 1 and 7 Armd Div?

Any thoughts?

Regards

Tom

 

And also interesting was the notes made on the contents page that (in red):

WO 169/4034 – 30 Corps G Branch
WAR DIARY FOR JULY 1942.
Commander – Lt.-General W.H.C. RAMSDEN.

JULY 42.

‘G’ Branch Log for month of July. Appx. “A” (Duplicate copy 1-6 July incl. taken to U.K. by Lt.-General C.W.M. NORRIE)

30 Corps Intelligence Summaries for month of July. Appx. “B” (Duplicate copies No’s 118-124 incl. taken to U.K. by Lt.-General C.W.M. NORRIE)

It would be interesting to know who signed off on Lt.-Gen. Norrie carrying those documents by hand back to the UK from a security perspective.

Regards

Tom

 

Tom,

Back tomorrow with hopefully some answers. Thanks.

 

Hi David - would love to see if you have anything to add in your Word copy. Do you have my contact details? Chris

 

Tom,

Apologies for the six day wait for a response to Post 328, where you posed:

I have tried to keep a narrow focus on what happened @ Deir el Shein, but have read about the operational context and included that in my research document.

Yes, you did provide WO 169/4033 & WO 168/4034 (Posts 140-142 here). I extracted what I needed and provided a response in the thread; this I will send to you via PM.

Back to the questions:

1. No idea. Though from memory the two HQs were not that far apart, as indicated on a map in the official South African history Agar-Hamilton - see Post 15 here by you.
2. Yes, IMHO. As discussed recently 1 SA Div formed two small battle groups for the mobile defence in the "gap" south of the El Alamein box and only an under-strength brigade remained in the south and western part of the box itself. See discussion in: 1st Alamein - Panzerarmee SitRep translations

I do wonder from a distant armchair if the Gazala "gallop" meant for some an opportunity to keep ongoing east, amidst all the road traffic of the formed and unformed mass.

3. 'Command friction' is being polite and having read about the lack of armoured support for the 18th I do wonder what was going on and leave aside equipment issues, notably most tanks having the 2-pounder gun; navigation, stuck in sand and more.

 

Tom,

Re Post 327 Norrie taking copies of documents back to the UK. Could he have self-authorised this? Are the cited appendices dated? He was removed from 30 Corps command by Auchinleck on 7/7/1942; returning to the UK that month.

I recall Norrie also produced a post-action report WO 216/85 (which you posted here in July 2025), which despite the file title
'Middle East: notes on operations Date: 1942 July, Aug.' referred to earlier combat at Gazala.

How did Auchinleck produce his lengthy despatch when in Delhi, unemployed, on 27/1/1943: No.2 (1/11/41-15/8/42)without having some official documents to hand? I note The actual dispatch is not in the Auchinleck archive held at Manchester University, nor a book of his dispatches. IIRC Andreas responded it was a well-known document.

A gadget question: in WW2 were secret documents carried in locked steel briefcases (with an armed guard etc) and if on a plane on a flight mainly over water, such documents were in a weighted bag. Even a case that could burn easily?

 

Auchinleck for the purpose of writing his dispatch would have been able to commandeer resources in MEHQ. The production of these documents seems to have followed a known process, with requests being made for specific pieces of information. This would then be kicked about for a while internally with various people commenting and putting notes on top of them. Much of this is preserved in Kew. I presume he also would have been able to request copies of key documentation.

The link to the dispatch is here: https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/UN/UK/LondonGazette/38177.pdf

The page with all of them that have been uploaded to ibiblio is here: HyperWar: United Kingdom London Gazette Despatches

All the best

Andreas

 

Perhaps he took them home in readiness for his interview with Brooke (21 July 1942):

"In the afternoon Norrie, back from ME came to see me and I had an hour with him."

(Danchev and Todman, p.283).

Regards

Tom

 

Chris Wills, a Kiwi, whose father was captured @ Deir el Shein, has confirmed his father: 2nd Lieut. Andre Graham Romain Willis of the 4/11th Sikh Regiment, never wrote up his Deir el Shein and POW experience.

Chris has provided a list of the other 4/11 Sikhs officers captured and held by the Italians:

Note Tom in the threads 1st post had a list based on the War Diary:

I will try to fully name the officers; EC I know is Emergency Commission. Some I may have id'd fully in my research.

Plus, the scanned pgs. for March-August 1942 from the regimental history by F.T. Birdwood: The Sikh Regiment in the Second World War. Norwich: (publisher) Jarrold and Sons, 1953. I will review them and scan them in another day.

 

David - I only just noticed that as well as Bampfield, Trestrail (awarded Military Cross for driving off in a Mathilda!) and Wimbush getting away from Deir el Shein, so too did the medical officer, Siqueira who you highlighted (see page 213). Looking forward to hearing if anyone has any news on how those captured were transferred to Italy and how they all ended up in so many different POW Camps (P.G.'s) in Italy. Chris

 

It would be interesting to understand the strength of the Axis forces at Alamein in early July 1942 and compare that with the ration strength of the Eighth Army.

I'm looking for those statistics and came across this conversation in the 30 Corps Ops Log during the early morning hours of 7 July 1942:

"T 8 Army. 0100 hrs. 7 July 42.
What is ration strength (latest available figures) of 30 Corps EXCL L of B tps left in rearward areas etc. Ans 54,000. T 8 Army told."

I'm assuming that T 8 Army is Tac HQ 8 Army.

I'll keep looking to see if there are any statistics for earlier in July.

Regards

Tom

 

Thanks to Lt.Col. Richard Bampfield's grandson (C.O. 4/11th Sikhs) I have a small number of B&W photos of the battalion taken in Egypt and one official photo of the officers (British & Indian) plus some NCOs (undated, so possibly taken in India or even Iraq). Plus some official portraits of Lt. Col. Bampfield.

There a few photos of General Wavell visiting the remnants of the 4/11th after Deir el Shein in July 1942 @ Cowley Camp, near Cairo. The battalion's War Diary (WD) does not mention the visit! The WD states they were in Bannu Lines, Bannu being a city in the NW Frontier Province.

Wavell had been Middle Command C.O. until July 1939 to late June 1941, when in effect he swapped roles with Auchinleck and returned to India as CinC India. This became a very busy posting once Japan declared war on the UK in December 1941; IMHO it is remarkable he visited the Middle East in July 1942!

See: Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell - Wikipedia

Currently the grandson's consent is only to circulate the photos to Chris Willis.

Update

Wavell was in Cairo in August 1942, to meet Churchill and the CIGS; he then accompanied them to a Moscow summit. This visit is mentioned in his published September 1946 despatch covering March 1942-December 1942 (originally submitted 3yrs before). From: Page 4663 | Supplement 37728, 17 September 1946 | L...

There is a thin Wiki for the summit 12/8-17/8/1942: Moscow Conference (1942) - Wikipedia There is newsreel showing Wavell and others arriving in Moscow. See: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060006033

This was a surprise and may indicate Wavell could be useful in Moscow:

From: Archibald Wavell: Hero and Scapegoat

 

Notes taken from ‘The Sikh Regiment in The Second World War’ by Colonel E.T. Birdwood

The book was originally privately published in 1948 and reprinted as a paperback in 2014 by Naval & Military Press. See: https://www.noonans.co.uk/auctions/archive/special-collections/844/335129/?sort=Hammer_Reverse and the later paperback SIKH REGIMENT IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR - Naval & Military Press

Only pgs. 205-213 were supplied and have been uploaded to the main thread in Post 335 : Deir el Shein sources - July 1942 Alas they are at right angles, so another day will be loaded up again.

Pg. 205 No date given states that Major Christopher Bampfield became the Officer Commanding 4/11th Sikhs at the end of March 1942, taking over from Lt. Col. Purves (Previous research shows Purves was promoted to command 21 Indian Infantry Brigade and visited the 4/11th on 29/6/1942).

Pg. 206 states on 23/6/1942 the battalion was minus three company commanders; one was administering a camp and two were in Basra, Iraq on a recce. (Previous research found the three only reported to the battalion after the battle on 10/7/1942; they were Siddiq, Burgess & Gordon).

Pg. 207 states on 24/6/1942 the 4/11th Sikhs and the 2/5th Essex were on a train westwards past El Alamein and halted near a small station @ Galal (25 miles beyond Daaba) when they were bombed overnight, the 4/11th had nine killed and eighteen wounded. Troops wanting to go east and local Bedouin wanted to board their packed train and had to be stopped.

Pg. 208 on 27/6/1942 Second Lt. Morrison was with the Advance Party (ahead of the troops on the train) was not back at El Alamein where the battalion stopped and left the train. He did rejoin the battalion. The battalion now moved to Deir el Shein and started to fortify it.

Pg. 209 28/6/1942 notes that the battalion was ‘lucky to have South African compressor drills for a short time’ to break up the rock beneath the surface of Deir el Shein. The battalion had two 2-pounder antitank guns ‘borrowed from a unit going down the line’ (Previous research more likely a retreating unit). Positions were dug for those guns and the full allocation should they arrive (Previous research indicates some 6-pounder guns manned by The Buffs did arrive and were in position). Mines were and (barbed) wire used which ‘resulted in a position of some strength’.

Pg. 210 on 30/6/1942 the 2/11th Sikhs passed through after their breakout from Mersa Matruh. The South African Major General Pienaar, commanding 1st South African Division, visited the position and units. (Previous research found that he was at that day the commanding officer of his division and the 18th Indian Infantry Brigade. See Post 105 refers to: the war diary of 2/11 Sikhs (WO169/7771) the remnants, 158 strong, passed through Deir el Shein. See: Deir el Shein sources - July 1942 . For a short history of 2/11th Sikhs see Post 24: 11th Sikh Regiment of the Indian Army )

Comment: Note the official establishment for an Indian Army infantry battalion was over 800, so nearly 20% of 2/11th Sikhs had survived. The impact on the morale of 4/11th Sikhs is not mentioned.

Pg. 212 on 1/7/1942 states that Captain Trestrail was the Adjutant. (Previous research shows he wrote the 4/11th War Diary and reports after 1/7/1942).

Pg. 213 After 1/7/1942 states that Captain Wimbush escaped with thirty-five men from Deir el Shein. The Medical Officer was recommended for a MC for his action on the night 25-26/6/1942 at Galal train station. (He did not get another MC or a Bar added to the one he already had).

Lt. Col. Bampfield and others gathered at Hamman collecting troops (Previous research forty or fifty miles east of the front line) and he visited General Norrie, 30 Corps C.O. They then moved back to Cairo and left for Palestine on 12/8/1942. (Previous research using the 4/11th War Diary shows they collecting started on 2/7/1942).

 

Hi,

I thought I'd post up a couple of pages from 30 Corps G Branch Int Sums of 1 and 2 July 1942 which are hopefully of interest. (Source: WO 169/4034 - 30 Corps G Branch - Intelligence Summaries):-

1 July 1942:






And an appendix to the Int Sum for 2 July 1942: