The Battle of Mersa Matruh was fought from 26 to 29 June 1942, following the defeat of the Eighth Army at the Battle of Gazala and was part of the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. The battle was fought with the German–Italian Panzer Army Afrika (Panzerarmee Afrika. The Eighth Army comprised X Corps and XIII Corps.
Kampfgruppe Graf of the 21st Panzer Division.
British Army retreating from the Gazala position
Mersa Matruh, 1942
General Ettore Bastico
Eighth Army (United Kingdom)
The Eighth Army was a field army of the British Army during the Second World War. It was formed as the Western Army on 10 September 1941, in Egypt, before being renamed the Army of the Nile and then the Eighth Army on 26 September. It was created the better to control the growing Allied forces based in Egypt and to direct their efforts to lift the siege of Tobruk via Operation Crusader.
Alan Cunningham, after his appointment to command the Eighth Army
Neil Ritchie (center with pipe) who replaced Cunningham during Operation Crusader, pictured during the Battle of Gazala flanked by corps commanders.
Auchinleck, commander-in-chief Middle East Command, who eventually took over direct command of Eighth Army in 1942
Montgomery during the Second Battle of El Alamein
