Page "First Battle of El Alamein" Paragraph 18

At about 10: 00 on 1 July, 21st Panzer Division attacked Deir el Shein.

18th Indian Infantry Brigade — supported by 23 25-pounder gun-howitzers, 16 of the new 6-pounder anti-tank guns and nine Matilda tanks — held out the whole day in desperate fighting, but by evening the Germans succeeded in overrunning them.

The time they bought allowed Auchinleck to organise the defence of the western end of Ruweisat Ridge.

Meanwhile, 1st Armoured Division had been sent to intervene at Deir el Shein.

They ran into 15th Panzer Division just south of Deir el Shein and drove it west.

By the end of the day's fighting, the Afrika Korps had 37 tanks left out of its initial complement of 55.