Slowly the supplies and reinforcements came into the line and by 1 August 15th Panzer Division numbered 6407 men, 65 panzers, and 36 field guns. The strength of 21st Panzer Division was a little higher with 8996 men, 6S armoured fighting vehicles, and 47 guns. To these two veteran divisions and tc that of 90th Light was added a new formation, 164th Division, which had been garrisoning Crete and which had been sent across in such haste that its 6903 officers and men were without trucks of any sort.
The Italian Corps, too, were gaining strength but slowly, and X Corps had one infantry battalion on establishment for which there were no weapons available. In XX Corps only 4 of the 9 battalions of infantry were motorised and XXI Corps presented an equally depressing picture. Only the Folgore Division, the Italian parachute unit, had a satisfactory establishment of anti-tank battalions — two on establishment and both up to strength.
The losses to the Axis armies from the end of May had been average: 2908 Germans and 1338 Italians were killed or died of wounds; 9260 Germans and 11,457 Italians were wounded, and 4000 Germans went missing against 6000 Italians. The German establishment was short by 484 officers and 11,500 men. It was a depleted army which faced the growing might of Britain and her Empire.
From the German and the Italian High Commands came promises of fuel and supplies to nourish the offensive for, having accepted the need for the attack, they were now demanding action from Panzer Army Africa. Rommel stressed that the 6000 tons of fuel promised by Cavallero must arrive within two days of the promised date, otherwise the offensive would have to be postponed for a month and within that time the British would have grown too strong. The Axis armies were ready for the assault and, given the petrol, the break-through could be accomplished and the battle fought to a successful conclusion. The tanker bringing petrol was torpedoed and as an interim measure Kesselring offered to fly in fuel. A second tanker came in on 30 August and at 22:00hrs on that day the battle opened but with an alteration to Rommel's original plan and one which had more modest objectives. Rommel intended that the main effort of his new assault would be in the south and it was there that he massed the Africa Corps and two Italian divisions. Once the breakthrough had been achieved then the whole southern wing would pivot and drive northwards with the intention of trapping 8th Army in the field and there destroying it. The original plan had foreseen a wider and deeper southern drive.
The keys to the battle were two ridges and it is the more important one, whose name, Alam Haifa, records this battle in British military history. Along the central part of the front was Ruweisat ridge and this dominated the whole of the middle sector. Alam Haifa was about 10 miles to the east of Ruweisat and observation from its summit allowed its occupants to control the course , of the fighting. The six Axis divisions struck at the British forces holding the southern end of the line whose farthest extremity was marked by the Himeimat ridge, a small pimple of ground but one of local tactical importance. Throughout the night of 30 August German mine-clearing teams had gapped the fields and by first light there was a space through which the armour and the infantry might pass. The tanks of the 8th Army, with the Rifle Brigade in support, flung back the first assaults but the army commander's orders were that the British Army was not to allow itself to be pinned down but was to give ground, leading the enemy on to where the armoured might of 8th Army waited on a ground of its own choosing. The pace of the Axis advance slowed against the British holding assaults but the thrust was carried to within 20 miles of Alamein. The Italian XX Corps was still stuck in the mine-fields and could give no help to the German spearhead, while on the central sector 90th Light had struck and forced back the 5th Indian Division's garrison on the Ruweisat ridge. As the armoured wedge of 15th and 21st Panzer Divisions drove northwards the tanks of 4th Armoured and 7th Motor Brigades struck at the flanks from the east while from the west came the flank assaults of 7th Armoured Division. Directly south of Alam Haifa ridge Montgomery had positioned 22nd Armoured Brigade and to support this unit there was the 10th Armoured Division. The .British intention was that every step of the German advance would be contested and to help delay the panzer thrust the Royal Air Force bombed the columns by night and by day.
The fierce fighting knew no break and, indeed, grew in intensity. Generals striving to carry out Rommel's intentions died at the head of their men as they brought them forward for one more charge: Bismarck of 21st Panzer fell and Nehring, commanding Africa Corps, was wounded. Losing men and tanks but slowly gaining ground the Germans beat their way forward and in the moonlit night of 31 August the point units, having reached the 40-kilometre point east of the start line, were ordered to swing out in a wide scything movement. As the panzers were refuelled the Littorio and other Italian divisions came up slowly on to the left flank and 90th Light Division dug in to consolidate the ground which it had won. But the fuel situation was once again desperate for the ships promised by Commando Supremo had been sunk en route. There was no immediate prospect of another ship, the Luftwaffe could not air-transport the amounts of fuel required, and the supplies still available could not reach the battlefield in time. For the last time Rommel regrouped his depleted and exhausted troops in one, final desperate panzer assault but it died and with it died the German hopes in Africa.
The last panzer assault upon the Alam Haifa ridge had failed and now nothing remained but to withdraw the troops back behind the mine-fields and there to establish some sort of bridgehead. In the afternoon of 3 September British reconnaissance patrols reported that three large Axis columns were moving westwards. The New Zealanders, who had borne the brunt of the panzer drive moved forward to cut the mine-field gaps through which the Axis armour would have to pass and thus cut the Africa Corps off. Fierce fighting marked this final stage of the battle but the Germans held the corridors open long enough and completed the withdrawal by 5 September.
Now with the knowledge that each succeeding day would see the British growing stronger, and certain of the fact that the promised supplies would never arrive, Rommel organised his positions to defeat the British thrust when it came, for if Alamein was a good defensive position for the 8th Army then it was a sufficiently good position for him. It was now his task to hold out for as long as possible for there was only the road back.
The medical officer of 21st Panzer Division, writing his report on conditions in the field, remarked that cases of lice infection were being found among the troops and that rodents were making their appearance behind the lines, A later report noted an increase in dysentry cases and, as a result of the men sleeping in the open without cover or rest, there was an increase in other illnesses and diet deficiencies were responsible for the great increase in hepatitis. In order to conserve his thinning ranks Rommel ordered that the strictest camouflage measures be undertaken to hide his precious panzers from air attack. The commander-in-chief threatened to fly over divisional positions to check that his orders were being carried out and this warning was sufficient.