| The Middlesex Regiment with their Vickers gun in a forward position during the 2nd Battle of El Alamein. The Vickers .303 caliber (7.7 millimeter) water-cooled machine gun entered service in 1912, but were not available in quantity in World War I until 1915. By World War II the Vickers was the standard sustained fire weapon, while Lewis guns and Bren guns were the light machine gun for squad automatic weapons. It could fire for hours without breakdowns. Vickers machine gun crews were larger, with 1 man to carry the barrel, 1 man to carry the tripod, and a 3rd man to carry ammunition. In many respects the United Kingdom Royal Army 51st Highland Infantry Division was a unique formation within the British Army. The original division, composed of the regular battalions of the Highland regiments, had been captured en masse at St Valéry in 1940. Thus, the 51st Highland Infantry Division which sailed to Egypt, formed mainly from the Territorial battalions of the same regiments, possessed a fierce desire to avenge the previous disaster. Major General Douglas Wimberley (August 15, 1896 – August 26, 1983), known as “Lang Tam” because of his height, was very protective of his division and its distinctive Scottish character. He insisted on maintaining this and although the 7th Middlesez Regiment was the division’s machine-gun battalion, Wimberley rationalised this as “mascots” to the “Jocks” of the 51st Highland Infantry Division. At dawn on October 24, 1942, the 1st Battalion, Middlesex 7th Regiment machine-gun platoons, carrying guns and ammo made their way forward through the gaps in the minefields. Their Tactical Headquarters could see the golden rain rockets burst startlingly in the air to show that Green and Red line objectives had been taken. C Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Middlesex, with 153rd Brigade on the right had made good progress, but 154 Brigade with B Company had a harder nut to crack and neither 7th Argyll nor 7th Black Watch had been able to reach their final objectives on the crest of Miteirya Ridge, so the machine-gun platoons dug in on the reverse slope, only Number 12 platoon had a direct shoot. 1st Gordon Highlanders, who had their 2 forward companies cut off, were re-united on the night of October 24 on Black line from which, under Major James Hay (???? – 1954), they began an advance to secure Aberdeen, on the north-eastern rim of a ridge that looked like a “Kidney” on their maps, and was called that ever since. Private Jeff Haward (July 28, 1919 – March 3, 2022) later recounted his experience during the battle: “My Twelfth Platoon with Fifth Battalion, Seventh Gordons, was behind the two leading infantry companies. We were to carry our Vickers guns, tripods and ammo plus forty-eight hours rations. I was Number Three Man and had four belts of ammo (each a thousand rounds), rifle and shovel. The barrage opened and away we went! The night quickly became obscured by sand, smoke and cordite. We were on a compass bearing and could only follow the man in front. As we took casualties their loads were distributed amongst the rest of us. The Platoon Sergeant at the rear carried an amazing eight belts of ammo. That night we covered about five miles (eight kilometers) towards our objective. The Gordons had run into an uncharted minefield and we had to dig in. Several positions in front were manned mainly by Italian infantry. We gave the Jocks supporting fire as they went in with the bayonet.” The advance was led by D Company with a platoon of 1st Battalion, Middlesex 7th Regiment, the divisional machine gunners, in support. While negotiating some barbed wire they were spotted by a German patrol which, receiving no response to its challenge, simply turned about and drove off. Some minutes later flares went up, and they were greeted with mortar and small arms fire before, to their surprise, meeting up with soldiers of 7th London Rifle Brigade, 1 of 1st Armored Division’s motor battalions. The Riflemen had advanced by sun route through the Australian sector and were to deploy in support of 2nd Armored Brigade, but their vehicles had been blown up on mines, and they were pinned down by fire from “Aberdeen” – 1 of the Axis’ 4 main strong points. The Gordons and Middlesex had no option but to dig in alongside the riflemen; the ground was almost solid rock, and they were unable to dig trenches any more than a foot deep. There they were on almost open ground when dawn broke on October 25: in fact, the Middlesex gun crews and the anti-tank gunners of the London riflemen were on open ground; they suffered heavily from enemy fire during that day. During the afternoon of October 25, German and Italian tanks had attacked the riflemen near the junction with the Australians. They more than met their match as the anti-tank gunners allowed them to approach to within 800 yards, at which point the 6 pounder (57 millimeter; 2.24 inch) anti-tank guns opened fire. Several tanks were hit, some bursting into flame. Although the tanks came on, with artillery support, the Green Jackets held their ground and continued pouring fire into their foes. At 250 yards’ range, the tanks were stopped and withdrew with the loss of at least 14 vehicles. This was the 1st infantry versus armor action of Alamein and the 1st of several manifestations that were to follow (exemplified on both sides) of the helplessness of tanks in the face of stoutly manned anti-tank guns. It was a fine and highly significant little action that has hitherto remained in obscurity to nearly all but those who took part in it. In 1st Gordons’ headquarters, plans were made to reinforce the men cut off in front of Aberdeen. The commanding officer, Major Hay, was injured grievously by a mine while reconnoitering in a Universal Carrier and Major J.E.G. “Scrappy” Hay (???? – ????) took command. That night’s attempt by B Company to reach the men before Aberdeen was a failure and the company commander ordered a withdrawal. The Middlesex machine gunners with the leading elements of the Gordons were in an especially bad situation as they had been told to leave their rations and water behind. Some water was drawn off the radiators of wrecked lorries for drinking while the cooling jackets of the Vickers guns were replenished by the traditional expedient. Later a subaltern with a small party of 6 managed to get forward with some water. No thought was given to withdrawal. Elsewhere in the divisional sector 5th Black Watch attacked “Stirling,” another Axis strongpoint, which was taken against much lighter opposition than expected; while 7th Argylls pushed forward 3 companies in a ‘silent’ attack against Nairn. When the 3 companies were forming up for the attack they came under considerable random shelling and machine gun fire. The troops were physically exhausted after continual fighting and owing to lack of sleep, but the 3 companies crossed the start line on time, and eventually obtained a lodgment in the northern end of Nairn locality. But there were only about a 100 men left of the 3 companies and neither A nor D Companies had any officers left. B Company’s commander re-organized A and D Companies into a composite sub-unit and called for artillery support. Although there was the usual doubt about accurate locations, there was wireless communication with the gunner liaison officer of 126th (Highland) Field Regiment at battalion headquarters and arrangements were made for defensive fire to be called down to cover all approaches to the location. Accurate fire was brought down from 126th Regiment on an 88 millimeter dual-purpose gun close to the left of the captured position, knocking out the weapon. This increased faith in the gunners and the battalion’s map-reading skills. Although General Wimberley suggested to General Oliver Leese (October 27, 1894 – January 22, 1978) General Officer Commanding XXX Corps, that Major General Raymond Briggs (January 19, 1895 – April 4, 1985), General Officer Commanding of the 1st Armored Division, might now switch his advance to the south, this idea was rejected, and X Corps headquarters told both armored brigades to contact 5th Black Watch to see if they could help the Highland Division. Although Lieutenant General Herbert W. Lumsden (April 8, 1897 – January 6, 1945) General Officer Commanding of X Corps, instructed Briggs to move Brigadier General Arthur F. Fisher’s (July 11, 1899 – August 28, 1972) 2nd Armored Brigade northwest to a locality where he could offer left flank protection to the Australians, this proved impossible and 2nd Armoured Brigade maintained much the same positions as on the day before. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0734.jpg |
| Image Size | 499.64 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2048 x 1581 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | Number One United Kingdom Royal Army Film and Photo Section, Army Film and Photographic Unit |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | October 25, 1942 |
| Location | |
| City | El Alamein |
| State or Province | Matrouh |
| Country | Egypt |
| Archive | |
| Record Number | |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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