Editing First Battle of El Alamein (section)

==Aftermath==
[[File:The British Army in North Africa 1942 E14621.jpg|thumb|German and Italian prisoners captured during the advance on the Ruweisat Ridge, July 1942]]
The battle was a stalemate, but it had halted the Axis advance on [[Alexandria]] (and then [[Cairo]] and ultimately the [[Suez Canal]]). The Eighth Army had suffered over 13,000 casualties in July, including 4,000 in the 2nd New Zealand Division, 3,000 in the 5th Indian Infantry Division and 2,552 battle casualties in the 9th Australian Division but had taken 7,000 prisoners and inflicted heavy damage on Axis men and machines.<ref name="CM589" /><ref name="Johnston03p86"/> In his appreciation of 27 July, Auchinleck wrote that the Eighth Army would not be ready to attack again until mid-September at the earliest. He believed that because Rommel understood that with the passage of time the Allied situation would only improve, he was compelled to attack as soon as possible and before the end of August when he would have superiority in armour. Auchinleck therefore made plans for a defensive battle.<ref>{{harvnb|Hinsley|1981|p=407}}.</ref>

In early August, [[Winston Churchill]] and General [[Alan Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke|Sir Alan Brooke]]—the [[Chief of the General Staff (United Kingdom)|Chief of the Imperial General Staff]] (CIGS)—visited Cairo on their way to meet [[Joseph Stalin]] in [[Moscow]]. They decided to replace Auchinleck, appointing the XIII Corps commander, [[William Gott]], to the Eighth Army command and General [[Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis|Sir Harold Alexander]] as C-in-C Middle East Command. Persia and Iraq were to be split from Middle East Command as a separate [[Persia and Iraq Command]] and Auchinleck was offered the post of C-in-C (which he refused).<ref>{{harvnb|Alanbrooke|2002|p=294}}.</ref> Gott was killed on the way to take up his command when his aircraft was shot down.<ref>{{harvnb|Clifford|1943|p=296}}.</ref> Lieutenant-General [[Bernard Montgomery]] was appointed in his place and took command on 13 August.<ref name="CM589"/>{{efn|Brooke and Auchinleck had both thought Montgomery a better candidate than Gott but Churchill had favoured his appointment.<ref>Alanbrooke Diaries, 4 August 1942</ref>}}