Editing Second Battle of El Alamein (section)

====Operation Lightfoot====
Montgomery's plan was for a main attack to the north of the line and a secondary attack to the south, involving [[XXX Corps (United Kingdom)|XXX Corps]] (Lieutenant-General [[Oliver Leese]]) and [[XIII Corps (United Kingdom)|XIII Corps]] (Lieutenant-General [[Brian Horrocks]]), while [[X Corps (United Kingdom)|X Corps]] (Lieutenant-General [[Herbert Lumsden]]) was to exploit the success.{{sfn|Greene|Massignani|1994|p=219}} With Operation Lightfoot, Montgomery intended to cut two corridors through the Axis minefields in the north. One corridor was to run south-west through the [[2nd New Zealand Division]] sector towards the centre of Miteirya Ridge, while the second was to run west, passing {{cvt|2|mi|km}} north of the west end of the Miteirya Ridge across the [[9th Division (Australia)|9th Australian]] and [[51st (Highland) Division]] sectors.{{sfn|Playfair|2004|p=34}} Tanks would then pass through and defeat the German armour. Diversions at Ruweisat Ridge in the centre and also the south of the line would keep the rest of the Axis forces from moving northwards. Montgomery expected a 12-day battle in three stages: the break-in, the dogfight and the final breaking of the enemy.{{sfn|Dear|2005|p=254}}

For the first night of the offensive, Montgomery planned for four infantry divisions of XXX Corps to advance on a {{cvt|26|km|mi|order=flip}} front to the Oxalic Line, over-running the forward Axis defences. Engineers would clear and mark the two lanes through the minefields, through which the armoured divisions from X Corps would pass to gain the Pierson Line. They would rally and consolidate their position just west of the infantry positions, blocking an Axis tank counter-attack. The British tanks would then advance to ''Skinflint'', astride the north–south Rahman Track deep in the Axis defensive system, to challenge the Axis armour.{{sfn|Playfair|2004|p=34}} The infantry battle would continue as the Eighth Army infantry "crumbled" the deep Axis defensive fortifications (three successive lines of fortification had been constructed) and destroy any tanks that attacked them.{{sfn|Hinsley|1981|pp=430–431}}{{efn|The [[Polish Mine Detector]] designed in Scotland in 1941 by the Polish engineer and signals officer, Lieutenant [[Józef Kosacki]] was to be used for the first time in action. Five hundred of these were issued to Eighth Army. The apparatus doubled the speed at which heavily mined sands could be cleared, from around {{cvt|100|m|yd}} to about {{cvt|200|m|yd}} an hour.{{sfn|Modelski|1986|p=221}}}}