the following day, and therefore escaped the surrender of Tobruk four days later. At Sollum, Lt-Col Ruffer was appointed AADC, and had four batteries of 61st LAA Rgt under his command, positioned to cover gaps in the barbed wire defences, later withdrawn to provide close AA protection for the field gun and HAA sites. One of the HAA sites was positioned beneath the escarpment at Halfaya ('Hellfire') Pass. On 22 June the retreat continued, and the regiment moved back to Mersa Matruh, and then El Dabaa, where it deployed until moved back again on 27 June to Amiriya. Here RHQ and 192 HAA Bty were joined by 200 (Derby) HAA Bty and deployed to protect RAF landing grounds, with 200 Bty at El Alamein. 200 HAA Battery had been part of 68th HAA Rgt, the rest of which was lost in Tobruk; it remained part of 69th HAA Rgt until 1945. Alamein and after The regiment was now under the orders of 2 AA Bde supporting Eighth Army's build-up by defending lines of communication. Enemy air activity preceding the Second Battle of El Alamein was sporadic, but during one attack on the railway 192 HAA Bty shot down three Messerschmitt Bf 109s. 51st HAA Regiment Signal Section was relieved by 74th (Glasgow) HAA Rgt Signal Section, and in August the regiment moved back to Alexandria. Immediately after the Battle of Alamein (23 October–4 November), 69th HAA Rgt moved up behind the advancing Eighth Army to El Alamein, then on to Mersa Matruh, arriving on 11 November. Here it controlled 192/69 and 261/94 HAA Btys sited to defend the harbour, with 105/40, 165/55 and 166/56 LAA Btys defending the harbour and Smuggler's Cove. In addition, 8 x 6-pounder anti-tank guns of 296 A/T Bty provided coast defence while 204 Coast Defence Bty emplaced its guns. Other units, including 199 and 200 HAA Btys, and two troops of 390/27 S/L Bty, came and went as the army pushed on to Sollum, Tobruk and beyond. On 20 November, RHQ was ordered up via Sidi Barrani to Benghazi, which had been captured that day. By early December the regiment was established at Bnghazi port with the following units under Lt-Col Ruffer's command as AADC: RHQ 69 HAA Rgt 192, 199, 200 HAA Btys 213/57 HAA Bty 261/94 HAA Bty RHQ 2nd LAA Rgt 6, 155 LAA Btys 390/27 S/L Bty (two Troops) 17 AA