south of El Alamein closed the southern flank. The Allied and Axis forces fought the First Battle of El Alamein, the Battle of Alam el Halfa and the Second Battle of El Alamein. (Operation Agreement, a British landing at Tobruk during the night of to rescue Allied prisoners, was a failure. Orders of battle Allied and Axis forces, Gazala, 26 May – 21 June 1942 Allies Middle East Command (Claude Auchinleck) Eighth Army (Neil Ritchie) XIII Corps (William Gott) 1st South African Division (Dan Pienaar) South African 1st Infantry Brigade Group South African 2nd Infantry Brigade Group South African 3rd Infantry Brigade Group 2nd South African Division (Hendrik Klopper) (in Tobruk) South African 4th Infantry Brigade Group South African 6th Infantry Brigade Group 9th Indian Infantry Brigade Group (Bernard Fletcher) (from 5th Indian Division and moved to 7th Armoured Division at the Cauldron in early June) 11th Indian Infantry Brigade (Andrew Anderson) (from Army Reserve to replace 9th Indian Infantry Brigade Group) 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division (William Ramsden) 150th Infantry Brigade Group (Haydon) 151st Infantry Brigade Group (John Nichols) 69th Infantry Brigade Group (Hassall) 1st Army Tank Brigade (O'Carroll) 32nd Army Tank Brigade (Willison) XXX Corps (Charles Norrie) 1st Armoured Division (Herbert Lumsden) 2nd Armoured Brigade Group (Briggs) 22nd Armoured Brigade Group (Carr) 201st Guards Motor Brigade (John Marriott until 17 June then G. F. Johnson) 7th Armoured Division (Frank Messervy) 4th Armoured Brigade Group (Gatehouse) 7th Motor Brigade Group (James Renton) 3rd Indian Motor Brigade Group (Filose) 29th Indian Infantry Brigade Group (Denys Reid) from 5th Indian Infantry Division 1st Free French Brigade Group (Marie Kœnig) (under 7th Armoured Division command when defending Bir Hakeim) Army Reserve 5th Indian Infantry Division (Harold Briggs) 10th Indian Infantry Brigade (Charles Boucher) 2nd Free French Brigade Group 10th Indian Infantry Division (Thomas Rees) (arriving from Iraq) 20th Indian Infantry Brigade (MacGregor) 21st Indian Infantry Brigade (Purves) 25th Indian Infantry Brigade (Ronald Mountain) 11th Indian Infantry Brigade (Andrew Anderson) (from 4th Indian Infantry Division) 1st Armoured Brigade 5th Indian Infantry Brigade from mid-June (Dudley Russell) (from 4th Indian Infantry Division) Axis Details from Pitt 2001 unless indicated. Ettore Bastico ( Erwin Rommel) ( Walter Nehring) 15th Panzer Division ( Gustav von Värst [wounded 27 May then Oberst Eduard Crasemann]) 21st Panzer Division ( Georg von Bismarck) 90th Light Division ( Ulrich Kleemann) ( Ettore Baldassarre) 132nd Armoured Division "Ariete" ( Giuseppe De Stefanis)