Fuka but continued to El Alamein. The New Zealanders were placed into the El Alamein line. Some 8,000 Allied prisoners were taken during the battle, 6,000 at Matruh, where forty British tanks were also lost. Large supply dumps were captured by the Axis as well and enough equipment for a division. With the fall of Matruh, Axis aircraft operating from the Matruh airfields would be from the naval base at Alexandria. In light of this threat the British naval command withdrew the Mediterranean Fleet, dispersing its force to several smaller eastern Mediterranean ports. Panic was in the air in Alexandria and Cairo. The head of the US Army Intelligence Division predicted the British position in Egypt would collapse in less than a week. People fled east to Palestine and the air was thick with the smoke of burning official and secret documents. The British consulate was swamped with people requesting visas. The British army flooded sections of the Nile Delta, prepared to demolish infrastructure and built up defensive positions at Alexandria and the Suez canal. A scorched earth policy was discussed but decided against. Mellenthin wrote, "Rommel may have been lucky, but Mersa Matruh was certainly a brilliant German victory and gave us great hopes of 'bouncing' the Eighth Army out of the Alamein line". In the event Auchinleck rallied the Eighth Army and in a month of battle checked the German advance at the First Battle of El Alamein. After it was over both sides were exhausted but the British still held their positions. The Allied crisis passed and the Eighth Army began to build up its strength in preparation for going back onto the offensive. The battle also functioned as a large morale-booster for Rommel's Italian troops, as it had been predominantly executed by them, albeit under German command. Notes See also List of British military equipment of World War II List of German military equipment of World War II List of Italian military equipment in World War II Footnotes Bibliography Further reading External links Painting: The breakthrough, Minqar Qa'im, 27–28 June 1942 (Peter McIntyre) Conflicts in 1942 1942 in Libya Western Desert campaign Libya in World War II Battles of World War II involving the United Kingdom Battles and operations of World War II involving South Africa Battles and operations of World War II involving India Battles of World War II involving Italy Battles of World War