The division fought in the Western Desert Campaign until being destroyed during the Second Battle of El Alamein and declared lost due to wartime events on 8 December 1942.

Both, the Maletti Group and the Special Armored Brigade, were part of the Italian 10th Army, which had invaded Egypt on 9 September 1940.

The counter-attack only recaptured one strong point from what Australian historian Mark Johnston reported to be Italian defenders.

On 23 November, the 15th Panzer Division attacked the 5th South African Brigade defending Sidi Rezegh and that evening, the Ariete came up in support and the ridge was taken along with 3,400 prisoners.

[1] On 26 May 1942 Axis forces went on the offensive again in the Battle of Gazala and on 27 May the Ariete overran the 3rd Indian Motor Brigade at Rugbet Al Atasc and [8] captured 1,000 troops.

The division's artillery was caught on the move by British forces engaged in a flanking attack and suffered heavy casualties in the ensuing clash.

"Of the division's units only the XIII Tank Battalion "M" and about 200 Bersaglieri with six 75/18 self-propelled guns escaped, but were overtaken and destroyed by British forces on the coastal road near Fuka on 5–6 November 1942.

[14] Rommel mourned the loss of the division, writing that its final action had been conducted with exemplary courage and that "in the Ariete we lost our oldest Italian comrades, from whom we had probably always demanded more than they, with their poor armament, had been capable of performing".

[1] During the Tunisian Campaign the Tactical Group "Ariete" was reorganized as the 132nd Anti-tank Regiment, which joined the 131st Armored Division "Centauro".

The 8th Bersaglieri Regiment, which was the only remaining unit of the division after the Second Battle of El Alamein was awarded a second Gold Medal of Military Valour for its service during the Tunisian campaign.