1941 1942 Associated articles Operation Braganza was launched on the night of 29 September 1942 by Lieutenant-General Brian Horrocks, commanding British XIII Corps.

It was intended as a preliminary to Operation Lightfoot, part of the Second Battle of El Alamein.

The objective was to capture an area of ground near Deir el Munassib in Egypt, to be used for extra artillery deployment.

While the 1/6th Battalion, Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) — on the northern side of the battle — and the 1/7th Battalion — on the eastern side — encountered very little opposition, in the south the 1/5th was badly handled when they ran into positions held by the paratroopers of the 185th Infantry Division "Folgore".

During the remaining period of training, this often led to bewildering interchange of units, which also created considerably extra difficulties for the command structure.