During the morning of 28 October 1942, generals Lumsden and Freyberg both met separately with the Australian General Morshead. As we mentioned, it was after those meetings that Montgomery "warned" Freyberg that the New Zealand Division would "take over the sector" and stage an attack to the west, "along the coast".
The plan had been to have the 26th Brigade be replaced by the 20th Brigade. The enemy staged attacks that caused problems for the relief. Perhaps the enemy had some warning of the plan and tried to disrupt it. Again, as we have mentioned, I believe, Trig 29 was attacked during the morning, but had been ] forced back.
The 20th Brigade attack had stepped off at 10pm. The 2/13th Battalion was in bad shape, as they were very tired, and had lost a great deal of their men. Their companies were only about 35 men in strength. The start line had been set farther back then the plan had indicated. They still moved so fast that hey had to wait for the barrage to be lifted. The enemy were tricky enough to use a trick where they fired behind the barrage, thinking that they would catch advancing troops. That caused hits on "battalion transport" and one "rear companies". Still, the Fig Orchard was taken in fifty minutes. One of the attacking companies "dug in close behind the orchard". The "battalion headquarters was nearby". Quite soon, two other companies "passed through" and "followed a track leading towards the coast". They eventually moved into a position "some 800 yards from Thompson's Post". This is based on the account in Vol.III of the Australian Official history.
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