The cost of victory as of 8 November 1942

It was on 8 November 1942 that British tanks rolled into Mersa Matruh. The British had lost 13,560 killed, wounded, or missing. The fact that they had captured something like twice as many German and Italian prisoners. They had found "more than a thousand guns" and almost all of the enemy tanks (except perhaps a dozen). The British had found "about 450 enemy tanks at El Alamein.". The 9th Australian Division seems to have lost 620 killed, 1944 wounded, and 130 prisoners in the fight from 23 October to 5 November. To get some idea of the action involved, the enemy attacked Trig 29 some 25 times. Artillery fire was very important in the fighting. British counter-battery fire meant that the enemy was unable to do much shooting at night. They also found that the 6pdr anti-tank gun was extremely effective anti-tank weapon.
General von Thoma commented on Montgomery's cautious approach, but said that it had paid off for Montgomery in winning battles.One of the differences between Auchinleck's attack and Montgomery's was that the British had air superiority during the 2nd El Alamein battle. After the victory, the 9th Australian Division was recognized for their contribution. General Leese wrote a letter to General Morshead. General Leese asked Morshead to explain to his men the value of their contribution to the victory. General Leese credited the Australians with the success of their crumbling operations. It seems that the commanders were considering sending the Australians back to Syria. General Morshead was thinking about training his men. You have to think that there was probably going to be pressure to send the division back to Australia.  This is based on the account in Vol.III of the Australian Official History.