El Alamein and the turn toward cautious armoured warfare

Basil Liddell Hart described El Alamein as a turning point after which armoured warfare slowed into repeated sparring with anti-tank screens. Difficult terrain in Italy and Normandy, together with stronger anti-tank weapons and tactics, made tank formations more cautious. Ralph Ingersoll's description follows vehicles as they hug ridges, hesitate before crossing open ground and avoid staying on roads. Patton's breakout from the Normandy beachhead remains an exception to this broader assessment of slower, more guarded armoured movement.