Battlefield | El Alamein | Part 1 | The Desert War | Closing The Net

Before Alamein we never had a victory. After Alamein we never had a defeat”. Winston Churchill’s words illustrate clearly why the two battles fought near the Egyptian coastal town in the western desert during 1942 were a turning point of World War Two.
Up until July 1942, the situation in the desert for the Allies was dire, with the British 8th Army in full retreat and vital bases at Alexandria and Cairo threatened by the lightening advances made by Rommel’s hitherto all-conquering armoured divisions. The position changed when, in a battle that lasted nearly a month, the British under General Sir Claude Auchinleck not only held off the German and Italian forces, but gained the strategic advantage of shorter supply lines that enabled them the reinforce their position faster than the Germans. For the AfrikaKorps, it was the first taste of what was to come - for the Allies it was proof positive that the enemy was no superman and could be beaten.
In October, their men rested and well trained, the Allies struck. A diversionary attack to the south was intended to draw Axis forces into the area leaving the way clear for the real attack in the north, but the assault became bogged down in minefields. Montgomery, the Allied commander, changed tactics by constantly switching the point of attack. The end came in early November, when the 9th Australian division finally broke through and a major push to the south forced the Germans to fight what became an enormous tank battle. By 3rd November, Rommel had only 30 tanks left with which to fight and a withdrawal began, pursued by the British, who were badly hampered by heavy rain and a shortage of fuel.
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