El Alamein

Introducing El Alamein

This small coastal outpost (not a ‘city’ as the brochures would have you believe) is famed for the decisive victory that was doled out here by the Allies in the WWII North Africa campaign.

In June 1942 the Afrika Korps, headed by German General Erwin Rommel (nicknamed ‘Desert Fox’), launched an all-out offensive from Tobruk, Libya. Determined to take control of Alexandria, and the strategically important Suez Canal, the Axis powers and their 500 tanks came within nearly 100km of their goal. It was not the first attempt in what had been two years of seesaw battles, but this time the Axis forces were confident of a breakthrough. However, the Allies, under the command of General Bernard Montgomery (‘Monty’), stopped their advance with a line of defence stretching southward from El Alamein to the Qattara Depression. On 23 October 1942 Montgomery’s 8th Army swooped down from Alexandria with a thousand tanks, and within two weeks routed the combined German and Italian forces, driving Rommel and what was left of the Afrika Korps back to Tunisia.

More than 80, 000 soldiers were killed or wounded at El Alamein and in the subsequent battles for control of North Africa. The thousands of graves in the three massive war cemeteries in the vicinity of the town are a bleak reminder of the losses.

El Alamein’s War Museum and the Commonwealth War Cemetery are along a side road that leaves the main highway at the Greek war memorial and rejoins it again after passing right through the town.

Though it’s possible to stay overnight nearby in Sidi Abdel Rahman, El Alamein is best visited as a day trip from Alexandria; there really isn’t much here that would detain any but the most enthusiastic of military historians for more than a few hours.

Last updated: Mar 2, 2009