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ABSTRACT

Battle of El Alamein is one of the two decisive battles in the western desert Northern

Egypt in World War II. During the first Battle of El Alamein 1st to 27th July 1942, the

British 8th Army under Auchinleck held off the German and Italian forces under Rommel

and during the Second Battle of El Alamein 23rd Oct to 4th Nov 1942, Montgomery

defeated Rommel. The first battle was inconclusive but strategically vital whereby

Rommel attacked the British line in a series of engagements, but Auchinleck kept him at

bay. Neither side can be said to have won, but the British had the strategic advantage of

short supply lines and so could reinforce faster than the Germans. Montgomery began the

second battle with a diversion attack in the south to draw the Axis forces into the area so

that the main attack at the North will be able to create a gap for the British armoured

divisions to pass through the German minefields. The progress was however slow and

Montgomery changed tactics, constantly switching the main emphasis of his attack to

wear down Rommel's front line. The decisive phase of the battle came with an Australian

attack along the coastal road on 26th Oct 1942 that diverted the Axis Forces while

Montgomery launched a fresh attack further south which developed into a major tank

battle. The minefields, armoured tanks and logistic support elements had contributed to

the outcome of this battle. Finally on 3rd Nov 1942 Rommel had only 30 serviceable tanks

in action and on the following day he began organizing his withdrawal. He was able to

escape, as the British were hampered by heavy rain and fuel shortage but this was a

crushing blow for the Axis campaign in North Africa.

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