First Battle of El Alamein

First Battle of El Alamein
Part of the Western Desert campaign of World War II
British infantry manning a sandbagged defensive position near El Alamein, 17 July 1942.
Date 1–27 July 1942 Location El Alamein, British-occupied Egypt 30°50′29″N 28°56′34″E / 30.84139°N 28.94278°E / 30.84139; 28.94278 Result Inconclusive
Belligerents
Italy Germany	United Kingdom India  New Zealand  Australia South Africa
Commanders and leaders
Ettore Bastico Erwin Rommel Walther Nehring Giuseppe De Stefanis Enea Navarini Benvenuto Gioda	Claude Auchinleck William Ramsden William Gott William Holmes
Strength
96,000 troops (56,000 Italian, 40,000 German) 70 tanks initially (585 tanks later)[a][1] ~500 planes	150,000 troops 179 tanks initially (1,114 tanks later)[b][2] 1,000+ artillery pieces 1,500+ planes
Casualties and losses
10,000 killed or wounded[3] 7,000 prisoners[4][5]	13,250 killed or wounded[5]

The First Battle of El Alamein (1–27 July 1942) was a battle of the Western Desert campaign of World War II, fought in Egypt between Axis (German and Italian) forces of the Panzer Army Africa—which included the Afrika Korps under Field Marshal Erwin Rommel—and Allied (British Empire and Commonwealth) forces of the Eighth Army under General Claude Auchinleck.

In this battle the British halted a second advance by the Axis forces into Egypt. Axis positions near El Alamein, only 106 km (66 mi) from Alexandria, were dangerously close to the ports and cities of Egypt, the base facilities of the Commonwealth forces and the Suez Canal. However, the Axis forces were too far from their base at Tripoli in Libya to remain at El Alamein indefinitely, which led both sides to accumulate supplies for more offensives, against the constraints of time and distance.

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