Second Battle of El Alamein

Second Battle of El Alamein
Part of Western Desert Campaign
24 October 1942: British soldiers on the attack.
Date 23 October – 5 November 1942 Location El Alamein, Egypt Result Decisive Allied victory
Belligerents
Allies:  United Kingdom  Australia  New Zealand  South Africa  British India  Free French Forces  Greece	Axis:  Nazi Germany  Italy
Commanders and leaders
Harold Alexander Bernard Montgomery	Erwin Rommel Georg Stumme † Ettore Bastico
Strength
195,000 men [1] 1,029 tanks[nb 1] 435 armoured cars[1] 730[nb 2] – 750 aircraft (530 serviceable)[nb 3] 892[5] – 908 artillery pieces[1] 1,451 Anti Tank guns[1][nb 4]	116,000 men[7][nb 5] 547 tanks[nb 6] 192 armoured cars[1] 770[3] – 900 aircraft (480 serviceable)[nb 7] 552 artillery pieces[5] 496 Anti Tank Guns[nb 8] – 1,063[5]
Casualties and losses
13,560 casualties[nb 9] 332[10] – ~500 tanks[nb 10] 111 guns[9] 97 aircraft[nb 11]	30,542 casualties[nb 12] ~500 tanks[nb 13] 254 guns[nb 14] 84 aircraft[nb 15]

The Second Battle of El Alamein was a great turning point in the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. The battle lasted from 23 October to 5 November 1942. The First Battle of El Alamein had stopped the Axis from attacking deep into Egypt further. Thereafter, Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery took command of the British Eighth Army in August 1942. In the second battle he took the offensive, with great success.

The Allied victory turned the tide in the North African Campaign. It ended Axis's hopes of occupying Egypt, taking control of the Suez Canal, and reaching the Middle Eastern oil fields.

The battle forced Erwin Rommel and his Afrika Korps to retreat back to the former French fortifications in the Mareth Line in the border between Tunisia and Libya.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5} Playfair, p. 30
2. ↑ Playfair, p. 9
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Barr, p. 304
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Playfair, p. 3
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} Barr, p. 276
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Playfair, p. 10
7. ↑ Buffetaut, p. 95
8. ↑ Playfair, pp. 9–11
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4} Playfair, p. 78
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1 10.2} Barr, p.404
11. ↑ Playfair, pp. 78–79