Before Alamein we never had a victory. After Alamein we never had a defeat. – Winston Churchill

Though Churchill conveniently overlooks engagements like Operation Market Garden, the Battle of Kasserine Pass, and the opening battles for Monte Casino the sentiment of this quote does hold true; El Alamein marked a turning point in the Second World War. But how important were the battles of El Alamein really? Did they impact on the wider conflict? Or is it simply that the final battle at this historic site happened to coincide with the fatal overstretching of the Nazi war machine as the USSR turned the tide at Stalingrad?

In 1940 the Italian army attempted to invade British held Egypt. What resulted was a total disaster for the invading forces as the British inflicted heavy casualties on the overstretched Italians. Cut off from resupply thanks to the British Mediterranean Fleet and the harsh environment, the Italians were unable to bolster their presence in North Africa. As such the Allied counterattack struck a decisive blow and pierced deep into Libya.

In response to this disaster Hitler personally ensured the creation of the Deutsches Afrikakorps expeditionary force. Led by the highly distinguished Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel the Afrika Korps landed in Libya in February 1941. Seeing the vulnerability of his situation Rommel disregarded his orders to hold the line and instead struck back at the British. Anticipating that the Afrika Korps High Command’s orders, which had been intercepted by Bletchley Park, Rommel’s unconventional tactics found the Allies wholly unprepared for the German offensive.    -Afrika Korps Tank Hunters

For the rest of 1941 and much of 1942 this small force of German and Italian armour, cobbled together in an ad hoc fashion, ran riot in North Africa. Though the tide of battle in North Africa ebbed and flowed, by June 1942 the Allies had been beaten back and Rommel stood poised to expel the British from Egypt. Should Alexandria and the Suez Canal fall to the Afrika Korps North Africa would be firmly in the hands of the Axis Powers and, with much of the Empire now a far longer and more dangerous voyage away, a significant blow dealt to the Allied war effort.

Advancing across Egypt Field Marshal Rommel’s Panzer Army Africa met the British Eighth Army under General Claude Auchinleck, Commander-in-Chief Middle East, at a small railway station on the Mediterranean coast. The resulting First Battle of El Alamein halted the advance of the almost mythical Afrika Korps and their lionised leader, the ‘Desert Fox’. This engagement didn’t, however, prove decisive and the numerically superior Allies failed to blunt the threat the Desert Fox posed.

It was no accident that El Alamein proved to be the deciding theatre in the Western Desert Campaign. Until now Rommel had proved his worth as a field commander by continually outmanoeuvring the British forces. The casualties Stemming from these encounters had seriously hindered the armoured capabilities of the British in North Africa and compromised previously laid defensive plans. Auchinleck feared that Rommel might again outmanoeuvre the Eighth Army and strike at a vulnerable flank, as happened at Gazala.    -Rommel at the port of Tobruk after its capture

El Alamein offered the best defensive location as the Mediterranean to the north and the Qattara Depression to the south secured the Eighth Army’s flanks. So it was to this unassuming region that the Allies retreated to. Auchinleck hoped that his forces would be able to effect an orderly withdrawal to El Alamein while engaging the Germans and Italians in delaying actions. This tactic was largely successful, though confusion in orders led to the scattering of X Corps and loss of troops and supplies, and the Allies were able to take up a strong position to meet Rommel’s forces.

Never one to sit on his heels Rommel ordered an early attack. The hope was that the Eighth Army would be broken before it could settle and the panzers would have a clear path to the Nile. Though both armies were exhausted and battle weary the advantage lay with the Allies. Though they had been giving ground the Eighth Army were falling back on their lines of communication and supply while extending those of the Afrika Korps.

As such the Allies were able to properly resupply and reinforce their position while the Axis found themselves increasingly isolated and cut-off. With air superiority, numerical advantage, and the ability to properly reinforce and resupply their troops it is little wonder that the Allies were able to hold the Germans at El Alamein. But was it impossible for Rommel to carry the day against such odds?    -Rommel with his officers

Rommel’s battlefield genius is undeniable and throughout his career he proved his ability to read and dominate the ebb and flow of an engagement. Yet his penchant for outmanoeuvring his enemy and pushing the advantage meant that he had outstripped his supply lines and had exhausted his troops by the time they reached Alamein. But any lull in combat would allow the Allies to regroup.

As such the defeat at El Alamein might be blamed on the supply train and Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW) who failed to provide Rommel with what he needed. Whether it was Rommel’s overzealous prosecution of the campaign or the failure of politicians and OKW to recognise the importance of Egypt the end result was the same; the Eighth Army held El Alamein and the Axis would go no further.    -British officers planning during the North Africa Campaign 

This didn’t, however, mean that the Germans and Italians would be simply rolled up. Auchinleck launched several counter-attacks but was unable to dislodge the Panzer Army Africa. By the end of July 1942 the opposing armies were at an impasse and both dug in. For the next eight weeks the battered ranks regrouped and were resupplied.

During this time Auchinleck had been replaced as Commander-in-Chief Middle East by General Harold Alexander and Bernard Montgomery had taken charge of the Eighth Army. At the same time Rommel had taken sick and was relieved by Lieutenant-General Georg Stumme while the Desert Fox returned to Germany to recover. So it fell to a new cast of leading characters to execute the Second Battle of El Alamein.    -Montgomery in his command tank

With Germany so invested in the Eastern Front Rommel knew that there was little chance of receiving strong reinforcement. With this in mind he had his troops dig in and hoped that they would be able to weather the coming Allied storm. Little did Rommel know that Hitler’s strike into the heart of Russia was facing disaster and, even if Montgomery’s onslaught was repelled, there would be no relief for Panzer Army Africa.

In the end it fell to Stumme to try and hold the line in the absence of the charismatic Rommel. On the 23^rd of October 1942 Montgomery launched Operation Lightfoot with a five and a half hour bombardment. During this time 882 guns fired approximately 529,000 shells as the infantry advanced under cover of this barrage. The plan was to secure ground with the Lightfooted infantry and then have the tanks come in support after engineers cleared any anti-tank mines.

Despite the intensity of the initial Allied offensive there were limited gains made in the opening days. The Axis did, however, suffer a serious casualty as Stumme collapsed from cardiac arrest on the second day of the battle. Rommel was already en route to the battle and resumed command when he arrived on the night of the 25^th of October. Though the Germans attempted to counter-attack against Montgomery’s forces they were largely unsuccessful.    -Members of Afrika Korps at a 'no entry' sign

Montgomery’s plan had been for the infantry to open up two corridors through which the Allied armour would charge and defeat the Axis. Much like a mouse’s best laid plans Operation Lightfoot was forced to change and adapt after battle was begun. The Germans weren’t easily shifted from their entrenched positions and soon Montgomery’s idea of a southern corridor had to be forgotten.

Instead the Allied focus shifted to grinding the Germans down and achieving air superiority. As the British secured or destroyed Axis airstrips the importance of the sky became clear. The Desert Air Force pummelled German positions and attacked their vulnerable supply lines. Taking advantage of the broken Enigma code the Allies struck at Axis shipping in the Mediterranean; tearing open German and Italian tankers carrying supplies of fuel and munitions vital to Rommel’s war effort.

By the 1^st of November the Axis’ cause was all but lost. Though the Germans and Italians had fought tenaciously and inflicted considerable casualties on Allied forces, Montgomery’s armour now outnumbered Rommel’s by roughly ten to one. The Axis armour was also now reliant on fuel being airlifted in from Greece; the pilots facing Allied bombers in Greece and the DAF’s fighters over Africa and the Mediterranean.

Despite ‘The army's strength [being] so exhausted after its ten days of battle that it was not now capable of offering any effective opposition to the enemy's next break-through attempt’ Hitler ordered Rommel that ‘there can be no other thought but to stand fast, yield not a yard of ground and throw every gun and every man into the battle’. It was the 3^rd of November and the following day would see the final phase of the Second Battle of El Alamein.    -A British Crusader tank passing a wrecked German Panzer Mk. IV

On the morning of the 4^th of November Montgomery’s 1^st, 7^th, and 10^th armoured divisions pierced Rommel’s lines in a gap opened up the night before by the 51^st Highland and 4^th Indian divisions. With his lines compromised and no word back from Germany Rommel ordered a general retreat. A great number of Axis armour and troops were lost as the Allied advance cut off their line of withdrawal. Alamein mirrored Stalingrad as Hitler’s refusal to give ground exacted a heavy price.

Unlike Field Marshal Paulus, however, Rommel was able to break out as Montgomery hesitated in pushing his advantage and the German 90^th Light Division secured the German retreat. Over the next six days Montgomery pursued the retreating Rommel, stopping only when he reached the Libyan boarder. The newly christened German-Italian Panzer Army was, however, living on borrowed time.    -American B-25s during the Western Desert Campaign in 1943

While Rommel and Montgomery played cat and mouse a large Allied force had landed in Morocco and Algeria, pushing deep into Tunisia. There was now no cushion which could absorb an Allied offensive. After Montgomery renewed the Eighth Army’s advance Rommel found himself penned in on either side. Rommel continued his bloodying of Allied forces as he withdrew to Tunis. Despite his best efforts, however, he was constantly forced to fallback and on the 9^th of March he returned to Germany to plead for assistance from Hitler. The assistance never came and on May 13^th 1943 the Allies declared victory in North Africa.

Listen back as Patrick and a panel of experts cast their eyes over the Battles of El Alamein and the imprint they left on the world. Was Rommel the battlefield genius and noble adversary he is remembered as? Was Montgomery’s appointment vital to the eventual victory? Or were these personalities mere figureheads and totems in a theatre dominated by logistics and information-gathering? Find out the true reasons for victory and the actual importance of this desert war.