Second Battle of El Alamein
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The Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 4 November 1942) was a Second World War battle fought near the Egyptian railway halt of El Alamein. The First Battle of El Alamein and the Battle of Alam el Halfa had stopped the Axis from advancing further into Egypt. In October 1942 Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery, commanding the Eighth Army, opened an offensive against Axis forces. In a 13-day battle, Panzerarmee Afrika was crushed and forced to retreat from Egypt and Libya to the borders of Tunisia. The Allied victory began the end of the Western Desert Campaign, ended the Axis threat to the Middle East and Iran, revived western Allied morale, and was their first large success against the Axis since Operation Crusader in late 1941. It coincided with Operation Torch on 8 November, opening a second front in North Africa. Before the battle, Panzer Army Africa under Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel had advanced into Egypt after the Battle of Gazala (26 May – 21 June 1942), threatening the Suez Canal and Middle East oil. General Claude Auchinleck withdrew the Eighth Army to within 50 mi of Alexandria, where the Qattara Depression made attacks frontal; Axis attacks in the First Battle of El Alamein (1–27 July) were defeated. Winston Churchill and Alan Brooke replaced Auchinleck with Harold Alexander; William Gott was killed and Montgomery replaced him. Rommel attacked at Alam el Halfa on 30 August but was repulsed. The Axis fortified positions with about 500,000 mines, while Ultra gave the British intelligence advantages. By 25 October Panzerarmee Afrika had only three days' fuel. The Eighth Army began the offensive with 195,000 men and 1,029 tanks against 116,000 men and 547 tanks. Montgomery's Operation Lightfoot planned a main northern attack and secondary southern attack, supported by Operation Bertram.