El Alamein is a small railroad town near the coast of Egypt The
battle took place in between El Alamein and a bowl like area called
the Qattara Depression This battle front stretched over 40 miles
Barbed wire and landmines were laid over the 40 mile front El
Alamein was the last obstacle between the Germans and Cairo
Slide 4
8 th Army Commander: Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery aka Monty
DAF Commander: Mary Coningham British 8 th Army: 10 th,13 th,30 th
Corps Desert Air Force Long Range Desert Group SAS Total Forces:
195,000 infantry and 1,029 tanks Objective: Halt any further German
advance and Drive them out of Egypt
Slide 5
Armor: American made Grant and Sherman tanks Infantry Small
Arms: Lee Enfield bolt- action rifle, Sten sub- machine gun, Bren
light- machine gun, and Vickers machine gun Artillery: 25 pdr and 6
pdr anti- tank gun
Slide 6
Deutsches Afrika Korps Commander: Lieutenant-General Erwin
Rommel aka The Desert Fox DAK: 15 th and 20 th Panzer Divisions and
90 th Light Infantry Division and assorted Italian units Total
Forces: 104,000 infantry and 496 tanks Objective: Hold all gains
made in North Africa
Slide 7
Armor: Mark III and Mark IV Panzer Infantry Small Arms: Kar98k
bolt- action rifle, MP40 sub- machine gun, and MG34 light- machine
gun Artillery: Flak 88mm anti- tank gun
Slide 8
After taking command of the 8 th Army Monty put the soldiers
through training exercise in the fundamentals of desert warfare In
an effort to trick the Germans in to where the attack was coming
from the Brits made 3 dummy regiments of artillery and a dummy
water pipeline running from the coast 20 miles to the south The
Germans were lacking in everything from infantry to tanks giving
the Brits a 2 to 1 advantage over them On September 23, 1942 Erwin
Rommel fell sick and returned to his home in Austria leaving
General Georg Stumme in command of the DAK
Slide 9
At 9:30 pm October 23, 1942 the attack begins with a massive
barrage of British artillery on the German positions Early in the
fight German General Stumme suffers a heart attack and dies leaving
the DAK temporarily leaderless Montys infantry begin their attack
shortly after the guns open up British sappers in charge of
removing the mines only make the gaps wide enough for the armor to
move through single file leaving them easy prey for the German 88s
The attack stalls cause the Brits cant get enough of the armor
through the minefield to support the infantry
Slide 10
The night of Oct. 24- 25 Monty orders his armor forward again
and due to a combination of German artillery and the Luftwaffe he
is left with 900 working tanks out of his original 1,029 After
learning of the disaster ensuing with his armored units Monty
decides that he can sacrifice his armor but not his infantry and
orders the attack to press forward regardless of armor loss Oct. 25
Rommel returns to the DAK and assumes command again Oct. 26 Montys
forces are slowed to a halt some short of objectives that should
have been taken 8hrs. ago
Slide 11
After receiving word that the 9 th Australian Division had gone
pass its objective and captured a bit of high ground in the north
that has a view of the costal road and decides to make a push to
capture the road and cut Rommels supplies. Rommel aware of a
possible strike in the north takes a gamble and shifts his 90 th
Division and 21 st Panzer Division to the north knowing that if the
Brits dont strike there he wont have enough gas to shift his forces
again After discovering that Rommel has moved 2 of his Divisions
north to stop the strike Monty instead orders an attack 5 miles to
the south The operation codenamed Super Charge was to commence on
Nov. 2
Slide 12
The plan was that the Aussies would continue their attack in
the north while the 30 th Corps attacked a section of road that was
concentrated with German guns At 1am Nov. 2 360 British guns opened
up the fire creeping forward 100 yards every 3mins. creating a
shield for the infantry to advance behind. After advancing within
2000 yards of the German guns the 1 st Armored Division and 9 th
Armored Brigade with supporting infantry over ran the guns
Slide 13
After the Brits over ran the guns Rommel desperately tried to
counter attack the British Armor but lost 35 of his tanks Rommel in
despair over his defeat ordered and retreat 60 miles to the west
Using an old WW1 term for the Germans Monty declared in triumph The
Boches are finished- finished! The British objective of halting any
further German advance and driving them out of Egypt is completed
successfully