Consequently, the British troops penetrated to a depth of only 7 km by October 27, and the offensive was temporarily halted.
#El aaiun tank force series#
After the British introduced three armored divisions they had been saving to exploit a tactical success, the enemy brought reserves up to the penetrated sector and launched a series of counterattacks. With only 50 guns per kilometer of front, however, the British artillery was unable to neutralize the enemy’s fire system, and the British troops managed to drive only a small wedge into the enemy’s defenses during the night. The British Eighth Army, which consisted of ten divisions, including three tank divisions and four brigades, had been brought up to a strength of 230,000 men, 1,440 tanks, 2,311 artillery pieces, and 1,500 aircraft.Īfter beginning their attack late in the evening of October 23, the British forces attempted to break through along a 9-km sector of the front. The Italian-German command was unable to reinforce this force during the operation, because the Soviet-German front was absorbing almost all reserves. With 12 divisions that included two motorized divisions, four tank divisions, and one brigade, the Afrika Korps numbered approximately 80,000 men and had 540 tanks, 1,219 artillery pieces, and 350 aircraft. Rommel’s troops were offering resistance west of El Alamein along a fortified line 60 km long. The offensive was carried out against the Italian-German tank army known as the Afrika Korps, which was under the command of the German field marshal E. Montgomery, conducted an offensive operation west of El Alamein that lasted from Oct. During World War II, the British Eighth Army, commanded by General B. (also al-Alamayn), a village in northern Egypt, 104 km west of Alexandria. For his victory Montgomery was made a viscount with the title Montgomery of Alamein. 7 and 8 of American troops in Algeria the Axis soon suffered (May, 1943) total defeat in North Africa. Egypt was definitely saved, and with the landing on Nov. 1 and 2 burst through the German lines near the sea and forced a swift Axis retreat out of Egypt, across Libya, and into E Tunisia. Montgomery's forces cleared the German minefields and on Nov. 23 with tremendous air and artillery bombardments.
If this position had fallen, the British might have lost Alexandria and been forced to withdraw from North Africa.
In preparation for an attack by German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel from Libya (begun May 26, 1942) the British forces retreated into Egypt and by June 30 had set up a defense line extending 35 mi (56 km) from Alamein S to the Qattara Depression, a badland which could neither be crossed nor flanked.
It was the site of a decisive British victory in World War II (see North Africa, campaigns in). Alamein, El (ĕl ăləmānˈ, älə–) or Al Alamayn (äl älămānˈ), town, N Egypt, on the Mediterranean Sea.
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