Before Alamein we never had a victory. After Alamein we never had a defeat.
- Winston Churchill, The Hinge of Fate

 

EL-ALAMEIN ("Two Worlds") is an apt name for a place that witnessed the turning point of the North African campaign, determining the fate of Egypt and Britain's empire. When the Afrika Korps came within 100km of Alexandria on July 1, 1942, the city and the capital experienced "The Flap": documents were burned, civilians mobbed railway stations, and Egyptian nationalists prepared to welcome their Nazi "liberators". Control of Egypt, Middle Eastern oil and the Canal route to India seemed about to be wrested from the Allied powers by Germany and Italy. Instead, at El-Alamein, the Allied Eighth Army held, and then drove the Axis forces back, to ultimate defeat in Tunisia. 11,000 soldiers were killed and 70,000 wounded at El-Alamein alone; total casualties for the North African campaign (September 1940-March 1943) exceeded 100,000.

Travellers who wish to pay their respects to the dead or have an interest in military history should find the cemeteries and the war museum worth the effort of getting there. Commemorative services are held at El-Alamein each October; contact the British, Italian or German embassies in Cairo for details.