El Alamein

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This article is about the town. For the Second World War battles, see First Battle of El Alamein and Second Battle of El Alamein. For other uses, see El Alamein (disambiguation).

El Alamein
العلمين
al-ʿAlamayn
City
Porto marina resort and spa.jpg
El Alamein Deutsches Kriegsgraeberdenkmal.jpg
Porto Marina (El Alamein).jpg
Sunset At north coast.JPG
Clockwise from top:
Marina's Porto Resort, Alamein Port, Sunset on Alamein's Beaches, German Memorial s
El Alamein is located in Egypt
El Alamein
El Alamein
Location in North Africa
Coordinates: 30°50′N 28°57′E / 30.833°N 28.950°E / 30.833; 28.950
Country Egypt
GovernorateMatrouh
Population
 (2007)
 • Total7,397
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)

El Alamein (Arabic: العلمين, romanized: al-ʿAlamayn, lit. 'the two flags', IPA: [elʕælæˈmeːn] (listen)) is a town in the northern Matrouh Governorate of Egypt. Located on the Arab's Gulf, Mediterranean Sea, it lies 106 kilometres (66 mi) west of Alexandria and 240 kilometres (149 mi) northwest of Cairo. As of 2007, it had a population of 7,397 inhabitants.

History[edit]

The city's history dates back to the Roman era, when the city of Leucaspis, an ancient Roman coastal city, was located on its land, with a population of 15,000 people at the time. The city center features a Roman cathedral and a large hall that has been converted into a church. In the past, the village represented a commercial center between Egypt and Libya and the imports of the Cretan. The ancient settlement was destroyed in 365 by a tsunami wave caused by an earthquake that occurred off the coast of Crete. The town was not rebuilt, due to the state of turmoil in which the Roman Empire was at the time. All the trace of Leucaspis was lost until 1986, when a group of engineers who were working on building roads in Marina El Alamein uncovered old houses and tombs. The surrounding 200 acres of land have been designated an archaeological area, and archaeological excavations began in the 1990s.[1]

First battle of El Alamein[edit]

Main article: First Battle of El Alamein

The First Battle of El Alamein or Battle of Alam Halfa is one of the battles of World War II, which took place in the city of El Alamein between the Allied countries, represented by the British under the command of Montgomery and the Axis Powers represented by the Afrika Korps made up of the forces of Germans and Italians under the command of Rommel during the period from 31 August to 7 September 1942. The battle ended with the victory of the British Eighth Army under the command of Montgomery and the withdrawal of the forces of Afrika Korps, which suffered from scarce supplies and continued British bombardment by air and artillery fire, leading to its failure to reach the Suez Canal in what was known as the Six-Day Race.[2]: 4 [3]

Second battle of El Alamein[edit]

Main article: Second Battle of El Alamein

The Battle of El Alamein or the Second Battle of El Alamein is the battle that took place from 23 October to 4 November 1942 during the events of World War II on the land of the city of El Alamein between The British Eighth Army was commanded by Montgomery and the Afrika Korps was commanded by Erwin Rommel. The battle ended with the victory of the British as a result of their superiority in terms of numbers and equipment, as the British forces amassed more than a thousand tanks, which was twice the number of German tanks and 450 cannons, in addition to the air superiority of British bombers, while the German forces lacked adequate air cover and suffered from the age of their artillery model in addition to poor supplies.[citation needed]

El Alamein Fountain[edit]

The El Alamein Fountain is a monument erected in Sydney, Australia, in memory of the soldiers who died in 1942 during the battles of World War II in the Egyptian town of El Alamein. It was designed by Australian architect Phil Taranto.[4]

Tourism[edit]

El Alamein war museum[edit]

El Alamein has a war museum with artifacts from North African battles.[citation needed]

Military cemeteries[edit]

Germany[edit]

Visitors can also see the Italian and German military cemeteries on Tel el-Eisa Hill outside the town. The German cemetery is an ossuary, built in the style of a medieval fortress.[5]

Italy[edit]

The Italian cemetery is a mausoleum containing 5,200 tombs. Many tombs bear the soldier's name with others simply marked IGNOTO, i.e. unknown.[citation needed]

Greek[edit]

There is a separate Greek cemetery at El Alamein.

Commonwealth of Nations[edit]

There is also a Commonwealth war cemetery, built and maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, with graves of soldiers from various countries who fought on the Allied side. Buried here are 6,425 identified Commonwealth service personnel, 815 unidentified ones, and 102 of other nationalities;[6] These include four Victoria Cross recipients:[7]

Others buried here include

This has monuments commemorating Greek, New Zealand, Australian, South African, Indian and Canadian forces. The cemetery entrance is through the Alamein Memorial and there is also a separate Alamein Cremation Memorial to 603 Commonwealth service personnel who died in Egypt and Libya and were cremated in line with their religion.[10]

The names of 213 Canadian airmen appear on the Alamein Memorial in Egypt.[11]

The cemetery was designed by Sir J. Hubert Worthington.[12]

Climate[edit]

El Alamein has a hot desert climate, Köppen climate classification BWh, common with most of the Middle East and north Africa. However, like the rest of the northern coast of Egypt, its climate is slightly less hot, compared to the rest of Egypt, because of the prevailing Mediterranean Sea winds.

Climate data for El Alamein
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 17.8
(64.0) 		18.7
(65.7) 		20.3
(68.5) 		23.5
(74.3) 		25.7
(78.3) 		28.8
(83.8) 		29.5
(85.1) 		30.5
(86.9) 		28.7
(83.7) 		27.5
(81.5) 		23.6
(74.5) 		19.7
(67.5) 		24.5
(76.2)
Daily mean °C (°F) 12.4
(54.3) 		13.3
(55.9) 		14.9
(58.8) 		17.7
(63.9) 		20.5
(68.9) 		23.8
(74.8) 		25.2
(77.4) 		25.7
(78.3) 		24.4
(75.9) 		22.1
(71.8) 		18.3
(64.9) 		14.4
(57.9) 		19.4
(66.9)
Average low °C (°F) 7
(45) 		7.9
(46.2) 		9.5
(49.1) 		12
(54) 		15.4
(59.7) 		18.8
(65.8) 		20.9
(69.6) 		21
(70) 		20.1
(68.2) 		16.7
(62.1) 		13
(55) 		9.2
(48.6) 		14.3
(57.8)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 29
(1.1) 		17
(0.7) 		8
(0.3) 		2
(0.1) 		1
(0.0) 		0
(0) 		0
(0) 		0
(0) 		0
(0) 		5
(0.2) 		21
(0.8) 		24
(0.9) 		107
(4.1)
Source: climate-data.org[13]

World War II[edit]

Two important World War II battles were fought in the area:

  • At the First Battle of El Alamein (1–27 July 1942), the advance of Axis troops on Alexandria was blunted by the Allies, stopping the German Panzers that were trying to outflank the Allies' position.
  • At the Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 4 November 1942), Allied forces broke the Axis line and forced them all the way back to Tunisia. Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister at the time, said of this victory: "Now this is not the end, it is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." After the war, he wrote: "Before Alamein we never had a victory. After Alamein, we never had a defeat."

Gallery[edit]

  • Cross of Sacrifice, El Alamein Commonwealth cemetery

  • South African Memorial El Alamein Commonwealth cemetery

  • El Alamein Commonwealth cemetery plaque- 1939–1945 The land on which this cemetery stands is the gift of the Egyptian people for the perpetual resting place of the sailors, soldiers and airmen who are honoured here.

  • El Alamein Commonwealth cemetery

  • El Alamein Italian memorial entrance

  • El Alamein German memorial

  • El Alamein Commonwealth cemetery A soldier of the 1939–1945 war known unto God

  • In El Alamein museum

  • German cannon

  • The list of fallen German soldiers

  • German Memorial

  • British Crusader tank

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Film about El Alamein City" (in Arabic). YouTube. 14 September 2013. Archived from the original on 5 February 2017.
  2. ^ Michael Carther' , "The Battle of El Alamein", translated by: Mohamed Ibrahim Abdel Aziz, review: Hussein Al-Hout, 170 pages, The National House for Printing and Publishing.
  3. ^ Ervin Rommel, "Memoirs of World War II Leaders - Rommel's Memoirs", Presentation, Analysis and Presentation: A Yemen Muhammad Adel, 2007 edition, 234 pages, The Window Library.
  4. ^ "Kings Cross". withincooee. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  5. ^ El Alamein at Find a Grave
  6. ^ "Cemetery Details | CWGC".
  7. ^ [1][permanent dead link] Burial locations of VC holders in Egypt.
  8. ^ "Casualty Details | CWGC".
  9. ^ "Casualty Details | CWGC".
  10. ^ "Cemetery Details | CWGC". www.cwgc.org.
  11. ^ "Monuments, World Wars I and II". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 10 August 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
  12. ^ "The Commonwealth War Graves Commission | CWGC". www.cwgc.org.
  13. ^ "Climate El Alamein Climate graph, Temperature graph, Climate table". climate-data.org. Retrieved 13 August 2013.

External links[edit]

Media related to El Alamein at Wikimedia Commons

Coordinates: 30°50′N 28°57′E / 30.833°N 28.950°E / 30.833; 28.950

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=El_Alamein&oldid=1080339364"