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Admin moved page Why was Rommel defeated at El Alamein? to Why was Rommel defeated at El Alamein
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[[File:El ALAMEIN 3.jpg|thumbnail|left|300px250px|Rommel at El Alamein]]The Battle Battles of El Alamein was were the most important battle battles of the North African conflict between . The German and Italy British armies were led two of their most capable commanders, Erwin Romel and the British EmpireBernard Law Montgomery. The battle, which was , in reality, a series of battles, and has entered military legend and it . It is one of the best-known battles of WWIIand considered an important turning point for the Allies. The battle was involved some of the most famous generals of the war, including Bernard Montgomery and Erwin Rommel. The battle was a turning point in the war. It was the first time that the western allies had decisively defeated the Germans on the battlefield and allowed them to clear the German and Italians out of North Africa and ultimately to invade Italy. Why did the Germans fail at El Alamein? The Germans and Italian were doomed because that lacked a sufficient number of troops, relied on inadequate supplies, and had unrealistic objectives.
====Background====
[[File: El ALAMEIN 1.jpg|thumbnail|300px250px|left|Montgomery at El Alamein]]
Hitler was not interested in North Africa. He was quite happy to dominate Europe and to leave the control of Africa to the British and French.<ref> Carell, Paul <i>The Foxes of the Desert</i> (New York, Bantam Books, 1962), p. 17</ref> The German dictator was actually an admirer of the British Empire. Germany only became involved in North Africa because of their alliance with Italy. Mussolini had grandiose dreams of recreating the Roman Empire and he sought to control North Africa, in the wake of the British and French defeats in 1940. This led him to order his army to attack British controlled Egypt from the Italian colony of Libya.<ref>Carell, p. 67</ref>
However, the Italians despite having numerical superiority and tactical surprise did not achieve their goals. The British, along with troops from the British Empire easily repelled the Italians. The Italian army was on the verge of defeat and it looked like it would lose its colony in North Africa. Mussolini asked Hitler for help and he Germany dispatched some German divisions under the command of a gifted commander Erwin Rommel. <ref> Irving, David. <i>Rommel: The Trail of the Fox. The Search for the True Field Marshal Rommel</i> (London: Focal Point. 2009), p. 234</ref> The German divisions, mostly Panzer divisions, came to be called the Africa Korps. Rommel defeated a British offensive and in 1942, he took Tobruk and this opened the way to Egypt.
After this victory, he and Hitler beliezed believed that they had an opportunity to seize Egypt from the British and close the Suez Canal to BritianBritain. This would have disrupted trade and supply links between Britain and her Empire and greatly weakened its war efforts.<ref> Irving, p. 233</ref> Rommel embarked on the all-out invasion of Egypt. He commanded a joint Italian and German army. Because of the terrain , his army was motorized and the invasion was spearhead by tanks or panzers. The British 8th army was forced to retreat into north western northwestern Egypt.<ref> Irving, p. 236</ref> Here they waited for what they saw as the inevitable attack from Rommel and his Afrika Korps.
====First Battle of El Alamein====
====Second Battle of El Alamein====
[[File: El Alamein 2.jpg|thumbnail|320px250px|left|Rommel at El Alamein]]
The Germans expected a massive Allied counter-attack. Montgomery used a lull in the fighting to strengthen his position. In particular, he received many new tanks This meant that the allies had the advantage in terms of tanks. Montgomery to build up his forces until he had twice the number of men under his command as had Rommel.<ref> Latimer, p. 145</ref> The Germans mined and fortified a defensive line in considerable depth and strength. Rommel had selected his defensive position well and his flanks were protected by the sea to the north and to the south, by an impenetrable desert.
The initial Allied assault only made limited advances and the German lines continued to hold. Montgomery was a methodical men and he used massed artillery with infantry attacks with limited objectives to weaken the German lines. At this time the Axis divisions had begun to run short of supplies and ammunition. Increasingly, it was only the brilliance of the Afrika Korps forces that prevented a British breakthrough.<ref> Lucas, p. 221</ref> The fighting lasted for ten days. The British advances were slowed down by minefields and they sustained many casualties because of mines. Many tanks lost their tracks as they advanced. The battle began to resemble a WWI battle and it was not typical of the North African campaign which was characterized by highly mobile units fighting each other.<ref> Strawson, John. <i>El Alamein: Desert Victory</i> J M Dent, London. 1991), p 234</ref>
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After some days of this type of fighting, Montgomery gambled on an assault on a broad front. New Zealand and Australian Divisions backed by British armor attacked some of the most heavily protected areas of the German lines. This caused panic among the Germans as it was unexpected and the defensive line came under increasing strain. The German commander, General George Strumme went forward to inspect the line but died of a heart attack. He was replaced by his subordinate Major-General Wilhelm Ritter von Thoma.<ref> Strawson, p. 89</ref> He managed to steady the line and ordered the panzers into battle. The Germans suffered many losses, but Thoma continued to order further counter-attacks. Montgomery used his forces to continue to make limited advances.
====Supply Lines====
[[File:TR_000978_kittyhawk.jpg|thumbnail|325px255px|left|RAF p-40 Kittyhawk in Africa, 1942]]
The Germans and the Italians supplies all came from Libya. The had to be supplied ultimately from Italy and Germany. The Axis forces never had enough supplies. This was because the majority of their supplies came by sea and the Allies restrict Axis shipping. This meant that Rommel had an insecure supply line, although he could source his oil from Libyan oil fields.
====Conclusion====
The Battle of El Alamein was to prove a turning point in the war. It convinced the British that they could beat the Germans and that Hitler was not invincible. The Axis defeat at El Alamein meant that North Africa would be lost to Hitler and Mussolini. The defeat was due to a variety of factors. These included insufficient Axis numbers, overextended supply lines, and Allied air superiority. The main factor in the Axis defeat at El Alamein was the original strategy it was overambitious and did not take into account the limited resources of the Axis and the ability of the Allies to supply and reinforce the 8TH army.
