Why was the Battle of El Alamein an important turning point in the war? It ended the long fight for the Western Desert, and was the only great land battle won by the British and Commonwealth
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally known as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 53 member states, nearly all of them former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Commonwealth Secretariat, which focuses on int…
North African Campaign
The North African campaign of the Second World War took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943. It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts and in Morocco and Algeria, as well as Tunisia.
What happened at the Battle of El Alamein?
The battle of El Alamein proved to be one of the great turning points of WWII, and has been reassessed recently in El Alamein and the Struggle for North Africa edited by Jill Edwards. By July 1942, the ‘Afrika Korps’ (Panzerarmee) had driven the Allied troops to this last defensible position before the Suez Canal.
Why was the El Alamein line so important to the British?
Yet the British General Staff had long recognized the potential of the ‘El Alamein Line’ as the best position to defend Egypt. The desert narrowed here to a 60km gap, bounded by the Mediterranean to the north and by the high escarpments of the Qattara Depression to the south. There was no other practical route into Egypt.
Was El Alamein the end of the beginning?
The Anzac cemetery at El Alamein. If the El Alamein outcome was indeed "the end of the beginning", being the first land-based victory for the British over the Germans in the war, and so also a significant boost for morale, then that much can be agreed regardless of what else occurred during the war years.
What was Erwin Rommel's strategy for the Battle of El Alamein?
Rommel directed the planning for the second battle of El Alamein. He personally supervised the defensive line that was intended to repel the British counter-attack. The German strategy was to have a set piece battle, one that would draw the British and their allies into a brutal war of attrition that would sap their will to fight.
How was the battle of El Alamein a turning point in WW2?
The British victory was the beginning of the end of the Western Desert Campaign, eliminating the Axis threat to Egypt, the Suez Canal and the Middle Eastern and Persian oil fields. The battle revived the morale of the Allies, being the first big success against the Axis since Operation Crusader in late 1941.
Why is El Alamein considered a turning point?
El Alamein was the first clear-cut and irreversible victory inflicted by the British Army upon the Axis. Coming after years of frustrating setbacks, this was a boost to British morale.
Why was the El Alamein battle important?
Battles of El-Alamein, (1–27 July 1942, 23 October—11 November 1942), World War II events. After the First Battle of El-Alamein, Egypt (150 miles west of Cairo), ended in a stalemate, the second one was decisive. It marked the beginning of the end for the Axis in North Africa.
What battle was the turning point of WW2?
Battle of StalingradBattle of Stalingrad—The Turning Point of WW2 The Battle of Stalingrad is often considered the turning point of WW2. In 1942, Hitler sent an army south in an attempt to capture the Soviet Russian city that had been renamed after the Soviet leader Josef Stalin.
Why was the Battle of El Alamein an important turning point in the war quizlet?
At Midway, American planes crippled Japanese naval power. Why was the battle of El Alamein an important turning point in the war? El Alamein stopped the German advance in North Africa.
Why was the Battle of El Alamein a turning point in the war quizlet?
Why was the battle of El Alamein significant? The Allies defeated a major German commander. The German army defeated the Allies severely. It allowed Allied troops access to Egypt.
What happened in the battle of Alamein?
The Battle of El Alamein was primarily fought between two of the outstanding commanders of World War Two, Montgomery, who succeeded the dismissed Auchinleck, and Rommel. The Allied victory at El Alamein lead to the retreat of the Afrika Korps and the German surrender in North Africa in May 1943.
What was the outcome of the First Battle of El Alamein?
The battle was a stalemate, but it had halted the Axis advance on Alexandria (and then Cairo and ultimately the Suez Canal).
What happened at the Battle of El Alamein quizlet?
The First Battle of El Alamein (1-27 July 1942) was a battle of the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War, fought between Axis forces and Allied forces. The battle halted a second advance by the Axis forces into Egypt.
What were the 3 turning points of ww2?
It is commonly stated in this context that there were three turning point battles, following which the Allies gained the offensive: Midway, El-Alamein, and Stalingrad.
What were the two most important turning points of WWII?
The war in the Pacific turned against Japan during the Battle of Midway (June 3–6, 1942), an American victory that destroyed the Japanese first-line carrier force and, together with the Battle of Guadalcanal, ended Japan's ability to prosecute an offensive war.
What was the biggest turning point for the Allies in World War II?
The failure of Operation Barbarossa Stalin was stunned by the move, which opened up a 1,800-mile front and proved to be the biggest military operation in history.
What was the turning point of the war in Africa?
Page 1 – Introduction. The second battle of El Alamein, which began on 23 October 1942, was the turning point of the North African campaign - the longest and most important land campaign fought by New Zealanders in the Second World War.
What were the major turning points of WW2 in Europe?
How the Nazis lost WW2: Four major turning pointsThe Halt Order at Dunkirk.Defeat in the Battle of Britain.The invasion of Greece.The failure of Operation Barbarossa.
What was the turning point in the Battle of the Atlantic?
Black MayBlack May refers to a period (May 1943) in the Battle of the Atlantic campaign during World War II, when the German U-boat arm (U-Bootwaffe) suffered high casualties with fewer Allied ships sunk; it is considered a turning point in the Battle of the Atlantic.
What was invasion of Italy and why was it a turning point?
The Italian campaign of September 1943 marked a real turning point in World War Two because Germany could no longer sustain a conflict on two fronts.
What cemetery was the end of the beginning?
SUPPLIED. The Anzac cemetery at El Alamein. If the El Alamein outcome was indeed "the end of the beginning", being the first land-based victory for the British over the Germans in the war, and so also a significant boost for morale, then that much can be agreed regardless of what else occurred during the war years.
Did Churchill make fewer mistakes than Hitler?
But in the end, he made fewer mistakes than Hitler and didn't totally surround himself with yes-men, as dictators are apt to do. SUPPLIED. In the trenches during what Glyn Harper argues was the turning point of WWII.
What was the result of the Battle of El Alamein?
The results of the two battles of El Alamein was a decisive victory for the allies. Rommel Axis forces suffered catastrophic losses and the Afrika Korps was never to pose a threat to the Allies in Egypt again. The British went on the offensive in North Africa and they soon had taken much of Libya. In early 1943 the Americans landed in North Africa and the Germans and Italians were forced to retreat to Tunisia. The defeat of the German forces at the second battle of El Alamein meant that the British and the Imperial army received a great morale boost. As Churchill noted "Before Alamein, we never had a victory. After Alamein, we never had a defeat." [17]Montgomery in his memoirs noted that the victory had an immediate and discernable impact on the single most important factor in war, that is morale. After El Alamein, the British believed that they could beat the Germans at anytime and anywhere. [18]
What was Rommel's goal in the second battle of El Alamein?
The German strategy was to have a set piece battle, one that would draw the British and their allies into a brutal war of attrition that would sap their will to fight. Then Rommel with his panzers would launch a counter-attack and he would go on and seize Alexandria. Montgomery’s objective was simple it was to break the German defensive line, once this was broken the Germans would be forced to evacuate Egypt. [12] The British commander of the 8th army placed great faith in his numerical superiority in tanks and men. His army also had the support of the Royal Air Force that was increasingly able to dominate the skies and to nullify the threat posed by the Luftwaffe.
Why did the Axis army run short of supplies?
Then to compound the problems with supplies, the Axis army in Egypt had an overextended supply lines. This meant that after the first Battle of El Alamein that they did not have the reinforcements that they needed to replace their losses in men and material. Indeed, during the second Battle of El Alamein, the Axis began to run short of key supplies such as shells and gasoline. The lack of supplies meant that they Axis were at a decided disadvantage during the Battle of El Alamein. [20]Furthermore, not only had Montgomery been well-supplied they had received the latest weaponry including the Sherman tank, which was every bit as good as the German panzers.
What did Rommel do to help Hitler?
However, the Axis Divisions had sustained unsutianbale losses and the defensive line began to crumble. Montgomery order his forces to attack on a broader front and during this assault the German commander, on the ground Thoma was killed. Rommel asked Hitler for permission to retreat he initially refused but he later gave his consent. This probably saved the Germans and Italians from complete annihilation as it allowed them to withdraw in good order.
Why did the Germans fail at El Alamein?
One of the reasons for the failure of the Germans at El Alamein was the fact that Rommel had been overambitious. He was a brilliant general and leader and this earned him the name of the ‘Desert Fox’. However, he was also reckless and many German historians do not believe that he had the same tactical and strategic brilliance of a Von Manstein or a Model. Rommel’s plans for the invasion of Egypt and the conquest of the country was flawed form the start.<ref. Lucas, p. 256</ref> The first major problem was that it is recognized throughout military history that an attacker may need a numerical advantage of up to three to one, in order to succeed. Rommel did not have any such advantage.
What did Hitler and Rommel believe about the Suez Canal?
After this victory, he and Hitler believed that they had an opportunity to seize Egypt from the British and close the Suez Canal to Britain. This would have disrupted trade and supply links between Britain and her Empire and greatly weakened its war efforts.[4] 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 northwestern Egypt.[5] Here they waited for what they saw as the inevitable attack from Rommel and his Afrika Korps.
How long did the Battle of Montgomery last?
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.[14] 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. [15]
