Transcript The Battle of El Alamein - Weshallfightthemonthebeaches

The War Without Hate
Hamilton Cook
June 10,1940 – May 16, 1943
Timeline
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September 13, 1940- Italians invade Egypt
February 9, 1941- British offensive stops after pushing
the Italians back a third of the way into Libya.
March 24, 1941- Axis forces now under the command
of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel counterattack and
reach Egypt by April 15.
November 18, 1941- The British 8th army
counterattacks and once again reaches El Agheila by
January 1942.
Timeline
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January 21, 1942- The Axis retaliation forces the British back and
the city of Tobruk, a British stronghold is captured on June 21.
July 1-27, 1942- The Axis advance on Cairo is stopped at the
First Battle of El Alamein.
October 23 – November 4, 1942- British forces crush the
Germans and Italians at the Second Battle of El Alamein.
November 8, 1942- Operation Torch begins
February 14, 1943- Rommel inflicts heavy casualties on the
Americans at the Battle of Kasserine Pass.
May 13, 1943- Axis forces in Tunisia surrender, ending the
campaign.
Causes
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Germany and Russia invaded Poland on
September 1, 1939 thus beginning World War II.
After defeating Poland, Germany turned to the
west and conquered France with some assistance
from Italy.
German troops marching in Warsaw Poland.
Causes of North African Campaign
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Mussolini envisioned the Mediterranean as an
Italian lake.
He therefore sent an army to the Italian colony
of Libya to commence the attack on the Allies.
Strategic Importance
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The Axis powers were attempting to gain
control of Africa so they could strike at the oil
fields in the Middle East and eventually open a
second front against the Soviet Union.
The Allies were attempting to stop the Axis
advance, pull pressure off of the Soviet Union,
and allow for the opening of a second European
front.
Armies
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Primary Allied Forces
British 8th army
 6 American divisions
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Primary Axis Forces
German Afrika Korps
 Miscellaneous Italian forces
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Allied Commanders
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American General Dwight E. Eisenhower
American General George Patton
British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery
General Eisenhower
General Patton
Field Marshal Montgomery
Axis Commander
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The primary commander of Axis
forces in North Africa was Erwin
Rommel.
After serving with valor in World
War I, Rommel was ordered to
assist the Italians by Hitler.
Due to his stunning military
victories he was given the
nickname the “Desert Fox”.
He killed himself after being
implicated in a plot to kill Hitler.
Even to this day, he is still
remembered as one of the greatest
generals of all time.
Field Marshal Erwin Rommel
Allied Infantry Weapons of War
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M1 Garand
M1 Carbine
Thompson Sub-machine gun
Browning Automatic Rifle
Lee-Enfield bolt-action rifle
Pistols
Various machine guns
Bazookas
Grenades
Browning Automatic Rifle
M1 Garand
Axis Infantry Weapons of War
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Gewehr 41
Kar98k
MG 34
MG 42
MP 40
Lugar and other pistols
Grenades
Kar98k
Lugar
Tanks and notable support weapons
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Allied
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M3 General Lee medium
tank
M3 General Grant
medium tank
M4 Sherman medium
tank
Crusader cruiser tank
Sherman tank
Axis
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Panzer III
Panzer IV
88mm flak gun
Panzer III
First Strike
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On the 13th of September 1940, the 200,000
soldiers of the Italian 10th army invaded BritishEgypt from Libya.
The Italian army advanced into Egypt and
reached the town of Sidi Barrani, but halted due
to lack of intelligence about the British army.
Allied Retaliation
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After this, the British forces in the area, although
they were one-sixth of the Italians size retaliated
against the Italians in Operation Compass.
The British forced the surrender of the entire
10th army and were able to advance almost a
third of the way into Libya.
The Coming of the Fox
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The Germans quickly sent the Afrika Korps
under Field Marshal Erwin Rommel to assist the
Italians against the British.
Although he was ordered to just prevent the
British from advancing any farther, Rommel
took his troops on the offensive and was able to
push the British back passed the Italian’s farthest
point of advance.
We’re Back to Where We Started!
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After reaching the city of Salum, both sides
stopped and waited.
This allowed the British to reorganize their
forces into the 8th Army.
Rommel, however, received few reinforcements
Now the British were able to counterattack and
force the Axis back to the city of El Agheila
once again.
Rommel’s Finest Hour
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An Axis convoy’s arrival allowed Rommel to
counterattack on January 21, 1942.
En route to Egypt, the Afrika Korps finally recaptured
the city of Tobruk on June 21, 1942, which the British
had captured during their first invasion of Libya and
they were able to hold it until they were
They pushed the British back to the city of El Alamein
and coming close to capturing Cairo itself before the
desperate British were able to halt them during the
month of July in the First battle of El Alamein.
Build-up to El Alamein
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El Alamein is located about 100 miles west of Alexandria, so this
was the British last hope.
Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery had been appointed to the
command of the British 8th army.
In the three months between the battles of first and second El
Alamein the British were able to gain a two-to-one advantage
against the Axis powers.
In addition, the British made tank look like supple vehicles to
trick the Germans into thinking they would attack elsewhere.
Meanwhile, Rommel had mined a huge expanse of the
battlefield with almost 500,000 mines.
The Battle of El Alamein
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The battle opened with twenty minutes of artillery
bombardment by about 900 guns.
This was followed by infantry advance across the
minefield to clear lanes for the tanks.
After the attack stalled out, a strike to the north front
of that resulted in huge casualties on both sides.
As a result, the British launched Operation Supercharge
that decimated Rommel’s tank groups and forced them
into retreat.
El Alamein References
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“Now this is not the end. It is not even the
beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end
of the beginning.”
“Before Alamein we never had a victory. After
Alamein, we never had a defeat.”
Both quotes are by Winston Churchill. The first
was in his speech after the battle, and the second
was written in the Hinge of Fate.
Operation Torch
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With the British advancing rapidly against Rommel
after the Battle of El Alamein, the Allies conducted
amphibious landings on the Western Coast of Africa to
surround the Axis.
General Dwight D. Eisenhower was chosen to
command the invasion force mainly due to the fact that
the occupied French might still be mad at the British
due to the latter’s sinking of French ships to prevent
them falling into German hands.
Casualties were relatively light due to eventual Vichy
French defection to the Allies.
Map of Operation Torch
The Final Push
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By November 1942, the Germans and Italians had been
pushed back to Tunisia but had not yet been completely
defeated.
After Rommel defeated the American Second Corps
twice, George S. Patton was given command of the
Corps.
Between him and Field Marshal Montgomery the Axis
now had their backs to the sea with no room to
maneuver and few supplies.
However, Rommel was able to still inflict heavy
casualties on the Americans at the Battle of Kasserine
Pass while receiving few in return.
Victory!!
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The Germans and Italians in North Africa
surrendered on May 13, 1943 resulting in over a
quarter of a million Prisoners of War being
taken.
In addition, Allied sea and air power resulted in
only about 600 Axis troops escaped.
Consequences
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The victory in North Africa resulted in the Suez
canal remaining in Allied hands and the oil fields
of the Middle East not falling into Axis hands.
The victory in North Africa allowed for the
invasion of Italy which forced the Italian
surrender and pulled German troops away from
the Eastern front, helping the Soviet’s defense
against the Germans.
Bibliography
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Stratton, Molly, ed. The New Grolier Encyclopedia of World
War II. Vol. 2. Danbury: Grolier Company, 1995.
Rice, Earle. Erwin J. E. Rommel. Philadelphia: Chelsea House,
2004.
"North Africa Campaign." Wikipedia. 3 Dec. 2007. Wikimedia. 3
Dec. 2007
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_African_Campaign>.
"North Africa Campaign Map." BBC. 3 Dec. 2007
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/launch_ani
_north_africa_campaign.shtml>.
"The Battle of El Alamein." History Learning Site. 3 Dec. 2007
<http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/battle_of_el_alamein.ht
m>.
The End