Battle of El Alamein
El Alamein, Battle of, October 23 to November 3, 1942, a decisive battle in the North African campaign of World War II. Driven out of Libya by Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's German and Italian army, British forces halted at the Egyptian village of El Alamein, 65 miles (105 km) west of Alexandria. The British, at the end of June, occupied a defensive line 40 miles (64 km) long between the Mediterranean Sea and the Qattara depression, an impassable area of soft sand.
After careful preparation, Lieutenant General Bernard L. Montgomery struck back, breaking the Axis line. Most of the Italians were captured. The German tanks were driven back into Libya, never again to threaten Egypt and the Suez Canal.