History

The Second Battle of El Alamein refers to one of the battles that were fought on the North African frontier of World War II (WWII). It was fought between the Allied forces led by the British and the Axis forces which were made up of Germany and Italy. Allied forces fought under the command of British Field Marshall Bernard Law Montgomery and Axis forces were led by Erwin Rommel. The El Alamein battlefront was a 40 miles stretch of land that ran from the Mediterranean coast of North Africa to the impenetrable Quattra Depression. After the May-June 1942 Battle of Gazala, both Axis and Allied forces had paused for several weeks to rebuild their forces and for Adolf Hitler, the isolated El Alamein railway station appeared to be the climax at which he would finally be able to capture Egypt from the British. But this was not to be so because the Allied forces came back to the battle front stronger, more organized and more armed. During this war, the British and Allied forces won a very significant battle that led to an equally significant decision about closing a war front on the Continent of Africa although the Axis forces would not bulge until the Tunisia Campaign came to a close. It was the first land victory that the British enjoyed against the Germans during WWII.

During the second battle of El Alamein like in other battles, Allied forces displayed a high level of superiority not only in the kind of equipment that they used but also in the higher number of its forces. The Allied Army consisted of about 200,000 men (nearly half of which were from Britain) against a German and Italian force of 100,000 men. They had also greatly improved the quality of their equipment to match those of the opposition Axis forces. Such war equipment as 6-pdr anti-tank guns, Sherman tanks and Spitfire were added to the War Machinery in the Western Desert. Montgomery also brought in a new restructuring of the 8th Army by introducing new generals and new divisions as well as lifting the morale of the forces under his command through his victory-filled language. He was a kind of man who always talked about blowing up the enemy forces and at no one time did he make the forces under his command think that they would lose the battle.

Allied forces fought a well-coordinated battle and Montgomery had a vivid imagination the length of time that the battle would last and the approximate number of lives that would be lost an imagination that helped him to organize his operations in a well planned manner. The Allied forces also proved to be more superior to the Axis forces in the way that they handled their artillery in a very excellent manner. Their Air support also had little comparison to that of the opposing Axis forces who nearly abandoned their ground forces as they concentrated in air-to-air conflict. The Axis forces underestimated the kind of resistance that they got from the Allied forces on the ground because of the strong resistance that the Allied forces displayed on air. Air combat superiority helped the Allied forces towards their victory. They were able to successfully engage the Germans and Italians on air in such a way that they almost ignored the war on the ground and this helped the British to advance very easily.

Axis forces also had a lot of other myriad problems that weakened their forces. Rommel fell sick and went back to Germany for treatment and the forces were put under the new command of Georg Von Stumme in the middle of a battle. This must have played down the morale of the Axis forces. Before the battle was over, another tragedy struck and Stumme died of a sudden heart attack. Such disruption in the line command came at the wrong time and although Rommel came back to replace Stumme, the Axis forces were gradually losing power. Rommels forces also went through a great loss in terms of human life losing bout 75,000 men, 500 tanks and a thousand guns among other losses. The remaining Axis forces were also unable to set up a strong resistance because Rommel also went short of fuel and the strong British forces could not be successfully attacked by forces which were immobile. Because of the losses in life, machinery and the added fuel shortage, Rommel decided that he had better withdraw from a battle that he considered already lost. Despite commands from Hitler to stay in the war front and die there, Rommel chose the way out and the German ground forces were forced backwards and retreated as far back as 1,500 miles to Tunisia. The Second Battle of El Alamein became the first battle that Allied forces won without American support.

Conclusion
Hitler had never been the kind of man who foresaw defeat and the British victory in the second Battle of El Alamein must have been a great shock to him. But no matter how brave or how strong he felt inside, the Allied forces had overtaken his forces during their short period of reorganization to mount an offensive that was too strong for the Axis forces to resist. Besides, the British had heavily invested in the battle both in terms of the number of soldiers and also in improvement of their machinery. The British superior air force was however the most determining factor in the British victory during this war.