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What events led to the Battle of El Alamein and why did it occur?
The Germans led an invasion intent on over running the British, trying to seize the oil fields located in the middle east. By the end of June, 1942 Rommel's panzer army were in Egypt and approaching El Alamein. On the 1st of July Rommel's forces attacked. The British, determined to stop Rommel and his panzers, held a kilometer front of tank force. This tank war was the first battle of El Alamein and lasted for 26 days. From Rommel's memoirs,"The main thing I had wanted to avoid, was the war settling down at El Alamein and to mechanise static warfare in the stabalise front. I planned to get through the Alamein line and over run it before the retreating arrangements of its army have time to organise its defense." Rommel was unable to penetrate the British defenses and was forced to retreat. The first Battle of El Alamein ended in Germany's defeat.
 * July 1st, 1942**


 * August 1st - August 30th,**

Churchill eventually decides to replace, 8th Army leader Major-General Neil Ritchie with Lieutenant General Bernard Montgomery. This decision was possibly what led the 8th army to victory at El Alamein.

Rommel sent his panzer army to attack after sunset. The nightmare began; 256 German tanks were destroyed in a minefield, Rommel instructed his Panzer army to move north-east and attack the Alam Halfa Ridge, 13 miles from the Allied defensive perimeter. Montgomery said,"The key to the the whole Alamein position was Alam Halfa Ridge." The battle was intense though the German's were thwarted in their plan to take the Alam Halfa Ridge. They were bombarded with artillery and low flying plans for 3 days and both sides lost a significant amount of resources. After this event Rommel, withdrew his man and was forced to move back to Bab el Qattara. He was running out of resources and needed help.
 * August 30th, Sunday**

General Montgomery decides to make El Alamein a war of numbers and collects his resources to eventually try and overwhelm the Germans. He believes in winning the battle in one intense fight. Montgomery's forces continued to grow stronger and stronger, he had 10 infantry divisions and 1000 tanks stocked with resources. On the other side of the battlefield Rommel was forced to set up defenses along the German line while he waited for more resources to arrive. To the north is the Mediterranean Sea, protecting the Germans on the left and to the south protecting their right is the Qattara depression. He had mines pla ced across a 60km front (devils gardens) and had men scattered. Some of these mines remain there to this day.
 * September 3rd - October 23rd, Thursday**

On the evening of October 23rd, Montgomery unleashed an artillery barrage, called Operation Lightfoot, on Rommel and thus began the second major Battle of El Alamein. Jack Hodgkins, 3rd Royal Tank Regiment in the 8th army, described it as, "One wall of flame". Montgomery followed his barrage by sending 700 tanks in separate squads. Two were diversions sent to the center in the South to fight against most of the panzer army. However his main force were sent to attack German lines in the north, near Kidney Ridge. Rommel was outnumbered; Montgomery's forces were 5 times larger than his. The battle was long and fierce. The German's anti-tank weapons destroyed many of Montgomery's tanks. It was a very efficient weapon that balanced the numbers. Montgomery was persistent and continued to send more and more tanks but his attack failed. He was forced to retreat but hundreds of British tanks were trapped in the German minefields. The British cleared paths for the tanks to escape though the German forces continued to attack.
 * October 23rd, Friday**

Rommel predicted Montgomery's next attack to be at the north, so he redeployed all his forces awaiting his arrival.
 * October 25th, Sunday**

As more and more Allied tanks crossed through the German perimeter, Rommel ordered his forces on an eastward retreat, keeping his forces within easy access to the North African coast. Rommel's forces heard the rumbling of British tanks approaching the German line from the east. When the British passed the 800 meter mark the Germans open fired. War broke out and both sides lost a substantial amount of men. Four Allied brigades managed to break through the German defensive lines. Montgomery then instructed the the other squads to move in and assist the four brigades. The British tanks continued forward to the trenches where the German's were and would simply drive over them, turn before the trench and bury them alive or decapitate them. The British were brutal and ruthless. Rommel's exhausted panzer army continued to defend the German line for 5 days. Montgomery's final plan "Operation Super Charge" launched a final attack to break Rommel's line once and for all. Rommel's defeat was imminent.
 * November 2nd, Monday**

How many soldiers were involved in the battle of El Alamein and how many casualties were there, on both sides?

 * || **8th Army ** || **Panzer Army Africa ** ||
 * **Men (soldiers) ** || 195,000 || 104,00(including 50,000 Germans) ||
 * **Infantry Battalions ** || 85 || 71 (including 31 Germans) ||
 * **Medium tanks ** || 1029 || 496 ||
 * **Anti-tank guns ** || 1451 || 800 ||
 * **Field and Medium Artillery ** || 500 || 908 ||
 * **Aircraft ** || 530 || 350 (+150 from other) ||

Before the second battle at El Alamein Montgomery had 10 infantry divisions and 1000 tanks stocked with resources. Montgomery's losses include 2300 killed and over 2300 missing, 8500 wounded and 500 of his tanks are destroyed. During the second battle of El Alamein Montgomery lost 1600 casualties and 120 tanks. The Germans began with 500 tanks and were left with 8 at the end

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**What decisions affected the battle of El Alamein and what was the result of this?**
During the beginning of the war Winston Churchill saw the need of change in leadership, due to the shameful lose in Tobruk. With this said he eventually handed the leadership role to Montgomery, eventually because Montgomery was not the first choice. With this said, it made an enormous impact to the war because of the strategical thinking at hand. Montgomery was trained in warfare and Winston was not, so this decision completely affected the outcome of the war as Montgomery had the backbone.

Montgomery believed the key to winning a battle was in numbers. His forces were almost 6 times larger than Rommel's. Montgomery also starved Rommel of all resources; any trips made by the German's to collect water, ammunition, food or fuel were sabotaged by low flying planes. Ultimately this is the major factor that caused a chain reaction, leading to the defeat Rommel and his forces.

**Conclusion**
"It may almost be said, **//"Before Alamein we never had a victory. After Alamein we never had a defeat."//**

– Winston Churchill

The most important Australian Battlefield was that in El Alamein, as it was the first major victory of the Allied forces in World War 2. The Axis powers were defeated for the first time and the Nazi were being pushed back into Germany from the south-west. The victory was the first of many, the Allied powers were never defeated after this battle bringing the fall of the Axis power. The victory brought confidence and hope the the Allied powers which played a big role in the next battles to come. The mindset of the soldiers would've changed as the quote stated it was the first win of many I believe that the win caused a positive change. It was the most important battle because of the change it brought and the impact it made that shaped the world during that time.

Wide Range Of Resources-Bibliography
[|http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,932852,00.html#ixzz1X4vp05ki], 3/09/11 Staff Writer, //Battle of El Almein Timeline,// [], 1/09/11 Australian War Memorial, //Encyclopedia El Almein,// [], 2/09/11 Think Quest, //The Battle of El Almein,// [], 2/09/11 No Author, //Beyond all Praise,// [], 4/09/11 No Author, //The Battle El Almein,// [], 5/09/11
 * Book:** Barr, Niall (2005). //Pendulum of War: The Three Battles of El Alamein//. Woodstock, NY: Overlook Press, 3/09/11
 * Online Magazine Article:** Zinder, Harry (1942). World Battlefronts: A PINT OF WATER PER MAN,
 * Youtube Video: ** Uploaded by 'HudstonGD', March 25 2009. Battefield II El Alamein Ep10 World War II, 3/09/11
 * Internet Sites**


 * Pictures-** Links are provided by clicking on the image