El Alamein: The Battle that Turned the Tide of the Second World War

by Bryn Hammond

The battle of El Alamein in 1942 was one of the most crucial events in the entire Second World War. Before it, the British had never won a major battle on land against the Germans; nor indeed had anyone else, even the Russians. At Alamein the British Eighth Army first thwarted the Axis attempts in North Africa to seize Cairo and the Suez Canal and then smashed through the German-Italian defences, eventually driving the Axis forces out of North Africa. This victory, by a 'British' army actually composed of a variety of nationalities including men and women from the Indian sub-continent, southern Africa, Australians, New Zealanders, French and Greeks, as well as British troops, had psychological and morale-raising significance that exceeded even its strategic importance. Nothing had the sweet smell of success prior to this battle than El Alamein and for the battered British Empire battling against the might of the Third Reich this victory was crucial to its ability to continue its war efforts.

El Alamein's significance went beyond the events of the war. The opposing army commanders were perhaps the first 'celebrity' generals, attracting the attention of press and newsreel reporters alike. This led to a host of myths and tales of idiosyncratic behaviour that were shamelessly exploited by the individuals themselves and, especially in Britain, eagerly devoured by a public enamoured of the romance of warfare in this remarkable and hostile environment where men were at war with each other as well as with the elements. Drawing on a remarkable array of first-hand accounts, this book reveals the personal experiences of those on the frontline, giving the individual's point of view of the battle, from all sides, and provide a fascinating account of the minutiae detail of how war was actually fought alongside the analysis of the strategic decisions made by the generals.

El Alamein 1942 is the story of exactly how a seemingly beaten and demoralized army turned near-defeat into victory in a little over four months of protracted and bloody fighting in the harsh North African desert and of the repercussions of the battle for the participants, for historians and in popular culture.

Genres: History, Military Fiction, Military History, World War II

344 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Steve Terrington · Rating 5 out of 5]

El-Alamein, Author: Bryn Hammond.

As someone who has read just about every book about Alamein over the past 40 years I wasn't expecting anyone to come up with something new about this famous battle – how wrong I was.

Setting out to debunk some of the myths surrounding the war in North Africa (war without hate, Rommel is a wunderkind, etc.) Bryn Hammond brings a refreshing new look to the battles of 1942.
Using first hand accounts available at the Imperial War Museum (and other sources), Mr Hammond tells the story of the everyday soldier and the conditions of fighting and every day life in the desert and also gives a new perspective on the 3 Alamein battles, revealing that an einsatzkommando was poised to murder thousands of Jews in Egypt once the Axis forces had won the war in North Africa.

Pointing to the supply problems that Rommel suffered and never really solved the problem to, Mr Hammond brings Rommel down a peg or two, a change from most authors who seem to elevate Rommel to a high pedestal.

The author tells how important was Montgomerys efforts to build morale in the 8th army and the retraining in tactics that had to be relearnt in some cases – lessons from WWI having been forgotten by some in the British Army.

Another thing I enjoyed about the book was the illustrations, most from the IWM , that actually illustrate the text, rather than just having general photos as in some books (one of Rommel, one of Monty, etc) it is plain to see that the photos in Mr Hammonds book have been chosen with care.


Altogether and enjoyable book, an absolute must have for the Alamein or Desert War enthusiast and an excellent stand alone book for anyone with a general interest in WWII.

Buy it.

[David Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book I read to research this post was El Alamein by Bryn Hammond which is an excellent book which I bought from kindle. This book is a real work of love and it does say in the introduction that the author wanted to do justice to this very important point in the Second World War & I think he has achieved that. One interesting fact El Alamein which is officially divided into 3 battles was never a single battle & even the 3 battles were never a single battle as such. It was lots of skirmishes over several months. Initially the Italians & Germans outgunned the 8th Army especially when they started using their anti aircraft guns on ground targets. Later on the allies were given air cover which greatly helped them. At this time there were 3 senior officers involved in these battles who were household names & were key characters. They were Montgomery known as Monty, Auchinkeld known as The Auk & Rommel known as The Desert Fox. The 1st 2 were in The 8th Army & the last commanded the Axis Forces in the area. Churchill was eager to get rid of Rommel & his forces because he wanted to land troops in Morocco & the surrounding area as an offensive & try and take Italy & also secure supply routes to Malta. Finally an interesting fact is at this time any kind of skirmish with the enemy was called an operation which is probably where the idea that these were battles came from.

[Ari · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fresh look at one of the major turning points of the second world war. Specifically this book Chronicles, the fighting in the Egyptian desert from about the middle to the end of 1942; it opens with the British, retreating from Gazala, and ends with the Afrika Korps retreating into Libya. in between there was not one but three different major battles at El Alamein in Egypt, plus several smaller clashes.

The author diverges from other accounts in several ways :
- he emphasizes the experience of soldiers on the ground rather than the impersonal arrows on map style of military history.
- Relatedly he is much more interested in the interplay between the different arms (artillery, infantry, armor) and much less in the details of position.
- He avoids a heroes and villains analysis. there’s a conscious attempt to deflate the reputation of Montgomery and repair some of the calumny of Aukinleck.
- He points out that Rommel, against the advice of a lot of other people, had put his army in a place where really could not be supplied. This was a catastrophically bad decision, and Rommel deserves much more blame for it than he has received.
- He puts the “battles of El Alamein”, in the context of the other smaller fights.


I had not appreciated how very much the climactic action was a World War I battle, and how much that was understood by those present. Both of Montgomery’s movements, Lightfoot, and supercharge, were proceeded by very heavy preplanned artillery use. At the time everybody understood this to World War I-like — many of the British commanders had served on the Western Front and talked about the lessons from that struggle. The artillery tactics were very much the best of 1918 : counter battery fire, walking barrages, etc.

The British intent was to attrit the enemy and exhausted their supplies to render them incapable of further fighting. This would not have worked on the western front, where reserves could be brought up, but it was feasible and achieved in North Africa, where Rommel was at the far end of a very long supply line

[Philip Hollenback · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really really really dry and boring. Gave up.

[William Sariego · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was informative enough but I didn't like author's writing style, so knocked off a star for that. He switched between first hand accounts and the third person narrative so much it broke up the continuity of the text.