- El Alamein
Infobox Settlement
official_name=El Alamein
native_name= _ar. العلمين
imagesize=300px
image_caption=Commonwealth War Cemetery at El Alamein
mapsize=300px
map_caption=Map of El Alamein (Al 'Alamayn)
website=El Alamein (or Al Alamayn) ( _ar. العلمين) is a town in northern
Egypt on theMediterranean Sea coast inMatruh Governorate . It is located Convert|106|km|mi|0 west ofAlexandria and Convert|240|km|mi|0 northwest ofCairo . The population was approximately 7,397 people, as of 2007. [ [http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761584420/Al_%E2%80%98Alamayn.html Al ‘Alamayn at encarta] ]Until recently it has mainly been a port facility for shipping oil, but like the whole north coast of Egypt is now developing as a luxury resort for elite tourism.
El Alamein played a major role in the outcome of
World War II . Two extended battles were fought in that area:* At the
First Battle of El Alamein (July 1 –July 27 1942 ) the advance of Axis troops on Alexandria was blunted by the Allies, when the GermanPanzer s tried to outflank the allied position.
* At theSecond Battle of El Alamein (October 23 –November 4 ,1942 ) Allied forces broke the Axis line and forced them in a retreat that pushed them all the way back toTunisia .Winston Churchill said of this victory: "This is not the end, nor is it even the beginning of the end, but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." He also wrote "Before Alamin we had no victory and after it we had no defeats".Tourism
There is a local war museum with collectibles from "the civil war" and other North African battles. Visitors can also go to the Italian and German Military
Cemetery on Tel el-Eisa Hill just outside the town. The German cemetery is actually anossuary containing the remains of 4200 German soldiers, built in the style of amedieval fortress . The Italian cemetery is a mausoleum containing many galleries of tombs. Wherever possible, each tomb bears the soldier's name, but many are simply marked "IGNOTO" – which means "Unknown".There is also a Commonwealth war cemetery with graves of soldiers from various countries who fought on the British side. This has monuments commemorating Greek,
New Zealand ,Australia n and South African forces. The Commonwealth cemetery, as is common at many such cemeteries in the world, consists of parallel rows of gravestones, each one bearing an engraving of the deceased soldier's unit emblem, his name and an epitaph from his family. Rows upon rows of gravestones stand witness to the battles' human cost.ee also
*Marina El Alamein (tourist resort)
*Enham Alamein (village in Hampshire in England, renamed after the battle)
*El Alamein Fountain (war memorial commemorating the battle, in Sydney, Australia)References
External links
*
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
