Qualla: First Battle of El Alamein

First Battle of El Alamein: Introduction

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Otto, CC BY-SA 3.0 de. By July 1942, the Afrika Korps had pushed the British Eighth Army nearly out of Egypt. Tobruk had fallen. The road to Alexandria lay open, and beyond it, the Suez Canal and the oil fields of the Middle East. Erwin Rommel, riding a wave of victories across Libya, needed one more breakthrough to change the course of the war. He did not get it. At a narrow strip of desert between the Mediterranean coast and the impassable Qattara Depression, the Eighth Army turned and fought, and for the first time in months the Axis advance ground to a halt.

Image: Otto | CC BY-SA 3.0 de

First Battle of El Alamein: The Bottleneck at Alamein

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Aldino Bondesan, CC BY-SA 3.0. El Alamein's geography dictated everything. The Mediterranean Sea anchored the northern flank, and sixty kilometers to the south, the Qattara Depression, a vast salt marsh hundreds of meters below sea level, made any flanking movement impossible. For the first time in the seesaw ...

Image: Aldino Bondesan | CC BY-SA 3.0

First Battle of El Alamein: A Month of Grinding Combat

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Unknown photographer, Public domain. The battle lasted from July 1 to July 27, 1942, and it bore little resemblance to the fluid armored warfare that had characterized the desert campaign. Both sides attacked and counterattacked across the same ground, suffering heavy casualties for gains measured in hundreds of met...

Image: Unknown photographer | Public domain

First Battle of El Alamein: The Soldiers from the Furthest Distance

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Farawayman, CC BY 3.0. The battle holds particular significance in New Zealand, where it is remembered as a defining moment of national sacrifice. The New Zealand 2nd Division played a central role in the defense, and the Maori Battalion distinguished itself in some of the heaviest fighting. Commander ...

Image: Farawayman | CC BY 3.0

First Battle of El Alamein: Buying Time for Montgomery

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Fox (Sgt), No 1 Army Film & Photographic Unit, Public domain. Auchinleck called off his counterattacks at the end of July to rebuild the army. In early August, Winston Churchill and General Sir Alan Brooke visited Cairo and replaced Auchinleck as Commander-in-Chief. Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery was appointed to command the Eighth A...

Image: Fox (Sgt), No 1 Army Film & Photographic Unit | Public domain

First Battle of El Alamein: The Line That Held

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Kirrages, CC BY-SA 3.0. Churchill famously said of El Alamein, "Before Alamein we never had a victory. After Alamein we never had a defeat." He was speaking of the second battle, but the first deserves a share of that credit. Had Rommel broken through in July, there would have been no second battle. The...

Image: Kirrages | CC BY-SA 3.0