El Alamein

El Alamein (Arabic: العلمين‎, IPA: [elʕælæˈmeːn], literally: the two flags) is a town in the northern Matrouh Governorate of Egypt. Located on the Arab's Gulf, Mediterranean Sea, it lies 106 kilometres (66 mi) west of Alexandria and 240 kilometres (149 mi) northwest of Cairo. As of 2007, it had a population of 7,397 inhabitants.

This article is about the town. For the Second World War battles, see First Battle of El Alamein and Second Battle of El Alamein. For other uses, see El Alamein (disambiguation).

El Alamein

العلمين
City
Clockwise from top:
Marina's Porto Resort, Alamein Port, Sunset on Alamein's Beaches, German Memorial s
El Alamein
Location in North Africa
Coordinates: 30°50′N 28°57′E
Country Egypt
GovernorateMatrouh
Population
 (2007)
 • Total7,397
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)

Tourism

El Alamein war museum

El Alamein has a war museum with artifacts from North African battles.

Military cemeteries

Germany

Visitors can also go to the Italian and German military cemeteries on Tel el-Eisa Hill outside the town. The German cemetery is an ossuary, built in the style of a medieval fortress.[1]

Italy

The Italian cemetery is a mausoleum containing 5,200 tombs. Many tombs bear the soldier's name; many are simply marked IGNOTO, ie. unknown.

Greek

There is a separate Greek cemetery at El Alamein.

Commonwealth of Nations

There is also a Commonwealth war cemetery, built and maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, with graves of soldiers from various countries who fought on the Allied side. Buried here are 6,425 identified Commonwealth service personnel and 815 unidentified ones, besides 102 of other nationalities.[2] These include four Victoria Cross recipients:[3]

Others buried here include

This has monuments commemorating Greek, New Zealand, Australian, South African, Indian and Canadian forces. The cemetery entrance is through the Alamein Memorial and there is also a separate Alamein Cremation Memorial to 603 Commonwealth service personnel who died in Egypt and Libya and were cremated in line with their religion.[6]

The names of 213 Canadian airmen appear on the Alamein Memorial in Egypt.[7]

The cemetery was designed by Sir J. Hubert Worthington.[8]

Climate

El Alamein has a hot desert climate Köppen climate classification BWh, in common with most of the Middle East and north Africa. However, like the rest of the northern coast of Egypt, its climate is slightly less hot, compared to the rest of Egypt, because of the prevailing Mediterranean Sea winds.

Climate data for El Alamein
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 17.8
(64.0)		 18.7
(65.7)		 20.3
(68.5)		 23.5
(74.3)		 25.7
(78.3)		 28.8
(83.8)		 29.5
(85.1)		 30.5
(86.9)		 28.7
(83.7)		 27.5
(81.5)		 23.6
(74.5)		 19.7
(67.5)		 24.5
(76.2)
Daily mean °C (°F) 12.4
(54.3)		 13.3
(55.9)		 14.9
(58.8)		 17.7
(63.9)		 20.5
(68.9)		 23.8
(74.8)		 25.2
(77.4)		 25.7
(78.3)		 24.4
(75.9)		 22.1
(71.8)		 18.3
(64.9)		 14.4
(57.9)		 19.4
(66.9)
Average low °C (°F) 7
(45)		 7.9
(46.2)		 9.5
(49.1)		 12
(54)		 15.4
(59.7)		 18.8
(65.8)		 20.9
(69.6)		 21
(70)		 20.1
(68.2)		 16.7
(62.1)		 13
(55)		 9.2
(48.6)		 14.3
(57.8)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 29
(1.1)		 17
(0.7)		 8
(0.3)		 2
(0.1)		 1
(0.0)		 0
(0)		 0
(0)		 0
(0)		 0
(0)		 5
(0.2)		 21
(0.8)		 24
(0.9)		 107
(4.1)
Source: climate-data.org[9]

World War II

Two important World War II battles were fought in the area:

  • At the First Battle of El Alamein (1–27 July 1942) the advance of Axis troops on Alexandria was blunted by the Allies, stopping the German Panzers that were trying to outflank the Allies position.
  • At the Second Battle of El Alamein (October 23 – November 4 1942) Allied forces broke the Axis line and forced them all the way back to Tunisia. Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister at the time, said of this victory: "Now this is not the end, it is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." After the war, he wrote: "Before Alamein we never had a victory. After Alamein, we never had a defeat."
  • Cross of Sacrifice, El Alamein Commonwealth cemetery
  • South African Memorial El Alamein Commonwealth cemetery
  • El Alamein Commonwealth cemetery plaque- 1939–1945 The land on which this cemetery stands is the gift of the Egyptian people for the perpetual resting place of the sailors, soldiers and airmen who are honoured here.
  • El Alamein Commonwealth cemetery
  • El Alamein Italian memorial entrance
  • El Alamein German memorial
  • El Alamein Commonwealth cemetery A soldier of the 1939–1945 war known unto God
  • In El Alamein museum
  • German cannon
  • The list of fallen German soldiers
  • German Memorial
  • British Crusader tank

See also

References
  1. El Alamein at Find a Grave
  2. CWGC Cemetery Report, El Alamein War Cemetery.
  3. Burial locations of VC holders in Egypt.
  4. CWGC Casualty record Richard George Arthur Barclay.
  5. CWGC Casualty record Henry Rew.
  6. CWGC Cemetery Report, Alamein Cremation Memorial.
  7. "Monuments, World Wars I and II". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 10 August 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
  8. http://www.cwgc.org
  9. "Climate El Alamein Climate graph, Temperature graph, Climate table". climate-data.org. Retrieved 13 August 2013.

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