The Desert Fox in North Africa - the Battle of El Alamein

The Desert Fox in North Africa:

The Battle of El Alamein

Student: Navi Gadhri

Student #: 0424223

Due Date: 15/11/04

Course: History 245

The Battle of North Africa was one of the many turning point battles of World War Two. The Axis forces needed to get to the Suez Canal and the Allies had to stop them in order for any chance of victory. The Suez Canal was of great importance to both sides; The Nazi's needed it for access to oil in the Middle East, and the Allies used it for a relatively safe supply route. The loss of the Suez Canal would have an "incalculable psychological blow"[1] to the Allies.

The Battle would take place in two stages, with Rommel leading the charge for the Afrika Krops throughout. However the Allies would switch leaders midway through, replacing Claude Auchinleck with Bernard Montgomery. This was done because Auchinleck was seen to have lost the respect of the troops, while Montgomery was perceived to have the ability necessary of regaining their respect. The Afrika Korps was Rommel self trained military force, it was seen as one of the greatest divisions in the entire Second World War. The Allies had many divisions from three different countries, Britain, America and New Zealand.

The North African campaign went back and forth, with first the Afrika Korps driving back the Allies, then the Allies driving back the Afrika Korps. This was because when one side would advance pushing the other back they also pushed the other side back closer to their supply line, and inversely pulled themselves away from their own. This process made counter-attack achievable and forced the former advancing side to retreat. Both sides knew that the strategy for victory would include stockpiling supplies, "the objective is not the taking of territory but the annihilation of the enemy force,"[2] annihilating the enemy would mean a sustained battle, where either side would need the supplies to drive the enemy out of the Middle East.

Hitler sent his most brilliant commander, Erwin Rommel, to the battle. Both sides respected Rommel, Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain, made a flattering reference to him: "We have a daring and skillful opponent against us [Ð'...] a great general."[3] When Rommel entered the campaign he was able to help the Italian forces push the allies back again. The Axis forces pushed the Allies back to El Alamein. El Alamein became an important location because of its surroundings, to the north was the Mediterranean Sea and to the south Quattra Depression. These impassable areas made El Alamein a "the thirty-five mile bottleneck ~ between the Mediterranean and the Qattara Depression," making it impossible for Rommel to use his favored attack from the enemies rear strategy. [4] Erwin Rommel was becoming more and more fatigued. He had reoccurring liver and blood pressure problems for which he had to take a short leave. At the time he was concerned with the lack of supplies, "our sources of supply had dried up Ð'- thanks to the idleness and muddle of the supply authorities on the mainland."[5]

Rommel's rest was cut short; he was needed at the front lines. The Allies had punctured the Axis defense line and Rommel's replacement had died of a heart attack. He was rushed back, but on arrival was shocked to learn that even his minimal call for supplies was not met. Also the Allies now had complete control of the air and sea. With new tanks, 300 Shermans from America, the Allies had finally matched, and in most cases surpassed, the Axis forces in quality and quantity. Rommel knew that there wouldn't be enough supplies even to keep a defensive line.

Rommel decided to attack first in the First Battle of El Alamein, he was successful, but delayed on overrunning the Allied line. The delays were costly because of the lack of supplies at Rommel's disposal. The Allies, at the time led by Claude Auchinleck, tried to counter-attack but were unsuccessful. The British then halted another Axis advance in the Battle of Alam Haifa. The First Battle of El Alamein was a stalemate; this caused more harm to the Axis forces then the Allies because of the insufficient funds that Rommel had and the decrease of supplies he was receiving from the mainland. To add to Rommel's concerns the allies were bombing his supplies in what was reported as a "bomb a minute raid."[6] Destroying a majority of the oil that Rommel desperately needed to run his tanks and automated machines. This slowed down Rommel's attacks and his defense against Allied attacks.

The Allies then attacked first after regrouping and gaining the supplies necessary, in what would be the Second Battle of El Alamein. The first two attacks fell short of their goals and the Allies, led by Bernard Montgomery who had taken over for Claude Auchinleck, decided rather to regroup mounting only small attacks. Montgomery then put Operation Supercharge into action. A series of small attacks left Rommel with limited tank forces. Another attack again diminished Rommel's tanks to under 40 effective fighting tanks. Rommel knew now that there was no chance for victory and no chance of driving the Allies out of Africa, more likely was that he and his Afrika Korps would be driven out instead.

He decided rather to pull out his troops, in direct disobedience to Hitler. Hitler had said, "There is to be no retreat, not so much as one millimetre Ð'... victory or death!"[7] Rommel was too compassionate a general to let his men die like this. Instead he retreated to Libya, on his way there he was told of an Anglo-American force that had