The battle revived the morale of the Allies, being the first big success against the Axis since Operation Crusader in late 1941.
The Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 11 November 1942) was a battle of the Second World War that took place near the Egyptian railway halt of El Alamein.
The First Battle of El Alamein and the Battle of Alam el Halfa had prevented the Axis from advancing further into Egypt. In August 1942, General Claude Auchinleck had been relieved as Commander-in-Chief Middle East Command and his successor, Lieutenant-General William Gott was killed on his way to replace him as commander of the Eighth Army.
The battle coincided with the Allied invasion of French North Africa in Operation Torch on 8 November, the Battle of Stalingrad and the Guadalcanal Campaign. ==Background== Panzer Army Africa (Panzerarmee Afrika/Armata Corazzata Africa, Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel), composed of German and Italian tank and infantry units, had advanced into Egypt after its success at the Battle of Gazala (26 May – 21 June 1942).
The two armoured divisions of the Afrika Korps and the reconnaissance units of Panzerarmee Afrika led the attack but were repulsed at the Alam el Halfa ridge and Point 102 on 30 August 1942 during the Battle of Alam el Halfa and the Axis forces retired to their start lines.
Mussolini replied on 19 December that the Panzerarmee must resist to the last man at Buerat. ====Tripoli==== On 15 January 1943, the 51st (Highland) Division made a frontal attack while the 2nd New Zealand Division and the 7th Armoured Division drove around the inland flank of the Axis line.
Harry Hinsley, the official historian of British intelligence wrote in 1981 that "The Panzer Army... did not possess the operational freedom of movement that was absolutely essential in consideration of the fact that the British offensive can be expected to start any day".
In 1997, Martin van Creveld wrote that Rommel had been advised by the German and Italian staffs that his army could not properly be supplied so far from the ports of Tripoli and Benghazi.
After a conversation with Kesselring on 30 August, Rommel decided to attack, "the hardest [decision] in my life". ===Casualties=== In 2005, Niall Barr wrote that the Panzerarmee casualties, was an estimate because of the chaos of the Axis retreat.
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