In 1942 the situation for the Allies during World War II was critical. On the one hand, they were facing particular problems in Europe, as Germany’s Operation Barbarossa had pinned down Russian troops, German submarines in the Atlantic were causing severe problems in Britain, and western Europe was under German control.
On the other hand, Rommel’s presence in North Africa was a very serious threat to the Allies with strategic importance: if Rommel succeeded in capturing the Suez Canal, the Allies could no longer be supplied. Their only alternative was South Africa, where the weather conditions were particularly difficult – making the resupply process even more daunting. Even more serious, however, was the possibility of the Axis powers gaining access to Middle Eastern oil, a development which would have disastrous consequences for the Allies.
Of course, the situation was not only critical on the battlefield. The effect that the development of military operations had on the psychology of the peoples of the allied states was such that it left no room for a major defeat, such as the one that could occur on the Middle East front. By then, despite resistance to the Axis powers, the latter had swept across western Europe and were now facing Russian troops. In the case of the British people in particular, their morale had suffered a major blow, with the result that Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s very position was in jeopardy: if he did not achieve a decisive victory against Germany soon, he risked facing a vote of no confidence in Parliament. Under the weight of these data, Churchill takes the decision to reorganize the British Army Headquarters in Cairo and in August 1942, replacing General Ainleck with General Bernard Montgomery.
Until then, the Middle East had been the scene of major military confrontations. Let’s not forget, moreover, that both the Allies and the Axis powers claimed the area in order to use it as a base and starting point for future pursuits, already from the beginning of the Second World War. In December 1940, taking advantage of Italy’s involvement in the war against Greece, Britain invaded Cyrenaica, which until then was held by the Italian kingdom, and occupied Benghazi. In turn, Germany sent an expeditionary force, the Afrika Korps, under Erwin Rommel, to reinforce its allies. British Middle East Headquarters sent an expeditionary force to aid Greece, reducing British military strength in the Middle East. Taking advantage of this development, Rommel counter-attacked in April 1941, forcing the British to collapse on the Egyptian border, placing Alexandria in immediate danger.
The constant deployment and withdrawal of troops to reinforce another front, attacks and counter-attacks continued on both sides until 1942. The possibility of a total collapse of British forces in the region and an Axis occupation of Egypt looked increasingly strong. However, it was averted at the last moment: after fighting that lasted throughout July, the Allied forces managed to halt the German-Italian advance at El Alamein, some 90 kilometers from Alexandria. Of course, there followed successive attempts by the Allies to completely remove the enemy, but to no avail, creating a stalemate. Both the Allies and the Axis suspended hostilities in order to resupply.
At the same time, in August 1942, a long-term pursuit of the exiled Greek government was fulfilled: after its pressure, it ensured the participation of the Greek Army of the Middle East in the operations of the Allies against the Axis, a move that served three objectives: the preservation of the prestige of the Greek army in which he had acquired after the victorious struggle in Epirus and the heroic resistance in Crete, the maintenance of the Greek nation’s perspective for liberation and, finally, the securing of a strong paper at the negotiating table after the end of the war, with a view to the defense of the national interests. Until then, the 1st Greek Brigade was used in the second line of the front, to protect Cairo and Alexandria. Now, her participation on the side of the Allies was necessary to ensure victory against Rommel. On 7 September 1942, it was placed under the 50th British Division operating in the northern Delta area and tasked with defending the site south of Lake Mariut.
By the time General Montgomery took command of the British forces there, Rommel was facing a serious supply problem, as Berlin’s fixation on the Eastern Front left the Afrika Korps with one-third of the supplies it needed. After a last, desperate – as he did not have the necessary equipment – attack, Rommel was repulsed. In fact, he fell ill and was forced to return to Germany, pinning his hopes on a victory at Stalingrad, which would create a new balance of power and force the British to send troops elsewhere, thereby postponing any attack on his army.
On October 23, 1942, Montgomery had completed his preparations and launched his major attack, in which the Hellenic Brigade also participated. Despite their fierce counterattacks, the Germans, who were essentially short of fuel, realized that the battle was lost. In fact, on 2 November Rommel requested permission to redeploy his forces, which Hitler did not grant, ordering the Afrika Korps to fight to the end. Three days later, without waiting for approval of his new request, Rommel ordered his troops to retreat. This rapid retreat inflicted a severe blow on the Italian units, who were left in the desert without supplies, and were thus forced either to disband or surrender. German troops continued to retreat and in May 1943 they too surrendered.
The Battle of El Alamein marked the first decisive Allied victory and thwarted Axis hopes of capturing Egypt, gaining control of the Suez Canal, and unfettered access to the oil wells of the Middle East. To a large extent, it determined the outcome of World War II. As, after all, Churchill had characteristically mentioned: “Before El Alamein we had never had a victory. After El Alamein we never had a defeat.”
Column Editor: Myrto Katsigera, Vassilis Minakakis, Antigone-Despina Poimenidou, Athanasios Syroplakis
