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Map of El Alamein (Al 'Alamayn)

El Alamein (or Al Alamayn) (Arabic: العلمين) is a town in northern Egypt on the Mediterranean Sea coast. It is located 106 kilometres (66 mi) west of Alexandria and 240 kilometres (149 mi) northwest of Cairo. The population was approximately 5,786 people, as of 1996.[1]

Until recently it has mainly been a port facility for shipping oil, but like the whole north coast of Egypt is now developing as a luxury resort for elite tourism.

El Alamein played a major role in the outcome of World War II. Two extended battles were fought in that area:

Commonwealth War Cemetery at El Alamein

• At the First Battle of El Alamein (July 1 – July 27, 1942) the advance of Axis troops on Alexandria was blunted by the Allies, when the German Panzers tried to outflank the allied position.

• At the Second Battle of El Alamein (October 23 – November 4, 1942) Allied forces broke the Axis line and forced them in a retreat that pushed them all the way back to Tunisia. Winston Churchill said of this: "This is not the end, nor is it even the beginning of the end, but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."

There is a local war museum with collectibles from "the civil war" and other North African battles. Visitors can also go to the Italian and German Military Cemetery on Tel el-Eisa Hill just outside the town. The German cemetery is actually an ossuary containing the remains of 4200 German soldiers which is built in the style of a medieval fortress. The Italian cemetery is a mausoleum containing many galleries of tombs. Wherever possible, each tomb bears the soldier's name, but many are simply marked "IGNOTO" – "Unknown".

El Alamein is on the Mediterranean Sea (top center).

There is also a Commonwealth war cemetery with graves of soldiers from various countries who fought on the British side. This has monuments commemorating Greek, New Zealand, Australian and South African forces. The Commonwealth cemetery, as is common at many such cemeteries in the world, consists of parallel rows of gravestones, each one bearing an engraving of the deceased soldier's unit emblem, his name and an epitaph from his family. Rows upon rows of gravestones stand witness to the battles' human cost.

• Marina El Alamein (tourist resort)
• Enham Alamein (village in Hampshire in England, renamed after the battle)

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El Alamein

Coordinates: 30°50′N, 28°57′E

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