Battle of Alam el Halfa Battle of Alam el Halfa The Battle of Alam el Halfa took place between 30 August and 5 September 1942 south of El Alamein during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. "Panzerarmee Afrika"—a German–Italian force commanded by "Generalfeldmarschall" Erwin Rommel—attempted an envelopment of the British Eighth Army, commanded by Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery. In the last major Axis offensive (Operation Brandung/"Unternehmung Brandung") of the Western Desert Campaign, Rommel had planned to defeat the Eighth Army before Allied reinforcements made an Axis victory in Africa impossible. Montgomery, who had been forewarned of Rommel's intentions by Ultra intelligence intercepts, left
Marshal of the Russian Federation Field Marshal. The only officer to have held the rank is the former Minister of Defence Igor Sergeyev, who had been elevated from the General of the Army of the Strategic Rocket Forces. Sergeyev was Marshal from 1997 until his death in 2006. The insignia for Marshal of the Russian Federation is similar to the one for the Marshal of the Soviet Union, with the Soviet crest replaced by the Russian one. An officer who is given this rank would also wear the Marshal's star. Marshal of the Russian Federation Marshal of the Russian Federation () is the highest military