Second Battle of El Alamein Second Battle of El Alamein 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 had prevented the Axis from advancing further into Egypt. In August 1942, General Claude Auchinleck was relieved as Commander-in-Chief Middle East Command. When Lieutenant-General William Gott was killed on his way to replace Auchinleck as commander of the Allied Eighth Army, Lieutenant-General Bernard Law Montgomery was appointed command in his place, and led the Eighth Army in a
Battle of Mersa Matruh flooded sections of the Nile Delta, prepared to demolish infrastructure and built up defensive positions at Alexandria and the Suez canal. A scorched earth policy was discussed but decided against. Mellenthin said of this: "Rommel may have been lucky, but Mersa Matruh was certainly a brilliant German victory and gave us great hopes of 'bouncing' 8th Army out of the Alamein line." This was not to be. In the event Auchinleck solidified 8th Army and in a month's worth of fighting checked the German advance at the First Battle of El Alamein. After it was over both sides were exhausted,