Military history of Italy during World War II of Egypt, but at the First Battle of El Alamein (July 1942) General Claude Auchinleck halted Rommel's advance only from Alexandria. Rommel made a final attempt to break through during the Battle of Alam el Halfa but Eighth Army, by this time commanded by Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery, held firm. After a period of reinforcement and training the Allies assumed the offensive at the Second Battle of Alamein (October/November 1942) where they scored a decisive victory and the remains of Rommel's German-Italian Panzer Army were forced to engage in a fighting retreat for to the Libyan border with Tunisia. After the
Field marshal living field marshals; ex military chief Mohamed Hussein Tantawi and President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Previous field marshals are Abdel Hakim Amer, Mohamed Abdel Ghani el-Gamasy, Ahmad Ismail Ali, Ahmed Badawi, Mohammed Aly Fahmy and Abd al-Halim Abu Ghazala. Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim was promoted to Field Marshal in 1933. In 1942 he was promoted to Marshal of Finland, which really is not a distinctive military rank but an honour. In the French army of the "Ancien Régime", the normal brigade command rank was field marshal ("maréchal de camp"). In 1793, during the French Revolution, the rank of field marshal was