Importance of El Alamein
"El Alamein was a turning point for the War and British morale."
Richard Holmes, General Editor of The Oxford Companion to Military History, 2011
Richard Holmes, General Editor of The Oxford Companion to Military History, 2011
North Africa in 1942, click on map to enlarge
"We had suffered defeats for the previous two years, and we were demoralised. Morale was at its lowest ebb... Germany had invaded Greece and Yugoslavia... U-boats started sinking ships in the Atlantic which were bringing us food and arms. And bombing at home was continuing - more than 1,000 bombers attacked Canterbury in June 1942... Somehow we needed a victory."
How El Alamein changed the war, David Knowles
The Battle of El Alamein was pivotal, if lost it would give Rommel a straight route to the Suez Canal. If the Suez Canal was captured, the Allied supply route would be cut off. The only alternate route would be around South Africa, which was much longer and more perilous. The psychological blow of losing the canal would have been incalculable.
A loss at El Alamein would also have put the British oil fields at Haifa (Lebanon) at risk. German forces could have swept down after success in the USSR, and met the Afrika Korps at Haifa, gaining an essential resource for themselves and cutting the British off from the oil fields.
With British morale sinking and the very real possibility that a loss would allow Germany to capture the Suez Canal and the Haifa Oil fields, an Allied victory at El Alamein was essential.
How El Alamein changed the war, David Knowles
The Battle of El Alamein was pivotal, if lost it would give Rommel a straight route to the Suez Canal. If the Suez Canal was captured, the Allied supply route would be cut off. The only alternate route would be around South Africa, which was much longer and more perilous. The psychological blow of losing the canal would have been incalculable.
A loss at El Alamein would also have put the British oil fields at Haifa (Lebanon) at risk. German forces could have swept down after success in the USSR, and met the Afrika Korps at Haifa, gaining an essential resource for themselves and cutting the British off from the oil fields.
With British morale sinking and the very real possibility that a loss would allow Germany to capture the Suez Canal and the Haifa Oil fields, an Allied victory at El Alamein was essential.