El Alamein

{{About|the town|the Second World War battles|First Battle of El Alamein|and |Second Battle of El Alamein|other uses}}

{{Multiple issues|{{expand Arabic|topic=geo|date=April 2019}}

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{{Use British English|date=May 2012}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}

{{Infobox settlement

| name = El Alamein

| other_name = al-ʿAlamayn

| native_name = {{lang|ar|العلمين}}

| nickname =

| settlement_type = City

| image_skyline = {{Photomontage

| photo1a = Porto marina resort and spa.jpg

| photo2a = El Alamein Deutsches Kriegsgraeberdenkmal.jpg

| photo2b = Porto Marina (El Alamein).jpg

| photo3a = Armen Agop Untitled 2018.jpg

| photo3b = Museum at El Alamein - Flickr - heatheronhertravels.jpg

| photo4a = Sunset at north coast of egypt.JPG

| photo4b = MarinaAlameinArchSiteTombSuperstructures.jpg

| size = 275

| spacing = 2

| color = transparent

| border = 0

}}

| image_caption = Left to right from top:
Marina's Porto Resort, The German Memorial, Alamein Port, Armen Agop Structure at Alamein Hotel, Alamein Military Museum, Sunset on Alamein's Beaches, Marina Alamein Arch Site Tomb Superstructures

| image_flag =

| flag_size =

| image_seal =

| seal_size =

| image_shield =

| shield_size =

| image_map =

| mapsize = 300px

| map_caption = Map of El Alamein (Al 'Alamayn)

| pushpin_map = Egypt

| pushpin_label_position = bottom

| pushpin_mapsize = 300

| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Egypt

| subdivision_type = Country

| subdivision_name = {{Flagu|Egypt}}

| subdivision_type1 = Governorate

| subdivision_name1 = Matrouh

| subdivision_type2 =

| subdivision_name2 =

| government_footnotes =

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| established_date =

| unit_pref = Imperial

| area_footnotes =

| area_total_km2 =

| area_land_km2 =

| population_as_of = 2007

| population_total = 7,397{{citation needed|date=November 2023}}

| timezone = EET

| utc_offset = +2

| timezone_DST =

| utc_offset_DST =

| coordinates = {{coord|30|50|N|28|57|E|region:EG|display=inline}}

| population_est = 10,013

| pop_est_as_of = 2017

}}

{{Historical populations|2007|7,397|2017|10,013|}}

El Alamein ({{langx|ar| العلمين|translit=al-ʿAlamayn|lit=the two flags}}, {{IPA|arz|elʕælæˈmeːn|IPA|El_alemayn.ogg}}) is a town in the northern Matrouh Governorate of Egypt. Located on the Mediterranean Sea, it lies {{Convert|106|km|mi|0}} west of Alexandria and {{Convert|300|km|mi|0}} northwest of Cairo. The town is located on the site of the ancient city Antiphrai which was built by the Romans.({{Langx|el|Ἀντίφραι}}).{{Cite web |title=TM Places |url=https://www.trismegistos.org/place/8554 |access-date=2022-09-05 |website=www.trismegistos.org}}

Tourism

=Military cemeteries=

==Germany==

There are Italian and German military cemeteries on Tel el-Eisa Hill outside the town. The German cemetery is an ossuary, built in the style of a medieval fortress.

==Italy==

The cemetary of the Italian War Memorial at El Alamein contains 5,200 graves.

==Greek==

There is a Greek cemetery at El Alamein.

==Commonwealth of Nations==

The Commonwealth Alamein Memorial and attached war cemetery, built and maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, has graves of soldiers from various countries who fought on the Allied side. Buried here are 6,425 identified Commonwealth service personnel, 815 unidentified ones, and 102 of other nationalities.{{Cite web|url=http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/2019001/EL%20ALAMEIN%20WAR%20CEMETERY|title=Cemetery Details | CWGC}} These include four Victoria Cross recipients:[http://www.victoriacrossorg.uk/ggegypt.htm] {{dead link|date=September 2017|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}} Burial locations of VC holders in Egypt.

Others buried here include:

This has monuments commemorating Greek, New Zealand, Australian, South African, Indian and Canadian forces. The cemetery entrance is through the Alamein Memorial and there is also a separate Alamein Cremation Memorial to 603 Commonwealth service personnel who died in Egypt and Libya and were cremated in line with their religion.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cwgc.org/visit-us/find-cemeteries-memorials/cemetery-details/2019001/alamein-cremation-memorial/|title=Cemetery Details | CWGC|website=www.cwgc.org}}

The names of 213 Canadian airmen appear on the Alamein Memorial in Egypt.{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0009128 |title=Monuments, World Wars I and II |encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia |access-date=29 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810091629/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0009128 |archive-date=10 August 2011}}

The cemetery was designed by Hubert Worthington.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cwgc.org/|title=The Commonwealth War Graves Commission | CWGC|website=www.cwgc.org}}

=Beaches=

Many Egyptians, particularly the upper and middle class travel to El Alamein during summer to flee the summer heat in other cities and towns.

Climate

El Alamein has a hot desert climate, Köppen climate classification BWh, common with most of the Middle East and North Africa. However, like the rest of the northern coast of Egypt, its climate is slightly less hot, compared to the rest of Egypt, because of the prevailing Mediterranean Sea winds.

{{Weather box

|metric first=yes

|single line=yes

|location=El Alamein

|Jan high C=17.8

|Feb high C=18.7

|Mar high C=20.3

|Apr high C=23.5

|May high C=25.7

|Jun high C=28.8

|Jul high C=29.5

|Aug high C=30.5

|Sep high C=28.7

|Oct high C=27.5

|Nov high C=23.6

|Dec high C=19.7

|Jan mean C=12.4

|Feb mean C=13.3

|Mar mean C=14.9

|Apr mean C=17.7

|May mean C=20.5

|Jun mean C=23.8

|Jul mean C=25.2

|Aug mean C=25.7

|Sep mean C=24.4

|Oct mean C=22.1

|Nov mean C=18.3

|Dec mean C=14.4

|Jan low C=7

|Feb low C=7.9

|Mar low C=9.5

|Apr low C=12

|May low C=15.4

|Jun low C=18.8

|Jul low C=20.9

|Aug low C=21

|Sep low C=20.1

|Oct low C=16.7

|Nov low C=13

|Dec low C=9.2

|Jan precipitation mm=29

|Feb precipitation mm=17

|Mar precipitation mm=8

|Apr precipitation mm=2

|May precipitation mm=1

|Jun precipitation mm=0

|Jul precipitation mm=0

|Aug precipitation mm=0

|Sep precipitation mm=0

|Oct precipitation mm=5

|Nov precipitation mm=21

|Dec precipitation mm=24

|source 1= climate-data.org{{cite web|title=Climate El Alamein Climate graph, Temperature graph, Climate table|url=http://en.climate-data.org/location/5566/|publisher=climate-data.org|access-date=13 August 2013}}

}}

World War II

File:Montgomery watches his tanks move up.jpg watches his tanks move up during the Battle of El Alamein.]]

Two important World War II battles were fought in the area:

  • At the First Battle of El Alamein (1–27 July 1942), the advance of Axis troops on Alexandria was blunted by the Allies, stopping the Italian and German forces that were trying to outflank the Allies' position.
  • At the Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 4 November 1942), Allied forces broke the Axis line and forced them all the way back to Tunisia. Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister at the time, said of this victory: "Now this is not the end, it is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." After the war, he wrote: "Before Alamein we never had a victory. After Alamein, we never had a defeat."

Gallery

File:El Alamein Commonwealth Denkmal.jpg|Cross of Sacrifice, El Alamein Commonwealth cemetery

File:South African Memorial El Alamein.jpg|South African Memorial El Alamein Commonwealth cemetery

File:El Alamein Commonwealth Cemetery 11.JPG|El Alamein Commonwealth cemetery plaque – 1939-1945 – The land on which this cemetery stands is the gift of the Egyptian people for the perpetual resting place of the sailors, soldiers and airmen who are honoured here.

File:El Alamein Commonwealth Cemetery 2.JPG|El Alamein Commonwealth cemetery

File:El Alamein Italian memorial entrance.jpeg|Italian War Memorial at El Alamein

File:El Alamein Deutsches Kriegsgraeberdenkmal.jpg|El Alamein German memorial

File:El Alamein Commonwealth Cemetery 5.JPG|El Alamein Commonwealth cemetery – A soldier of the 1939-1945 war known unto God

File:Египет47.jpg|In El Alamein museum

File:Египет48.jpg|German cannon

File:Египет49.jpg|The list of fallen German soldiers

File:Египет111.jpg|German Memorial

File:Египет112.jpg|British Crusader tank

See also

{{portal|Egypt}}

References

{{Reflist}}