El Alamein

This article is about the town. For the Second World War battles, seeFirst Battle of El AlameinandSecond Battle of El Alamein.For other uses, seeEl Alamein (disambiguation).

El Alamein العلمين al-ʿAlamayn
City
Clockwise 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
El Alamein Location in Egypt
Coordinates:30°50′N28°57′E
Country	Egypt
Governorate	Matrouh
Population (2007)
• Total	7,397
• Estimate (2017)	10,013
Time zone	UTC+2(EET)

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
2007	7,397	—
2017	10,013	+35.4%

El Alamein(Arabic:العلمين,romanized:al-ʿAlamayn,lit. 'the two flags',IPA:[elʕælæˈmeːn]) is a town in the northernMatrouh Governorateof Egypt. Located on theMediterranean Sea,it lies 106 kilometres (66 mi) west ofAlexandriaand 300 kilometres (186 mi) northwest ofCairo.

The town is located on the site of the ancient cityAntiphrai(Greek:Ἀντίφραι).

Tourism

Military cemeteries

Germany

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

Italy

The Italian cemetery is a mausoleum containing 5,200 tombs.

Greek

There is a Greek cemetery at El Alamein.

Commonwealth of Nations

There is aCommonwealthwar cemetery, built and maintained by theCommonwealth War Graves Commission,with 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.These include fourVictoria Crossrecipients:

• PrivatePercy Gratwick,Second Australian Imperial Force
• PrivateArthur Stan Gurney,Second Australian Imperial Force
• SergeantWilliam Bill Kibby,Second Australian Imperial Force
• PrivateAdam Wakenshaw,Durham Light Infantry

Others buried here include:

• Squadron LeaderGeorge Barclay,Royal Air ForceBattle of Britainfighter pilot
• MajorHenry Rew,Royal Tank Regiment

This has monuments commemorating Greek, New Zealand, Australian,South African,IndianandCanadianforces. The cemetery entrance is through theAlamein Memorialand 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.

The names of 213 Canadian airmen appear on the Alamein Memorial in Egypt.

The cemetery was designed byHubert Worthington.

Climate

El Alamein has ahot desert climate,Köppen climate classificationBWh,common with most of the Middle East and North Africa. However, like the rest of thenorthern coast of Egypt,its climate is slightly less hot, compared to the rest of Egypt, because of the prevailingMediterranean Seawinds.

Climate data for El Alamein
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	17.8 (64.0)	18.7 (65.7)	20.3 (68.5)	23.5 (74.3)	25.7 (78.3)	28.8 (83.8)	29.5 (85.1)	30.5 (86.9)	28.7 (83.7)	27.5 (81.5)	23.6 (74.5)	19.7 (67.5)	24.5 (76.2)
Daily mean °C (°F)	12.4 (54.3)	13.3 (55.9)	14.9 (58.8)	17.7 (63.9)	20.5 (68.9)	23.8 (74.8)	25.2 (77.4)	25.7 (78.3)	24.4 (75.9)	22.1 (71.8)	18.3 (64.9)	14.4 (57.9)	19.4 (66.9)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	7 (45)	7.9 (46.2)	9.5 (49.1)	12 (54)	15.4 (59.7)	18.8 (65.8)	20.9 (69.6)	21 (70)	20.1 (68.2)	16.7 (62.1)	13 (55)	9.2 (48.6)	14.3 (57.8)
Averageprecipitationmm (inches)	29 (1.1)	17 (0.7)	8 (0.3)	2 (0.1)	1 (0.0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	5 (0.2)	21 (0.8)	24 (0.9)	107 (4.1)
Source: climate-data.org

World War II

Bernard Montgomerywatches his tanks move up during the Battle of El Alamein

Two importantWorld War IIbattles were fought in the area:

• At theFirst Battle of El Alamein(1–27 July 1942), the advance ofAxistroops onAlexandriawas blunted by theAllies,stopping the Italian and German forces that were trying to outflank the Allies' position.
• At theSecond Battle of El Alamein(23 October – 4 November 1942), Allied forces broke the Axis line and forced them all the way back toTunisia.Winston Churchill,theBritish Prime Ministerat 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

• 
  Cross of Sacrifice,El Alamein Commonwealth cemetery
• 
  South African Memorial El Alamein Commonwealth cemetery
• 
  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.
• 
  El Alamein Commonwealth cemetery
• 
  El Alamein Italian memorial entrance
• 
  El Alamein German memorial
• 
  El Alamein Commonwealth cemetery – A soldier of the 1939-1945 war known unto God
• 
  In El Alamein museum
• 
  German cannon
• 
  The list of fallen German soldiers
• 
  German Memorial
• 
  BritishCrusader tank

See also

• El Alamein Fountain(war memorial commemorating the battle, in Sydney, Australia)
• El Alamein International Airport
• Enham Alamein(village in Hampshire in England, renamed after the battle)
• Marina El Alamein(tourist resort)
• New Alamein

External links

Media related toEl Alameinat Wikimedia Commons

• Falling Rain Genomics, Inc."Geographical information on Al 'Alamayn, Egypt".Retrieved29 March2008.
• Matteo Ferrari."El Alamein photos: Commonwealth war cemetery, Italian and German memorial, El Alamein war museum, Egypt".Retrieved4 September2011.