The Battle of ElAlamein and Operation
Torch
Aaron Correya, Harel Mizrahi, Emmett Gruber,
Evan Minicucci, and John Leitch
Thesis
The Battle of El-Alamein and Operation
Torch both expelled the Germans from
North Africa, and sprouted Allied
dominance in the Mediterranean Sea to
create another front, of Southern Europe,
for the Allies to attack from.
Objectives of El-Alamein
Axis:
❖ Capture the Suez Canal and the Middle Eastern Oil
Fields
➢ Without the Suez it would be very hard for the
Allies to supply themselves
Allies:
❖ Stop Germans from reaching the Suez
❖ Churchill wanted a victory to improve moral
❖ Wanted to relieve pressure off the Red Army in the
East
● It was fought between one of the two of the best commanders
in WWII…
○ Bernard Montgomery -- British general
○ Erwin Rommel -- German general
● In the summer of 1942, the Allies were getting spanked by the
Axis forces in Europe
● If the Afrika Korps got to the Suez Canal, the Allies would
have lost an extremely important supply route, and Germany
would have access to tons of oil from the Middle East
El-Alamein Timeline
July 1stGeneral Erwin
First battle of Rommel
attempts to
Al-Alamein
breakthrough
1942
July 1- July 22 the Allied
defense
September 2ndRommels
assault is
thwarted, his
tank forces
suffering high
losses and
pushed back to
Bab el Qattara
August 1-30
German forces get
support by another
Italian division
October 25thFour Allied
brigades
breakthrough
the German
Defense lines
October 23rdAllies start break
through with
“Operation
Lightfoot”
October 25thMontgomery
enacts
“Operation
Supercharge”
November 4th- Allies
defeat Rommel's
troops by making
them retreat
throughout North
Switch to Evan’s fancy
presentation
The Battle
❖ El-Alamein was a bottleneck between the
Mediterranean and the Qattara Depression
❖ Montgomery got ahold of Rommel’s plans and supply
lines
❖ August 1942 Germans are low on fuel so Rommel
attacks quickly
❖ He attempts to attack in the South but there are a lot
of land mines and he is forced to retreat
The Battle (cont.)
❖ Rommel retreats and the British decide not to follow
him
➢ This angers Chihill as he thought Montgomery was
giving up the win
➢ Decide to enact “Operation Bertram”
■ Set up dummy tanks in south to convince
Germans they will attack there
➢ Execute Operation Lightfoot in the North
Operation Lightfoot
oct. 23 1942
❖ An Allied attack in the north were infantry would
attack first
➢ They cleared out mines and made a path wide
enough for tanks to get through
❖ This attack eventually failed as the tanks and infantry
were not able to get as far as they initially thought
➢ Caused a large backup in the Tank line
➢ Infantry was forced to dig in
Dummy
tanks
Operation Supercharge
oct. 25 1942
❖ Starts after Germans are occupied with Australians
near the Mediterranean
❖ British then flank Rommel and attack him south of his
troops
❖ Heavy losses by the Germans and they are forced to
retreat back to the east
Germ
Aus
Brit
Operation Torch Timeline
Nov 8 1942
Allies reach
African
shores
Nov 12 1942
British
Paratroopers
land in airfield
near Bone
Nov 17-18 1942
Allies capture
Beja and Sidi
Nsir
Nov 26 --> on
Allies Move
East
Nov 26 1942
Medjez el Bab
is taken by
the Allies
Operation Torch
❖ British-American invasion of French North Africa during
the African campaign.
➢ Started on November 8, 1942.
❖ Goals:
➢ Clear the Axis powers from North Africa
➢ Attack Vichy France (seen as allied with Nazis)
➢ Gain control of Mediterranean to attack South Eu.
❖ Vichy France & Germany vs. U.S, U.K, Free France
The Operation
❖ 2nd Major attack of North Africa designed to expel
Axis troops
❖ Multiple areas that the Allies to attacked
❖ Vichy French troops were more of a nuisance to the
Allies (Allies take the areas quickly)
❖ Once they held the land, they pushed further east
(right towards retreating Afrika Korps from El-Alamein)
Effects of Operation Torch and
El-Alamein
● By January 1943, Egypt was saved and 8th
Mediterranean army (Allies) won back the gates of Tripoli.
● Rommel’s group got the absolute crap kicked out of them
and the Axis forces were forced out of North Africa
● Allies gain more control over the Mediterranean
● “Soft Underbelly” of Europe exposed to the Allies
● Turning point in war that also increased morale for the Allies
who hadn’t been doing so hot before.
● “Unconditional Surrender” idea created
Works cited
http://www.secondworldwarhistory.com/battle-of-el-alamein.asp
http://www.secondworldwarhistory.com/operation-torch-the-allied-invasion-of-north-africa.asp
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk570
www.fortcampbellcourier.com
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/battle_of_el_alamein.htm
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/operation_torch.htm
http://www.thehistoryreader.com/modern-history/unconditional-surrender-questioning-fdrs-prerequisite-peace/
http://www.flamesofwar.com/hobby.aspx?art_id=249
http://kids.britannica.com/comptons/art-120701/American-troops-land-near-Algiers-on-Nov?
http://themellowjihadi.com/tag/operation-torch/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_El_Alamein
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Torch
http://www.39-45war.com/el_alamein.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-two/9620305/El-Alamein-veterans-gather-in-Egypt-for-70th-anniversary-of-battle.html
http://www.ww2incolor.com/britain/SPIT-EL-ALAMEIN.html
http://www.oldpicz.com/operation-torch/