greatest tank battles the battle of el alamein 1942

After the Nazi conquest of western Europe, when Britain and its Empire and Commonwealth formed the final bulwark against Axis victory, Australian, Indian, New Zealand and South African forces formed a sizeable portion of the Allied defence of North Africa and the protection of the Suez Canal, the vital link between Britain and its Asian and Australasian possessions.įrom mid-1940 (when Mussolini’s fascist Italy entered the war) the Mediterranean and its shores formed a major theatre of war. It was arguably the single most significant occasion when an Australian formation played a major part in a decisive Allied victory in the Second World War.Īustralian land, sea and air forces played a significant role in the war in North Africa.

The 9th Australian Division fought as part of the Commonwealth Eighth Army, defeating a German-Italian attempt to invade Egypt and seize the Suez Canal. Two battles were fought in 1942 around the isolated railway halt of El Alamein, 120 kilometres west of Alexandria in Egypt. Photo by Peter Williams (courtesy of the NSW War Memorials Register).Īustralia’s first major role in an Allied victory Photo: The El Alamein Memorial Fountain in Sydney's King's Cross district.

Greatest tank battles the battle of el alamein 1942