AI - AI a m e i n

Al-Alamein, meaning “two worlds,” is best known for its role in World War n. A tiny village set in a broad, barren, desert plain, Al-Alamein is slightly too distant from the water to attract many tourists. But there was a time when AI-Alamein was infinitely less quiet, less out-of-the-way, and certainly less empty. In November 1942, the Allied forces under the command of the British Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery halted the advance of the Nazi Afrika Korps here. Al-Alamein had been pinpointed by the Nazis as the gateway to Alexandria and the key to control of the continent.

The Allied victory here marked the beginning of the end for the Axis Powers in North Africa and simultaneously crushed the mystique surrounding the “Desert Fox,” German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, whose force of Panzer tanks had previously proven invincible. The Battle of AI-Alamein was not only one of die war’s most important confrontations, but also one of the most violent: nearly 10,(XX) soldiers lost their lives and 70,000 were wounded.

On the east side of town toward Alexandria lies the British War Cemetery, the burial place of 7,367 men, 815 of whose headstones bear only the somber inscription “Known Unto God.” Ringed by purple flowers and set against the seemingly interminable desert, the excruciatingly tidy rows are enough to set almost anyone to pondering. The plaque and inscriptions within the shaded alcove explain the battle’s significance as well as the diverse backgrounds of the victims interred here. Maintained by the British War Graves Commission, the cemetery is free and almost always open.