The Second Battle of El Alamein starts

Date: 23 Oct 1942
Updated: 30 Sep 2019

After various North African operations late in June and in July 1942, Lt.-Gen. B.L. Montgomery, the new commander of the Eighth Army in World War 2, initiated a second attack at El Alamein, a town in northern Egypt on the Mediterranean Sea coast. Many South African soldiers took part in the operation, which started at 9:30pm. South African artillery alone fired 62 000 25-ponder shells. The battle lasted from 23 October to 4 November 1942, when Montgomery finally broke through the defences of the Panzer Army Africa, under command of General Erwin Rommel. Success in the battle turned the tide in the North African Campaign and marked the end of Axis expansion in Africa. 734 South African soldiers were killed at El Alamein.

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How we know this

01Potgieter, D.J. et al. (eds) (1970). Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, Cape Town: NASOU, v. 11, p. 518.
02Hickman K. "World War II: Second Battle of El Alamein", From About Military History [online] Available at: www.militaryhistory.about.com [Accessed on 9 November 2012]

Last updated · 30 Sep 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2011, March 16). The Second Battle of El Alamein starts. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011639

South African History Online (2011) 'The Second Battle of El Alamein starts', South African History Online, 16 March. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011639 (Accessed: 7 August 2026).

South African History Online, The Second Battle of El Alamein starts [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011639, (accessed 7 August 2026).

"The Second Battle of El Alamein starts." South African History Online, 16 Mar. 2011, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011639. Accessed 7 Aug. 2026.

South African History Online. "The Second Battle of El Alamein starts." South African History Online. March 16, 2011. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011639.