Enjoy the Famous El Alamein Site

A budding resort town with an important place in history, El Alamein, Egypt was the site of two significant World War II battles. A graveyard holds the bodies of the casualties of those fights.

Location and History

El Alamein is a small town in Egypt, resting on the Mediterranean coast and about 60 miles west of Alexandria. It is best known as one of World War II’s most notorious destinations. There, British and German forces battled, at the First Battle of El Alamein in July of 1942, when the Allies stopped the advance of Axis troops into Alexandria, and at the Second Battle of El Alamein, from October to November of 1942, when the Allied forces broke the Axis line and forced German troops to retreat back to Tunisia.

These battles were very significant in determining the outcome of World War II; in fact, Winston Churchill stated that the Allies had no real victory until El Alamein.

This history makes visiting El Alamein all the more fascinating and poignant. Unlike some of Egypt’s other landmarks, this is not a site for appreciating ancient architecture. In fact, up until recent times El Alamein was primarily a port facility for shipping oil. However, Egypt has put forth great efforts to turn the entire north coast of Egypt into a “luxury town” promoting tourism.

What to See?

What can you expect to see in El Alamein? You can see a local war museum with collectibles from the North African “Civil War.” There are three cemeteries of interest; first, a German ossuary built like a medieval fortress that contains the remains of thousands of German soldiers. There is also an Italian mausoleum cemetery that holds many tombs of soldiers both remembered and “unknown.” There is a Commonwealth war cemetery that contains the remains of many soldiers from various countries who fought on the Allies’ side, including soldiers from Greece, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.

The Alamein Region

What else is significant about El Alamein? It is a coastal region that has many luxury villa complexes. It is nearby the Porto Marina, which is a well-known luxury resort that is expensive enough by Egypt’s tastes but not unreasonably expensive to Western tourists. Winston Churchill once said that El Alamein had the best climate anywhere in the world, and he wasn’t just saying that in gratitude of the Allies winning the war! The climate of the area is very pleasant and accommodating to tourists used to extreme heat or shivering freezes.

El Alamein may be far removed from King Tut, but it is still an historical site that means a great deal to the generation of World II and beyond.

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