Moths remember El Alemein

THE Moths (Memorable Order of Tin Hats) Freedom Shellhole remembered the Battle of El Alemein on Wednesday last week. They gathered at the cenotaph in the grounds of St Peter’s Anglican Church for a short parade, and the playing of the Last Post. South African troops were directly and heavily involved in this decisive battle of World War II.
The Second Battle of El Alamein took place over 20 days from 23 October – 11 November 1942, near the Egyptian coastal town of El Alamein, and the Allies’ victory marked a major turning point in the Western Desert Campaign of World War II. El Alemein has been described as an insignificant railway station on the Mediterranean coast.
This battle followed the First Battle of El Alamein, which had stalled the Axis advance into Egypt, after which, in August 1942, Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery had taken command of the British Eighth Army from General Claude Auchinleck.
This Allied victory turned the tide in the North African Campaign and ended the Axis threat to Egypt, the Suez Canal, and of gaining access to the Middle Eastern and Persian oil fields via North Africa. From a psychological perspective, El Alamein revived the morale of the Allied side, being the first major offensive against the Germans since the start of the European war in 1939 in which the Western Allies achieved a decisive victory.