El Alamein

This article is about the town. For the Second World War battles, see First Battle of El Alamein and Second Battle of El Alamein. For other uses, see El Alamein (disambiguation).

El Alamein العلمين al-ʿAlamayn
City
Clockwise from top: Marina's Porto Resort, The German Memorial, Alamein Port, Armen Agop Structure at Alamein Hotel, Alamein Military Museum, Sunset on Alamein's Beaches, Marina Alamein Arch Site Tomb Superstructures
El Alamein Location in Egypt
Coordinates: 30°50′N 28°57′E
Country	Egypt
Governorate	Matrouh
Population  (2007)
• Total	7,397
• Estimate  (2017)	10,013
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
2007	7,397	—
2017	10,013	+35.4%

El Alamein (Arabic: العلمين, romanized: al-ʿAlamayn, lit. 'the two flags', IPA: [elʕælæˈmeːn] ) is a town in the northern Matrouh Governorate of Egypt. Located on the Mediterranean Sea, it lies 106 kilometres (66 mi) west of Alexandria and 300 kilometres (186 mi) northwest of Cairo. The town is located on the site of the ancient city Antiphrai which was built by the Romans.(Greek: Ἀντίφραι).

Tourism

Military cemeteries

Germany

There are Italian and German military cemeteries on Tel el-Eisa Hill outside the town. The German cemetery is an ossuary, built in the style of a medieval fortress.

Italy

The Italian cemetery is a mausoleum containing 5,200 tombs.

Greek

There is a Greek cemetery at El Alamein.

Commonwealth of Nations

There is a Commonwealth war cemetery, built and maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, with graves of soldiers from various countries who fought on the Allied side. Buried here are 6,425 identified Commonwealth service personnel, 815 unidentified ones, and 102 of other nationalities. These include four Victoria Cross recipients:

• Private Percy Gratwick, Second Australian Imperial Force
• Private Arthur Stan Gurney, Second Australian Imperial Force
• Sergeant William Bill Kibby, Second Australian Imperial Force
• Private Adam Wakenshaw, Durham Light Infantry

Others buried here include:

• Squadron Leader George Barclay, Royal Air Force Battle of Britain fighter pilot
• Major Henry Rew, Royal Tank Regiment

This has monuments commemorating Greek, New Zealand, Australian, South African, Indian and Canadian forces. The cemetery entrance is through the Alamein Memorial and there is also a separate Alamein Cremation Memorial to 603 Commonwealth service personnel who died in Egypt and Libya and were cremated in line with their religion.

The names of 213 Canadian airmen appear on the Alamein Memorial in Egypt.

The cemetery was designed by Hubert Worthington.

Beaches

Many Egyptians, particularly the upper and middle class travel to El Alamein during summer to flee the summer heat in other cities and towns.

Climate

El Alamein has a hot desert climate, Köppen climate classification BWh, common with most of the Middle East and North Africa. However, like the rest of the northern coast of Egypt, its climate is slightly less hot, compared to the rest of Egypt, because of the prevailing Mediterranean Sea winds.

Climate data for El Alamein
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	17.8 (64.0)	18.7 (65.7)	20.3 (68.5)	23.5 (74.3)	25.7 (78.3)	28.8 (83.8)	29.5 (85.1)	30.5 (86.9)	28.7 (83.7)	27.5 (81.5)	23.6 (74.5)	19.7 (67.5)	24.5 (76.2)
Daily mean °C (°F)	12.4 (54.3)	13.3 (55.9)	14.9 (58.8)	17.7 (63.9)	20.5 (68.9)	23.8 (74.8)	25.2 (77.4)	25.7 (78.3)	24.4 (75.9)	22.1 (71.8)	18.3 (64.9)	14.4 (57.9)	19.4 (66.9)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	7 (45)	7.9 (46.2)	9.5 (49.1)	12 (54)	15.4 (59.7)	18.8 (65.8)	20.9 (69.6)	21 (70)	20.1 (68.2)	16.7 (62.1)	13 (55)	9.2 (48.6)	14.3 (57.8)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	29 (1.1)	17 (0.7)	8 (0.3)	2 (0.1)	1 (0.0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	5 (0.2)	21 (0.8)	24 (0.9)	107 (4.1)
Source: climate-data.org

World War II

Bernard Montgomery watches his tanks move up during the Battle of El Alamein

Two important World War II battles were fought in the area:

• At the First Battle of El Alamein (1–27 July 1942), the advance of Axis troops on Alexandria was blunted by the Allies, stopping the Italian and German forces that were trying to outflank the Allies' position.
• At the Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 4 November 1942), Allied forces broke the Axis line and forced them all the way back to Tunisia. Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister at the time, said of this victory: "Now this is not the end, it is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." After the war, he wrote: "Before Alamein we never had a victory. After Alamein, we never had a defeat."

Gallery

• 
  Cross of Sacrifice, El Alamein Commonwealth cemetery
• 
  South African Memorial El Alamein Commonwealth cemetery
• 
  El Alamein Commonwealth cemetery plaque – 1939-1945 – The land on which this cemetery stands is the gift of the Egyptian people for the perpetual resting place of the sailors, soldiers and airmen who are honoured here.
• 
  El Alamein Commonwealth cemetery
• 
  El Alamein Italian memorial entrance
• 
  El Alamein German memorial
• 
  El Alamein Commonwealth cemetery – A soldier of the 1939-1945 war known unto God
• 
  In El Alamein museum
• 
  German cannon
• 
  The list of fallen German soldiers
• 
  German Memorial
• 
  British Crusader tank

See also

• El Alamein Fountain (war memorial commemorating the battle, in Sydney, Australia)
• El Alamein International Airport
• Enham Alamein (village in Hampshire in England, renamed after the battle)
• Marina El Alamein (tourist resort)
• New Alamein

External links

Media related to El Alamein at Wikimedia Commons

• Falling Rain Genomics, Inc. "Geographical information on Al 'Alamayn, Egypt". Retrieved 29 March 2008.
• Matteo Ferrari. "El Alamein photos: Commonwealth war cemetery, Italian and German memorial, El Alamein war museum, Egypt". Retrieved 4 September 2011.