The deserts of North Africa may at first seem a curious point of origin for a victory to raise the spirits of a European nation and dispel the notion of 'invincibility' of another but in 1942 one such battle took place.

The North African campaign had begun with the Axis forces pushing the Allies eastwards towards the Nile Delta. The objective was to capture the prized oilfields which could supply the Allies with much needed lifeblood for their stand against the Axis.

The campaign had started well enough for the Allies as they proved more than a match for their Italian adversaries. Though outnumbered the British and Commonwealth troops managed to capture many thousands of Italian prisoners as they themselves pushed into Libya from Egypt. Things took a turn for the worst for the Allies when an exceptional German commander took to the field.

Field Marshal Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel landed in North Africa with the Afrika Korps. This masterful tactician soon proved to be more than able to defeat the Allies. In July 1942 the position did not look hopeful for the Allied Eighth Army as the feared, and respected 'Desert Fox' Rommel stood poised to make his final push into Egypt.

At a point some 55 miles west of Alexandria General Sir Claude Auchinleck, commander-in-chief of the Commonwealth forces decided to make his stand. Topography played no little part in this decision as this was probably the last place west of this strategically important port where a stand may be made.

El Alamein takes its name from an abandoned railway stop and runs some 40 miles from the Mediterranean in the north and the Qattara Depression in the south. The sea and the Qattara Depression made it certain that any assault would be a frontal assault.

The Battle of El Alamein began in earnest in June with Rommel out-thinking the then Commander-in-Chief of the Eighth Army, Sir Claude Auchinleck.

The confusion of battle led to many hundreds of Commonwealth troops being captured as the Axis forces broke through the Allied frontal positions. The battle was a fluid one with positions being lost and won until, with resources dwindling to the extent that he was having to 'plug the gaps' with newly formed units, Rommel was forced to rest. It was mid-July.

Following a week of comparative peace the 'real' fighting began again. The Allies pushed hard against the now defensively minded Afrika Korps but to no real avail. The Allies were again forced to take up defensive positions. Auchinleck was to be replaced as commander of the Eighth Army by General Gott but Gott was killed when his aircraft was shot down.

On 7th August Lieutenant-General Bernard Law Montgomery was appointed by Winston Churchill to lead the Eighth Army, known affectionately as 'The Desert Rats'. Churchill was aware more than most that civilian morale, and indeed the oilfields of Egypt and beyond were at stake.

Monty saw the need to stiffen the Eighth Army's resolve, their courage never in question. It was a blend of his oratory and the fact that the British had cracked the German's Enigma code that would prove the downfall of the 'Desert Fox'.

As Rommel attempted to encircle the Eighth Army with a thrusting move of his units his Divisions came under concentrated fire which devastated man, machine and morale.

Montgomery, with the aid of cryptologists in leafy Buckinghamshire, had proven that Rommel was no 'super soldier' a myth that he had concluded was common in the ranks of the Commonwealth forces.

It was now, on 23rd October that the deciding battle would begin. The Allied attack was preceded by a barrage from nearly 900 artillery guns. The desert shook and the evening sky flared red as shell upon shell flew towards the enemy.

The creeping barrage was the signal for men of four Commonwealth Divisions to attack the enemy positions.

The Axis had some 105,000 men, 1,200 guns, 490 tanks and the support of 350 aircraft. The Allies, following a visit to the front by Churchill, fielded 195,000 men, 2,300 guns, 1,000 tanks and 530 aircraft.

It would be eleven days of bitter fighting in a most inhospitable climate. The Afrika Korps were to become ever more reliant on supplies of fuel and munitions. Once so plentiful and easily transported to them they found their supply routes were coming under increasing attack from Allied forces. Rommel faced a battle of attrition which was made worse with the news of Allied landings in Morocco and Algeria. Hitler had ordered Rommel to hold his position, an order which he had attempted to obey, but with the news of 'Operation Torch' the Field Marshal knew he had been defeated.