The Epic
Battle of
El Alamein
by Yaakov Astor
S
ummer of 1942… the darkest of times. In Europe, the “Final
Solution” is about to be unleashed in its most deadly form:
the fully operational death camps at Auschwitz, Sobibor,
Belzec and Treblinka.
In battlefields across the European continent, Nazi Germany
celebrates one victory after another, citing them as further
proof that the Aryan race is invincible. In the African continent,
General Erwin Rommel – known as the “Desert Fox” for his
uncanny ability to outmaneuver his enemies – swiftly swallows
up one strategic area after another. He seems well on his way
toward evicting the British Empire from the Middle East,
48 | ZMAN • August 2010
How Tzaddikim in Eretz Yisrael
Helped Turned the Tide of
Battle During Arguably the Most
Important Clash of WWII
turning the Mediterranean Sea into a Nazi lake, capturing the
oil fields of Iran and Iraq and linking up with German forces
battering the Russians in south-eastern Europe.
In Eretz Yisrael, still part of the British Mandate, the Jewish
Yishuv (“settlement,” as the Jewish presence in Eretz Yisrael
was known) is in a state of extreme anxiety. Tzaddikim mobilize
all the forces in their power to storm the gates of heaven in a
desperate plea for mercy. In the end, a miracle involving a
water pipeline paves the way for what many historians mark
as the turning point of the entire war… the Allied victory at El
Alamein.
ZMAN • Av 5770 | 49
A
s the second half of 1942 began, the
world shuddered at the thought of
what the next day’s news would bring.
The Allies were suffering embarrassing
and bitter defeats on every front. One
country after another had fallen under the
German heel in continental Europe. The
German offensive against the Soviet Union
was progressing in full force with Russia
beating a hasty, badly disorganized retreat.
German U-boats were causing unremitting
destruction to the British fleet in the North
Atlantic and blockading the Mediterranean.
Simultaneous with these ominous
developments, the Germans opened a new
front against the Allies in North Africa.
Called the Afrika Korps, this armored tank
corps was under the command of General
Erwin Rommel, arguably one of the most
brilliant generals of all time, whose very
name sent shudders down the spines of the
Allied high command. His famous nickname,
“Desert Fox,” aptly describes his reputation
as a wily master at tactical maneuvering.
Rommel’s mission was to defeat the
British in Africa, capture Egypt, the Suez
Canal and then march on to Iraq and Iran
to capture its oil fields and eventually meet
up with Hitler’s forces fighting in the Soviet
lands, thus uniting Europe and North Africa
under German control and in effect making
the Mediterranean a Nazi lake.
Rommel’s progress was followed with
horror by the Allied commanders. If Rommel
reached the Suez Canal, the Allies would
suffer a crushing blow. The canal was
crucial to the supply lines that kept the
over-extended British forces alive. The only
alternative supply line would be from South
Africa, a difficult, time-consuming and
costly procedure that would leave the Allies
badly handicapped and guarantee Germany
the upper hand. To make matters worse,
the canal would open the door for Germany
to Middle-Eastern oil, a vitally precious
commodity in wartime.
The entire free world looked to the
50 | ZMAN • August 2010
British forces in the Middle East as their
best hope to stop the German war machine’s
seemingly inexorable advance. If the battle
in the Middle East was lost, it would have
been virtually impossible to recover ― from
both the strategic loss and the blow to Allied
morale.
Egypt had been a British colony from
1882 until it was granted its independence
in 1922. Nevertheless, the British coerced
Egypt into an agreement whereby England
continued to maintain troops and military
bases in the country to protect the Suez
Canal in case it would be threatened by
unfriendly forces. This resulted in an odd
setup under which most Arab lands were
openly pro-Nazi, while Egypt alone was
forced to host an Allied army in its territory.
When the highly unpopular Egyptian King
Farouk made secret overtures to the Nazis,
inviting them to invade his land, British
tanks surrounded his palace and threatened
to overthrow his government if he did not
immediately back off.
The British, for their part, prepared to
defend their colonies and interests in the
Middle East with everything they had. They
built extensive fortifications across North
Africa and the Middle East. They erected
high walls, dug anti-tank trenches and laid
land mines. Tanks and heavy cannons were
positioned and long pipes were laid to supply
their troops in the remote desert stations
with water. Warehouses were stocked with
food, water, fuel, ammunition and other
supplies. They would be ready for a long,
drawn-out campaign.
What they were not ready for was
blitzkrieg, the “lightning war” tactics that
the Germans, and particularly Rommel, had
perfected to a deadly degree.
hammering the British positions. One
defensive line after another fell. Before long,
Rommel had pushed the British army back
hundreds of miles from Tripoli to Egypt,
capturing thousands of soldiers, including
their celebrated commander, General
Richard O’Connor, who just months before
had defeated an overwhelmingly larger
Italian army and had been hailed as savior
of the British in Africa and the Middle East.
His capture in April 1941 only added to the
“Desert Fox” legend already rapidly taking
shape.
Despite continual victories by the Afrika
Korps, the city of Tobruk remained a major
strategic point that eluded capture even as
Rommel conquered areas 100 miles to the
east beyond it. Tobruk was an absolutely
crucial Mediterranean port city in Libya
west of the Egyptian border. As long as the
Allies controlled it, Rommel dared not push
too far forward into Egypt because of the
threat that it could be used as a launching
point for an attack behind his lines that
would cut off his supplies and leave his
forward troops stranded.
The “Desert Fox” Knocks
on the Door
From February, 1941, Rommel’s Panzer
divisions, aided by Italian forces, began
Map of Nazi controlled lands at the height of the war in 1942.
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