In the summer of 1942, the Afrika Korps was approaching its high-water mark.
In a month-long struggle that began in Gazala, Rommel had defeated the 8th Army
and driven the British back to Egypt, once again surrounding Tobruk, a prize
that eluded him the previous year. Then in a surprise move, he doubled back, and
captured Tobruk in a single day before turning his Panzer Army once again toward
Alexandrie, Cairo and the Nile. But the British would deny him the ultimate prize
with a heroic stand at a lonely, unheard of, railway stop known as El Alamein.
El Alamein