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The Battles of El Alamein were the most important battles of the North African conflict. The German and British armies were led two of their most capable commanders, Erwin Romel and Bernard Law Montgomery. The battle, which was, in reality, a series of battles and has entered military legend. It is one of the best-known battles of WWII and considered an important turning point for the Allies. The battle was a turning point in the war. It was the first time that the western allies had decisively defeated the Germans on the battlefield and allowed them to clear the German and Italians out of North Africa and ultimately to invade Italy. Why did the Germans fail at El Alamein? The Germans and Italian were doomed because that lacked a sufficient number of troops, relied on inadequate supplies, and had unrealistic objectives.

====Background====

Hitler was not interested in North Africa. He was quite happy to dominate Europe and to leave the control of Africa to the British and French.<ref> Carell, Paul <i>The Foxes of the Desert</i> (New York, Bantam Books, 1962), p. 17</ref> The German dictator was actually an admirer of the British Empire. Germany only became involved in North Africa because of their alliance with Italy. Mussolini had grandiose dreams of recreating the Roman Empire and he sought to control North Africa, in the wake of the British and French defeats in 1940. This led him to order his army to attack British controlled Egypt from the Italian colony of Libya.<ref>Carell, p. 67</ref>

====Second Battle of El Alamein====

The Germans expected a massive Allied counter-attack. Montgomery used a lull in the fighting to strengthen his position. In particular, he received many new tanks This meant that the allies had the advantage in terms of tanks. Montgomery to build up his forces until he had twice the number of men under his command as had Rommel.<ref> Latimer, p. 145</ref> The Germans mined and fortified a defensive line in considerable depth and strength. Rommel had selected his defensive position well and his flanks were protected by the sea to the north and to the south, by an impenetrable desert.

====Supply Lines====

The Germans and the Italians supplies all came from Libya. The had to be supplied ultimately from Italy and Germany. The Axis forces never had enough supplies. This was because the majority of their supplies came by sea and the Allies restrict Axis shipping. This meant that Rommel had an insecure supply line, although he could source his oil from Libyan oil fields.

The Battle of El Alamein was to prove a turning point in the war. It convinced the British that they could beat the Germans and that Hitler was not invincible. The Axis defeat at El Alamein meant that North Africa would be lost to Hitler and Mussolini. The defeat was due to a variety of factors. These included insufficient Axis numbers, overextended supply lines, and Allied air superiority. The main factor in the Axis defeat at El Alamein was the original strategy it was overambitious and did not take into account the limited resources of the Axis and the ability of the Allies to supply and reinforce the 8TH army.

====References====