El Alamein, Egypt

Lieutenant General Bernard Montgomery, commanding the British Eighth Army in North Africa, in the turret of his Grant command tank at El Alamein, 5 November 1942. Lieutenant General B L Montgomery, General Officer Commanding Eighth Army, watches the beginning of the German retreat from El Alamein from the turret of his Grant Tank. He is wearing his famous tank beret.

Campaign in North Africa 1940 1943 Churchill Mk III tanks of 'King Force' moving forward towards the battle area during the Second Battle of El Alamein, 5 November 1942.

Campaign in North Africa 1940 - 1943 'Australians storm a strongpoint'. A posed portrait of Australian troops advancing during the Second Battle of El Alamein, 3 September 1942.

A burnt out German 88 mm FlaK 36 gun and its SdKfz 8 half track near El Alamein, Egypt.

A German 88 mm FlaK 36 gun which had been used as a tank attack weapon near El Aqqaqir, Egypt. The whole crew were killed and were found buried alongside the gun. Allied Sherman and Crusader tanks can be seen on the skyline.

An abandoned German Heinkel He 111 at Fuka, Egypt.

A damaged German Junkers Ju 88D reconnaissance plane from AufklGr(F) 120 (120th Reconnaissance Group) at Fuka, Egypt.

A damaged German Messerschmitt Me 109F from III/JG27 at Fuka, Egypt.

A damaged German Messerschmitt Me 109F, yellow 9 of III/JG27 at Daba, Egypt, in November 1942. An RAF Hawker Hurricane flying overhead.

A captured Fieseler Fi 156 C-3/Trop Storch in flight near El Alamein, Egypt. Royal Air Force Air Vice Marshal Harry Broadhurst, Air Officer Commanding the Desert Air Force, acquired a captured German communications aircraft in North Africa, had it painted in British markings and used it for touring the units under his command. He continued flying the Storch while commanding the 2nd Tactical Air Force in North-West Europe.

An abandoned German Sd.Kfz. 135/1, a 15 cm self-propelled howitzer on french Lorraine chassis, in North Africa in September 1942.

General Bernard L. Montgomery watches his tanks move up. North Africa, November 1942. British Official. (OWI) Exact Date Shot Unknown

A British soldier gives the "insult" version of a V-for-Victory sign to German prisoners captured at El Alamein, 26 October 1942. A British soldier gives a V-for-Victory sign to German prisoners captured at El Alamein, 26 October 1942.

IWM caption : El Alamein 1942: British tanks move up to the battle to engage the German armour after the infantry had cleared gaps in the enemy minefield.

Two of seven German Panzer III destroyed by an Australian anti-tank battery near Tel el Eisa on 5 October 1942. A total of 17 German tanks were attacking.

El Alamein 1942: British infantry advances through the dust and smoke of the battle. Sergeant Len Chetwyn had a focus on creating and recording re-enactments of military scenes behind the front lines rather than recording live activities on the front lines.

IWM caption : El Alamein 1942: British tanks move up to the battle to engage the German armour after the infantry had cleared gaps in the enemy minefield.

The Panzerjäger-Abteilung 39 (part of "Kampfgruppe Gräf", part of the 21. Panzer Division) of the Afrika Korps on the move. Original caption: "Vormarsch der Panzerjäger-Abteilung 39."

IWM caption : Kittyhawk Mark III , FR241 ‘LD-R’, of No. 250 Squadron RAF , taxying at LG 91, Egypt, during Operation LIGHTFOOT, the first phase of the Alamein offensive . FR241 is an early ‘short-tail’ Mark III with a dorsal fin, which also served later with No. 112 Squadron RAF.

Breaking Through the Last of the German Minefields at El Alamein - 4th November 1942 image: In the foreground a damaged ambulance lies half-submerged in the sand, the back door detached. Two tanks, the foremost of which is clearly a Sherman, drive away from the viewer, creating a trail of sand and dust. Overhead the sky is filled with aircraft, clouds of smoke and explosions. One plane has been hit and is nose-diving towards the ground.

Ambulance damaged by a shell the during breakout at Minqar Qaim, June 1942. Photograph taken by Harold Paton, an official photographer of the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force Shell hole in side of American Field Service ambulance in withdrawal from Minqar Qaim, Egypt - Photograph taken by H Paton. New Zealand. Department of Internal Affairs. War History Branch :Photographs relating to World War 1914-1918, World War 1939-1945, occupation of Japan, Korean War, and Malayan Emergency. Ref: DA-02550-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand.

A CMP Field Artillery Tractor of the 9th Australian Division pulls a 25 pounder field gun up into position during the First Battle of El Alamein, 9 July 1942

The British Army in North Africa 1942 A soldier inspects an Italian M13/40 tank that was knocked out by anti-tank guns near El Alamein, 11 July 1942.

The British Army in North Africa 1942 A German 88mm anti-tank gun captured and destroyed by New Zealand troops near El Alamein, 17 July 1942.

The British Army in North Africa 1942 A Quad artillery tractor and 25-pdr field gun of 9th Australian Division, 9 July 1942.

A Humber Mk II armoured car of the 12th Royal Lancers on patrol south of El Alamein, July 1942. A Humber Mk II armoured car of the 12th Royal Lancers on patrol south of El Alamein, July 1942.

The British Army in North Africa 1942 A 4.5-inch field gun in action south of El Alamein, July 1942.

A Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Vb from No. 92 Squadron (QJ-E), Royal Air Force, which made a forced landing near El Alamein, just off the main Alexandria-Mersa Matruh road.

Western Desert, Egypt, 14 August 1942: A captured German Messerschmitt Me 109F ("yellow 5") of 6/JG27 (6th Squadron, 27th Fighter Wing) piloted by Lieutenant Gert Mix which made a forced landing in the rear of the Australian lines near El Alamein is loaded on to a transport to be taken to RAF workashops for examination by experts. Other German planes had tried to destroy this plane after landing in order to prevent expert examination.

A German "47.32 millimetre choke-bore anti-tank gun" being inspected by regimental Sergeant-Major P. Lawson, of 2/32nd Australian Infantry Battalion near El Alamein in 1942.

A damaged German SdKfz 6/3 (7,62 cm captured Russian F-22 gun 296(r) mounted on a SdKfz 6 half track) of the 605th Panzerjäger-Abteilung near El Alamein, Egypt, in August 1942.

A damaged German SdKfz 6/3 (7,62 cm captured Russian F-22 gun 296(r) mounted on a SdKfz 6 half track) of the 605th Panzerjäger-Abteilung near El Alamein, Egypt, in August 1942.

Italian anti-aircraft battery at Marsa Matrouh in the summer of 1942

Royal Air Force- Operations in the Middle East and North Africa, 1939-1943. Douglas Boston Mark IIIs of No. 24 Squadron SAAF prepare to take off from Bir el Beheira, Libya, to bomb enemy positions in the 'Knightsbridge' area during the first Battle of Alamein.

Royal Air Force- Operations in the Middle East and North Africa, 1940-1943. Armourers fitting tail fins to 250-lb GP bombs prior to loading them on board a Martin Baltimore of No. 232 Wing RAF at LG 86, Egypt, during Operation LIGHTFOOT, the first phase of the Alamein offensive.

A knocked out German Panzer III in the Western Desert.

A German Panzer III Ausf.L that was knocked out by Australian anti-tank gunners at El Alamein in August 1942. A small hole slightly above and between the 2nd and 3rd wheels from the right was where the effective shell entered.

A captured German Panzerkampfwagen II near El Alamein, Egypt, 1 August 1942.

A British M3 Grant tank next to a knocked out a German Panzerkampfwagen I light tank on 6 June 1942 in North Africa.

Guns of the 11th Field Regiment in Action With Robcol, Ruweisat Ridge, El Alamein July 1942 image: British field artillery firing on German tanks in the desert. In the distance there are columns of smoke filling the sky. On the left one man is attending to a wounded soldier who lies on the ground. The foreground is filled with bags, shell cases, food containers and rations scattered across the sand.