A U.S. patrol soldier watches movements in the desert from his position in a foxhole

General Montgomery spent months amassing a huge, well-briefed army of British, Australian, New Zealand, South African, Indian and French soldiers. Field Marshal Rommel's German and Italian troops were now outnumbered two-to-one and were short of reinforcements and supplies.

They met at El Alamein, a small town 60 miles from the Egyptian port of Alexandria.

The battle began with a massive artillery barrage on German positions - the heaviest shelling since WWI. Allied armoured divisions attacked German lines but became more bogged down in Rommel’s deep minefields.

After ten days of repeated attacks, the Allies finally broke through the enemy lines during an intense night battle and the Axis forces retreated as far back as Tunisia.

El Alamein harked back to the days when battle lines were clearly drawn and tactical moves made judiciously, like a deadly game of chess. It was a crucial victory for the Allies.

Once France had been occupied, there was nowhere else the Allied troops could engage with the Axis Powers in battle. Most importantly, it was critical that the Allies secured North Africa and the Suez Canal – the gateway to the East.

The Battle of El Alamein was the first major Allied victory over the German Wehrmacht. Churchill later said: “We had neither a victory before it, nor a defeat after it.”