Travel: Fields of Valor - El-Alamein
Egypt Today (Jeff Neumann)
Along the Alexandria-Marsa Matruh Road, a plaque at kilometer 111 marks the furthest advance of the Axis armies after months of hard campaigning across North Africa. The surrounding area is the final resting place for tens of thousands of soldiers from both sides.
To put the carnage into context, visit the Alamein War Museum (9am – 5pm daily Tel: +2 (046) 410-0031). There is a collection of armored vehicles, tanks and artillery pieces, as well as detailed maps illustrating World War II battle tactics. The museum is in dire need of a makeover, but adults and children will still enjoy the exhibits, which clearly portray both the Allied and Axis perspectives.
The Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery is the largest of the area’s memorials (7,367 British, Canadian, Australian, Indian, African and other Allied soldiers are buried here), and it is perhaps the most moving of them all. A monument inside the cemetery honors an additional 12,000 soldiers whose bodies were never recovered from the battlefield, a solemn reminder of the human cost of war. The grounds are serene and well kept, and a caretaker can assist those searching for relatives buried here. Perched on top of a breezy hill overlooking the Mediterranean, the octagonal German Memorial holds the remains of 4,280 of the battle’s casualties.
- Tourists Desert Antiquities
Washington Post (Christopher Torchia) One of the world's great museums resembled a military camp on Thursday, with soldiers patrolling behind its wrought iron gates and armored vehicles parked nearby. Inside, workers with white coats and latex gloves...
- Marsa Matrouh Travel Special
Al Ahram Weekly Al Ahram Weekly has a travel supplement this week which looks at Marsa Matrouh (the biggest town of which is El Alamein). As well as details about Second Wolrd War cemeteries and museums there is also one article which covers the archaeological...
- Egypt's New Desert Battle - Landmines In The Western Desert
You Tube - Al Jazeera (Ayman Moyheldin) I've posted about this before on my Egyptian Deserts blog, linking to several other stories. This is the area where the battle of el-Alamein was fought. Video. 3.33 minutes. An estimated 16 million landmines...
- Heritage Management / Tourism: Clearing Minefields Of El Alamein
Scotsman THE second Battle of El Alamein was a turning point in the Second World War. Montgomery's Desert Rats and the Allied Eighth Army broke through German lines, pushing Rommel's forces back to Tunisia and ending the Axis powers' designs...
- Tourism: New Resort Planned For Al Alamein
Bloomberg Egyptian billionaire Ibrahim Kamel plans to build a $500 million seaside resort near the World War II battlefield of Al-Alamein that will compete with Red Sea vacation sites in Egypt. Kamel's Kato Group will construct 4,000 hotel...