How to bring it on: El Alamein part 1

The initial engagement at El Alamein (1–27 July 1942) marked a pivotal moment in the ongoing Western Desert campaign of World War II, unfolding in Egypt. Here, Axis forces, led by Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's Panzer Army Africa, clashed with Allied forces, commanded by General Claude Auchinleck's Eighth Army, amidst the arid landscape.

Alamein itself, though merely a railway station along the coast, held strategic significance. Just south, the Ruweisat Ridge provided advantageous vantage points over the desert terrain, while the Qattara Depression lay further to the south.

The British defense line, extending from the sea to the Depression, forced Rommel to contemplate a substantial southern detour across the Sahara Desert to outmaneuver it. Recognizing this vulnerability pre-war, the British had begun fortifying the area, constructing fortified "boxes" around Alamein.

Under the leadership of Lieutenant-General William Norrie, XXX Corps organized defensive positions and initiated construction on three fortified "boxes." The foremost, situated at El Alamein on the coast, had already received partial fortification by the 1st South African Division.

Further inland, the Bab el Qattara box and the Naq Abu Dweis box, positioned 20 miles and 34 miles from the coast respectively, were at varying stages of preparation, with the former partially dug but lacking in wiring or mining, and the latter requiring substantial work to be done.