Reunion for El Alamein veterans

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This battle was talked about in awed tones all throughout the time I lived in England. I even have a horse brass with Monty's likeness on it and the words, "El Alamein." Must be at least 40-50 years old.

bbc

Saturday, 19 October, 2002, 05:17 GMT 06:17 UK

Veterans who fought one of the Second World War's most important battles are returning to their desert battlefield to remember those who died there 60 years ago.

Soldiers from all sides of the Battle of El Alamein, a bitter 12-day fight in the autumn of 1942, have travelled to Egypt to pay their respects.

About 2,000 retired servicemen, most now in their 80s, were attending the ceremony of remembrance at the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in the desert.

Sam Bradshaw, chairman of the Eighth Army Veterans Association, said the anniversary was a deeply sad occasion for all the soldiers.

Major Bradshaw, 82, from Wigan, said he was planning to take some time to walk among the graves by himself.

"Looking for the names of those people I knew who never came back - it's a very sad, very emotional feeling," he said.

"Some of the men may not show their emotions because they have been soldiers but I'm sure they feel that it's a very sad occasion.

"When you are fighting the battle it's a small, private war somehow. But when you come to a war graves cemetery you begin to realise how vast it was."

Among the dignitaries expected to attend the ceremony were the Duke of Kent, President of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the Second Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, and the veterans minister Lewis Moonie.

Significance reflected

German and Italian troops who served in the routed Afrika Korps were also expected at the ceremony.

In the battle, the allied Eighth Army, commanded by General Montgomery, defeated the German and Italian forces led by "desert fox" General Erwin Rommell.

The victory allowed the Allies to maintain their vital oil and other supply lines from the Middle East through the Suez Canal.

The significance of the battle, which began on 23 October, 1942 and ended on 4 November, was reflected at the time by Sir Winston Churchill, who said: "Before Alamein we never had a victory. After Alamein we never had a defeat."

-- Anonymous, October 19, 2002


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