A critical battle in Egypt in World War II. In June 1942, the British took up a defensive position in Egypt. One flank rested on the Mediterranean at El Alamein and the other on the salt marshes of the Qattara Depression. In August, General Montgomery was appointed to command the defending 8th Army. He launched an offensive in which, after a heavy artillery preparation, about 1200 tanks advanced, followed by infantry, against the German Afrika Korps commanded by General Rommel. Rommel was handicapped by a grave fuel shortage and had only about 500 tanks. The outnumbered Germans never regained the initiative. Rommel managed to withdraw most of his men back into Libya, but this battle marked the beginning of the end of the North African Campaign for Germany.