November 3, 1942: The Battle of El Alamein

An unidentified soldier (left) and General Montgomery

in a tank at El Alamein

November 3, 1942: Field Marshal Erwin Rommel begins Nazi Germany's retreat from the Second Battle of El Alamein, on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt, 160 miles west of the national capital of Cairo. This was the beginning of the end for his Afrika Corps, and for the Nazis' control of anything in Africa.

There had been a First Battle of El Alamein, from July 1 to 27, 1942, but it was regarded as a stalemate. This Second Battle began on October 23. It ended the Axis threat to Egypt, the Suez Canal, and the Middle Eastern and Persian oil fields.

The battle was a big morale-booster for the Allies, who hadn't had a major victory since the sinking of the Nazi battleship Bismarck, a year and a half earlier. It remains the most significant victory led by the British Army since Waterloo in 1815. (I say "led by" because the U.S. led the D-Day invasion of 1944.) Aside from air support, the United States of America had nothing to do with this win. It was British Empire troops, including from India, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa; with aid from Free France and Greece.

These troops were under the command of Lieutenant-General Bernard Law Montgomery, who thus became Britain's most important military commander since Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington, at Waterloo. He was promoted to Field Marshal, and was named 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein after the war. He lived until 1976.

Five days after the British victory at El Alamein, the Allies launched Operation Torch, invading North Africa through Morocco. That meant that, like Europe, North Africa was now a war on two fronts. Rommel's reputation as the brilliant "Desert Fox" would not be damaged, but he would not be on the winning side of this war. He wouldn't even live to see the end of it.

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November 3, 1942 was a Tuesday. Baseball season was over. Football season was over. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. And the NHL season hadn't started yet. So there were no scores on this historic day.