he Alamein line was unmistakably a battleground. From north to south the debris of war littered the terrain.Burnt out tank wrecks, abandoned gun posts, spent ammunition, shell cases and crude crosses capped with helmets all lay testament to a battle of huge proportions.
Long static periods of discomfort had to be endured during the four months of the Alamein conflict. The summer heat bore down relentlessly. The temperature could change by as much as 45 degrees from day to night. Voracious swarms of flies invaded every crevice of the body in the search for moisture. Indeed the Egyptian fly was said to be without equal in tenacity and obstinacy. It was near impossible to eat without swallowing a number of them.
Night time brought some form of relief. The flies disappeared, the strong desert winds subsided and the temperature fell to colder levels.
.. Initially the diet of the average Allied soldier consisted of bread, hard biscuits, bully beef, tinned stew, tinned sausages, cheese and margarine. Eventually with improved organisation came fresh tomatoes, lettuce, melons and limes. Food was commonly eaten at night in the dark so that maggot infestations could not be seen. Water was carefully rationed out at the rate of one water bottle and then one gallon per day for each man. This had to be used for drinking, washing and cooking. Occasionally the ration was increased to allow for a decent wash.
While these discomforts were being endured, a continuous stream of supplies, ammunition and weapons were being transported to the front from bases in Cairo and Alexandria. Although the front line was dangerously close to the Allied headquarters, it enabled the shortest supply route the Eighth Army had enjoyed throughout the whole campaign, while on the other hand creating extremely long supply routes for Rommel's forces.
The men themselves were in good condition. Fresh, fit, lean and very brown they trained during the lulls in fighting and gathered strength for the coming offensive. A common pastime was watching flights of RAF aircraft heading out towards the enemy lines, and then counting them on their return. Sometimes a fighter was missing but seldom a bomber. Aerial dogfights provided an exciting spectacle for troops on the front line.
Night time brought the cover of darkness. It was then that both sides would work on forward entrenchments and mine laying.
New Zealand patrols would go out almost every night in an attempt to gather intelligence, ,salvage material, bury the dead and conduct raids. The enemy grew wary of these raids and would spray the ground with machine gun fire and launch flares at the slightest movement. When dawn came both sides would remain in contact by lobbing shells at one another until the sunshine and dust began to create mirage effects and targets became blurred.
On August 20, Prime Minister Churchill, who was in Egypt at the time paid a visit to the New Zealand Division sector. It was a brilliant Western Desert day. Wearing a boiler suit, topee hat and dark glasses he had driven across the desert with General Alexander to see the situation for himself. Upon talking to an assembly of New Zealand troops he paid the Division a striking tribute. He said: "You have played a magnificent, a notable, even a decisive part in stemming a giant retreat which would have been most detrimental to the cause of the United Nations".
This speech had the desired effect and provided a timely morale booster for the coming offensive.
Life on the Alamein line was a brutal, testing time for all concerned, however my grandfather and his comrades who served there regarded this event as their most memorable and proudest experience of the war in North Africa.
