<Li> Devil's gardens </Li> <Li> 3rd Indian Motor Brigade </Li> <P> The Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October--11 November 1942) was a battle of the Second World War that took place near the Egyptian railway halt of El Alamein . With the Allies victorious, it was the watershed of the Western Desert Campaign . The First Battle of El Alamein had prevented the Axis from advancing further into Egypt . In August 1942, Lieutenant - General Sir Bernard Law Montgomery took command of the Eighth Army following the sacking of General Claude Auchinleck and the death of his replacement Lieutenant - General William Gott in an air crash . </P> <P> The Allied victory turned the tide in the North African Campaign and ended the Axis threat to Egypt, the Suez Canal and the Middle Eastern and Persian oil fields via North Africa . The Second Battle of El Alamein revived the morale of the Allies, being the first big success against the Axis since Operation Crusader in late 1941 . The battle coincided with the Allied invasion of French North Africa in Operation Torch, which started on 8 November, the Battle of Stalingrad and the Guadalcanal Campaign . </P>

When did the second battle of el alamein end