Ben Skipper, The Battles of El Alamein (Pen & Sword, 2022)
In this opening edition of Pen & Sword’s Battlecraft series, Ben Skipper presents an entertaining survey of the battles of El Alamein that lasted six months in 1942 and changed the course of the Second World War.
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Skipper begins with brief biographies of the three major commanders involved in the El Alamein battles: Rommel, Auchinleck, and Montgomery. Then he lists the orders of battle and narrates the prelude battles of Gazala and Mersa Matruh before we encounter Act One, the First Battle of El Alamein. After an interlude, incorporating the Battle of Alam Halfa, Skipper introduces the Second Battle of El Alamein, or Operation Lightfoot, fought in three stages.
Having finished his narrative, Skipper turns to the equipment used in the battles in the ‘Quartermaster’s Section’ aimed at military modellers. He begins with the Allied Crusader tank, which includes a brief overview of the tank’s development and the various model kits you can buy so that you can build your own. The Panzer III Ausf L follows in the same format, then the Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-4/N, and the Curtiss P-40. And with that, the book ends rather abruptly.
This is very much an introductory book for the El Alamein battles that could easily spark more in-depth reading, though the lack of a bibliography makes that harder work than it should be. My other quibble is that, while Skipper’s enthusiasm and knowledge are evident, the intervention of a copy-editor would have been useful in places. Nevertheless, the text is readable, and that is well-supported by numerous photographs and maps. In addition, the modelling section is well worth a look; certainly, this jaded modeller was inspired enough to have a go at a Crusader. All in all, even if you are knowledgeable on El Alamein, Skipper’s book is worth a gander; and if you are not, then this is a good place to start.
