ON THIS DAY: August 30th 1942 – World War II: the Battle of Alam el Halfa begins The Battle of Alam el Halfa took place between 30 August and 5 September 1942 south of El Alamein during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. Panzerarmee Afrika—a German-Italian force commanded by Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel—attempted an envelopment of the British 8th Army, commanded by Bernard Montgomery. In the last major Axis offensive (Operation Brandung) of the Western Desert campaign, Rommel had planned to defeat the British 8th Army before Allied reinforcements made an Axis victory in Africa impossible.
Source: Wikipedia