Editing Bernard Montgomery (section)

====El Alamein====
[[File:El Alamein 1942 - British infantry.jpg|thumb|left|Men of the [[9th Division (Australia)|9th Australian Division]] in a posed photograph during the [[Second Battle of El Alamein]]]]<!-- Do not confuse this photo (E 18474) with another (E 18908). -->

The [[Second Battle of El Alamein]] began on 23 October 1942, and ended 12 days later with one of the first large-scale, decisive Allied land victories of the war. Montgomery correctly predicted both the length of the battle and the number of casualties (13,500).<ref>{{harvnb|Playfair|Flynn|Molony|Gleave|2004d|p=78}}</ref>

Historian Correlli Barnett has pointed out that the rain also fell on the Germans, and that the weather is therefore an inadequate explanation for the failure to exploit the breakthrough,<ref>{{harvnb|Barnett|1983|p=290}}</ref> but nevertheless the Battle of El Alamein had been a great success. Over 30,000 [[Prisoner of war|prisoners of war]] were taken,<ref>{{harvnb|Playfair|Flynn|Molony|Gleave|2004d|p=79}}</ref> including the German second-in-command, [[Ritter von Thoma|General von Thoma]], as well as eight other general officers.<ref>{{harvnb|Moorehead|1973|pp=140–41}}</ref>