El Alamein ( العلمين, elʕælæˈmeːn) is a town in the northern Matrouh Governorate of Egypt. Located on the Arab's Gulf, Mediterranean Sea, it lies west of Alexandria and northwest of Cairo. , it had a population of 7,397 inhabitants.
The town is located on the site of the ancient city Antiphrai (Ἀντίφραι).
El Alamein has a war museum with artifacts from North African battles.
There are Italian and German military cemeteries on Tel el-Eisa Hill outside the town. The German cemetery is an ossuary, built in the style of a medieval fortress.
The Italian cemetery is a mausoleum containing 5,200 tombs. Many tombs bear the soldier's names, with others simply marked IGNOTO, i.e. unknown.
There is a Greek cemetery at El Alamein.
There is a Commonwealth war cemetery, built and maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, with graves of soldiers from various countries who fought on the Allied side. Buried here are 6,425 identified Commonwealth service personnel, 815 unidentified ones, and 102 of other nationalities. These include four Victoria Cross recipients:
Private Percy Gratwick, Second Australian Imperial Force
Private Arthur Stan Gurney, Second Australian Imperial Force
Sergeant William Bill Kibby, Second Australian Imperial Force
Private Adam Wakenshaw, Durham Light Infantry
Others buried here include:
Squadron Leader George Barclay, Royal Air Force Battle of Britain fighter pilot
Major Henry Rew, Royal Tank Regiment
This has monuments commemorating Greek, New Zealand, Australian, South African, Indian and Canadian forces. The cemetery entrance is through the Alamein Memorial and there is also a separate Alamein Cremation Memorial to 603 Commonwealth service personnel who died in Egypt and Libya and were cremated in line with their religion.
The names of 213 Canadian airmen appear on the Alamein Memorial in Egypt.
The cemetery was designed by Hubert Worthington.
El Alamein has a hot desert climate, Köppen climate classification BWh, common with most of the Middle East and North Africa.