El Alamein is a town in northern Egypt on the Mediterranean Sea. Two extended battles were fought in that area:
At the First Battle of El Alamein (July 1 - July 27 1942) the advance of Axis troops on Alexandria was blunted by the Allies.
At the Second Battle of El Alamein (October 23 - November 4, 1942) Allied forces broke the Axis line and forced them in a retreat that took them all the way back to Tunisia.