Second Battle of El Alamein Special
Commanders:
This weekend is the anniversary of an important event in World War 2 – the Second Battle of Al Alamein.
In honour of this memorable event, we want to celebrate the occasion by preparing an in-game special for our players. From October 20th at 07:30 AM (05:30 GMT) until October 24th at 07:00 AM (05:00 GMT) you’ll be able to benefit from the following bonuses:
50% discount on the following tanks:
- PzKpfw II, tier II German light tank.
- PzKpfw III, tier IV German medium tank.
- PzKpfw IV, tier V German medium tank.
- M3 Stuart, tier III American light tank.
- M3 Lee, tier IV American medium tank.
- Sherman, tier V American medium tank.
If you feel like recreating the battle of El Alamein in World of Tanks, you should get the appropriate true to life tanks for it. Buy yours now at a bargain price!
Doubled credits earnings for the following tanks:
- PzKpfw II, tier II German light tank.
- PzKpfw III, tier IV German medium tank.
- PzKpfw IV, tier V German medium tank.
- M3 Stuart, tier III American light tank.
- M3 Lee, tier IV American medium tank.
- Sherman, tier V American medium tank.
In order to make your re-enactment sessions even more enjoyable, we’re handing out twice the normal amount of credits for every battle played with one of the aforementioned tanks.
50% discount on the following premium tank:
- Valentine, tier IV Soviet light tank.
Valentine tanks also played their part in the victory of the Allied Forces in El Alamein. Time to show our appreciation by handing out a nifty 50% discount!
Discounts on premium account purchases:
- 3 days Premium for 250 gold (usually 650 gold).
- 7 days Premium for 650 gold (usually 1250 gold).
- 10% discount on the 6 months / 12 months options.
There’s nothing better than to finish off our El Alamein celebration with a good old promotion on Premium accounts. World of Tanks is just that much sweeter when your efforts are being rewarded with more credits and experience than usual!
And now the history:
1942 proved to be a turning year for the Allied Forces in the fight for dominance over the northern African territories, which until this point had been held by the Axis. However, this morally important victory didn’t come without a cost, and went down in history as one of the most viciously fought campaigns of WWII. The fate of tens of thousands of soldiers deployed to that region was set to be decided in a series of battles around the Egyptian town of El Alamein.
After the first military offensive in July 1942 turned out to be less successful than anticipated, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill appointed General Bernard Montgomery to the Allied Forces’ command. Trying to avoid his predecessor’s mistakes, Montgomery quickly restructured his corps, and set up an improved communication to the Desert Air Force, allowing for a much more efficient air support.
As it turned out, this decision proved to be a very fruitful one, since it allowed the Allies to withstand the Axis’ advances, led by General Erwin Rommel commanding the German side. Weakened by the lack of fuel and without real means for significant resupply, the Germans’ best option was to retreat behind a large minefield – dubbed “The Devil’s Garden” – to rely on their strong anti-tank gun positions.
Montgomery though, was not in a rush. He knew that time was on his side and chose to wait for the arrival of major reinforcements – consisting mainly of 300 much needed Sherman tanks that were shipped hastily from the US to Egypt. When on top of it all Rommel became seriously ill in late September and had to go back to Germany, leaving a temporary replacement behind, Montgomery knew that the moment to strike had come.
On October 23rd the first part of the Allies’ offense began with ‘Operation Lightfoot’, a heavy artillery bombardment followed by advancing infantry divisions from the north and south. Their goal was to clear a pathway through the minefield for the armoured vehicles to be able to pass. When the Germans realized the seriousness of their situation, Hitler ordered Rommel to return to the battlefield immediately. But as it turned out, even the “Wüstenfuchs” (Desert Fox), would be unable to prevent the inevitable.
On November 2nd Montgomery mobilized his troops for the second phase of his attack, called ‘Operation Supercharge’ (perhaps pre-emptively named after our English Community Manager…?). The operation was designed to break through the last German defenses. Thanks to an excellent air support, and with the help of the Sherman tanks, the allied infantry managed to overpower the remaining German forces, who had no choice but to send their depleted troops into retreat. The victory at El Alamein ended the long conflict in the Western Desert and marked the only great land battle won by British and Commonwealth forces without direct help from the US.
We hope you like this weekend’s special and that you maybe even learned a little something along the way whilst reading through the history of this important WWII event.
Time fire up your tank engines and roll out on the field now, Commanders!
