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Where did Erwin Rommel retreat after the Axis defeat at El-Alamein?
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Erwin Rommel
Erwin Rommel, 1941.
Following the Axis defeat at the Second Battle of El-Alamein in November 1942, Erwin Rommel conducted a long-range withdrawal westward across North Africa. His retreat involved several key stages:
- Initial Withdrawal: Rommel first attempted to fall back to Fūka.1
- Cyrenaica: After slipping past British pursuit, he retreated approximately 700 miles to Agheila at the far end of Cyrenaica.1
- Buerát: He subsequently halted at Buerát (al-Buʿayrāt) for three weeks.1
- Tunisia: Following a further offensive by the British Eighth Army in mid-January 1943, Rommel withdrew past Tripoli to the Mareth Line inside the Tunisian frontier.1
Ultimately, Rommel withdrew to the German bridgehead in Tunisia before being ordered home by Hitler in March 1943.2