Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Mersa Matruh was a major grain port under the Romans and a military base of the British Empire. During World War II, several battles were fought around its environs as the Italo-German Panzer Army Africa attempted to capture the port. It fell to the Axis during the Battle of Mersa Matruh but was recaptured following the Second Battle of El Alamein.
The interior of the Matrouh Governorate is part of Egypt's Western Desert, including the Siwa Oasis, in antiquity known for its shrine to Amun.In the center of the Governorate is the Qattara Depression, descending to 133 metres below sea level.
Mersa Matruh had been fortified in 1940 before the Italian invasion of Egypt in 1940 and was further strengthened during the build-up for Operation Crusader and was the last coastal fortress in Allied possession. [19] [20] The town is on a thin coastal plain that extends inland 10 mi (16 km) to an escarpment.
This city, (today Mersa Matruh) which some claim should be called Ammonia, owed its celebrity to its port, whence Alexander the Great visited the oracle of Ammon. Mark Antony stopped there before Actium. The Byzantine Emperor Justinian fortified it to protect Egypt on the west.
The Mediterranean harbor and naval port of Mersa Matruh in the Matrouh Governorate Topics referred to by the same term This disambiguation page lists articles about distinct geographical locations with the same name.
Wells were dug but most filled with salt water; in 1939 the primary fresh water sources were the Roman aqueducts at Mersa Matruh and Maaten Baggush. Water-boats from Alexandria and a distillation plant at Matruh increased supply but rigorous rationing had to be enforced and much water had to be moved overland to outlying areas.
After the successful Battle of Gazala the Brescia advanced, passing to the south of Tobruk on 20 June 1942 and continuing through Bardia, As Sallūm and Sidi Barrani, the division arrived in Mersa Matruh on 29 June 1942. During the brief siege of Mersa Matruh in June 1942 Axis forces captured 6,000 British troops and large quantities of supplies.
Language links are at the top of the page across from the title.