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Churchill wanted Britain and the United States to strike first at North Africa and southern Europe. The strategy angered Stalin. He wanted the Allies to open the second front in France. The Soviet Union, therefore, had to hold out on its own against the Germans. All Britain and the United States could offer in the way of help was supplies. Nevertheless, late in 1942, the Allies began to turn the tide of war both in the Mediterranean and on the Eastern Front. The North African Campaign As you recall from Section 1, General Erwin Rommel took the key Libyan port city of Tobruk in June 1942. With Tobruk’s fall, London sent General Bernard Montgomery—“Monty” to his troops—to take control of British forces in North Africa. By the time Montgomery arrived, however, the Germans had advanced to an Egyptian village called El Alamein (AL•uh•MAYN), west of Alexandria. (See the map on page 942.) They were dug in so well that British forces could not go around them. The only way to dislodge them, Montgomery decided, was with a massive frontal attack. The Battle of El Alamein began on the night of October 23. The roar of about 1,000 British guns took the Axis soldiers totally by surprise. They fought back fiercely and held their ground for several days. By November 4, however, Rommel’s army had been beaten. He and his forces fell back.