The Kingdom of Italy entered World War II in 1940, with an armed conflict with France and Great Britain. The main type of Italian land armed forces was the infantry, which at the beginning of the war numbered 59 divisions. It is worth adding that the Italian infantry divisions in 1938 underwent a deep reorganization. A single division after such a reorganization was called from the Italian " divisione binaria ". This reorganization was based on the introduction of a division composed of two infantry regiments, instead of three, which was used, for example, in the German army. Moreover, the Italian infantry division also had (after 1938) support artillery regiments, a mortar battalion, an engineer battalion and a company of anti-tank guns. Of course, there were also staff and communications units, etc. A single Italian infantry regiment usually consisted of 3 or 5 battalions. Support weapons in the Italian regiment were: 24 heavy machine guns, 108 light machine guns, 6 81 mm mortars, 54 45 mm light mortars and 4 65 mm light infantry guns (Cannone da 65/17). The artillery regiment was equipped with 36 100 and 75 mm guns. Most often they had horse traction. It is worth adding that the divisions stationed in Libya had a slightly different structure, as they had three infantry regiments (each with an artillery company) and an artillery regiment, however, consisting of only 77 mm guns. Such a division consisted of about 7,400 people. In the course of the fighting in North Africa, efforts were made to increase the motorisation of Italian infantry divisions, but with only a limited effect.
The Battle of El Alamein, or actually the Second Battle of El Alamein, stayed carried out in the period from October 23 to November 4, 1943. The battle was fought between the German-Italian troops and the British units, supported, however, to a significant extent by Australian, New Zealand and South African troops. It is assumed that about 116 thousand people fought on the side of the Axis countries. people supported by approx. 550 tanks and approx. 800-900 aircraft. On the British side, around 195,000 people fought. people, supported by approx. 1,100 tanks and approx. 750 aircraft. The Second Battle of El Alamein was a kind of continuation of the battle, known as the 1st Battle of El Alamein in July 1942. As a result of this second battle, the Axis offensive towards the Suez Canal was slowed down and finally stopped. On the other hand, the struggle of October-November 1942 was a British offensive to the west, intended to completely push the enemy out of Egypt. It can be assumed that the commander of this battle on the British side - field marshal Bernard Law Montgomery - won mainly thanks to the material advantage and much better logistics. Undoubtedly, however, the British commander, aware of his advantages, decisively used them and led to a decisive victory for his troops, winning the greatest victory in his career. Axis troops lost at least 30,000. people (killed, wounded and captured) and about 500 tanks. The British lost approx. 13-14 thousand. people and about 330 tanks.