Travel with Angela Lansbury: El Alamein Shop

El Alamein Military Museum, Egypt. From Wikipedia.

I was looking for the record of my late mother's first husband, Harry Godfrey, who was in the RAF (Royal Air Force) and died at El Alamein, aged 22, in 1941. He is listed on column 243.

When I went to add some details on the my ancestry website, the site asked me to fill in the credentials cited.

I was filling in details in my family history book which I had bought online. I checked a report about the family of Harry.

I had not known whether he was of any religion because my mother had married in a register office. It turned out he was Jewish. The family name Godfrey had been Anglicised by his father who was born in England but had inherited the family name Goldberg, meaning gold mountain.

The El Alamein website has something new to me since I last looked. A shop.

1 A biodegradable little marker you can place on a grave.

2 Several books of epitaphs.

I double whether I shall ever get to visit El Alamein, although I note that it now has a museum.

For your own family history book, your family website, and online family tree, it is very handy to have a list of the websites which supplied information. You may find that new information has been added, or that facts and photos of people who were not previously important have now become much more relevant.

Tripadvisor has more than 200 photos. These include the Sharkmouth single-seater US plane with the teeth drawn on the front. Parked outside the museum and around the cemetery are several tanks. Plus anti-aircraft guns.

Massive monuments honour the different nationalities. It wasn't just the British.

The Germans and the Italians who at the earlier stages of the war were fighting on the same side, and the Japanese.

The British monument displays the names of those who have no known grave.

Inside the museum you see life size models of soldiers in their uniforms. In central areas, and glass cabinets around the side, are flags. Most important in clarifying the events is a map of the battlefield showing the positions of the various nationalities.

What is the significance of this previously unknown area of Egypt? It was the far east of the Mediterranean sea, the gateway to the Middle East and Asia.

My mother's husband had volunteered before the war and was trained and then sent out at the beginning. So many died because the fighting went on and on. The decisive battle was in 1942. But my relative died in 1941.

The casualty figures are chilling. The recorded deaths, plus the missing in action. One visitor described it as a must for all Anzacs as well as Brits, because it was the turning point of WW2. You can see busts of Montgomery and the German leader, Rommel.

El Alamein was once just a village, now a small town on Egypt's north coast. The location is about 60 miles west of Alexandria. You can reach it by air-conditioned train.

In addition to visiting the museum, you can take a tour of the surrounding area.

Winston Churchill said, 'El Alamein has the best climate in the world. Resorts are being built along the coast.

About the author of this blog post

About the Author Angela Lansbury

BIOGRAPHY

Angela Lansbury B A Hons ACG ALB PM5 EH5 DL5 VC5
The Author of several books including Etiquette For Every Occasion. Wedding Speeches & Toasts. How to be the Best Man. Quick Quotations. Who Said What When.

Blogs travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com

translateforfun.blogspot.com

Braddell Heights Advanced Toastmasters Speakers Club Vice President Public Relations (VPPR), Previous President

Join BHA 1st Wednesday 7pm and 3rd Saturday 2 pm Singapore time

Vice President Public Relations (VP PR) of Tampines Changkat Advanced;

Secretary of weekly online Singapore International Dynamic Toastmasters Speakers’ Club;

Member and past president of Harrovians toastmasters club, UK; Past member of HOD Toastmasters, London. Past member in Singapore of: Toastmasters Club of Singapore (TCS); Tiarel; and Senja Cashew.

More details from Toastmasters International find a club.

Regular attendee at annual Swanwick Writers’ School, England.

Regular attendee at annual Writers’ Holiday, Wales.

Contributor to poetry readings, and after tea courses on: Speaking On Radio To Promote Books; and Plots And Character.

Winner of many club and area speaking contests in the UK and Singapore.

Language advisor to Empire Toastmasters club in Indonesia.

Language and speech workshops in Singapore.

Speaker on radio and TV in England, Scotland, the USA, and Australia.

Compiler of a school course on public speaking for teachers to prepare pupils for school open days with attending ceremonies before government ministers, Singapore.

Former member of Harrow Writers’ Circle, London, and two writing groups in Singapore.

Angela is on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter. She would be delighted to link up with new friends.

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Books by Angela Lansbury
How to be the best man. (Ward Lock / Cassell.)
Wedding Speeches and Toasts.(Ward Lock / Cassell.)
Unforgettable British Weekends.
Poetry Workshop Workbook.
The Tailor and the Spy. (Lulu.)
Larry The Talking Labrador. (Lulu.)
Writing Poetry for fun.

Quick Quotations

Who Said What When