Suri drew attention to the book -- North African Campaign 1940-1943 -- by JKW Bingham and Warner Haupt which says that the capture of Ruweisat Ridge in a combined attack of 5 Indian Division and New Zealand Division July 15, 1942 was the turning point in the battle.
Almost 25,000 officers and men of the Indian Army participated in the North African campaign, and over 3000 laid down their lives in the forbidding sands of the northern Sahara. The famous Battle for El Alamein alone accounted for 800 of these.
Suri underlined that a majority of those martyred here were still in their teens. They included Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims from different parts of the Indian subcontinent and the annual memorial service was meant to ensure that their sacrifices were not forgotten.
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