Hans-Otto Behrendt stared at the map in front of him and tried to think, despite the fierce Egyptian heat. A few miles to the east, 100,000 of his fellow German and Italian soldiers were waiting in the desert, facing almost twice as many Allied troops. The opposing armies were stretched out in parallel lines about 40 miles long, running from the Mediterranean coast in the north down to the Qattara Depression in the south, impassable to vehicles.
It was only a matter of time, Behrendt knew, before those Allied troops launched their attack. As intelligence officer to the German commander, Erwin Rommel, it was his job to work out when it would come -and where.
The date was 23 October 1942. For the previous two years, Axis and Allied forces…