Alamein
In 1918 a charity named Enham was set up, with the support of King George V and Queen Mary. A 1,000-acre (4.0 km2) estate in the village was bought for it and adapted to house and rehabilitate and employ soldiers returning disabled from World War I with "the effects of amputations, neurasthenia, shellshock or fever". By the end of 1919, 150 men were residing in and about Enham Place and Littlecote House.
Much of its land had to be sold to pay expenses during the 1920s and 1930s.
Some of its patients remained there and set up in jobs such as carters, hauliers, market gardeners and dairy farmers.
In World War II many of the injured from the Battle of El Alamein were brought back to the UK and to the recovery centre in Knight's Enham. This close association of servicemen and the village continued during and after the war.
In November 1945, two public subscriptions in Egypt raised £6,000,000 to thank Britain for ridding their country of the Axis forces. A small part went to build a new UN Forces Sports Club in Gezira; most was given to the charity Enham to care for disabled ex-servicemen. This greatly improved the charity Enham's finances, and let them build their disabled ex-servicemen's centre as it is. In thankfulness for this the component "Alamein" was appended to the village's name.
In Enham Alamein there is still a charity, Enham, that provides work for disabled members of the community as well as services to enable disabled people to live the lives they choose, both in the village and across Southern England. Enham has sold some of its land to property developers, and is looking to sell more.
Arabic Al `Alamain اَلْعَلَمَيْن means "the two flags".
Read more about this topic: Enham Alamein, Etymology and History
Famous quotes containing the word alamein:
“This sort of thing may be tolerated by the French—but we are British, thank God.”
—Bernard Law, 1st Viscount Montgomery Of Alamein Montgomery (1887–1976)