The Devil's gardens was the name given by Field Marshal (Generalfeldmarschall) Erwin Rommel, commander of the German Afrika Korps during the Second World War, to the defensive entanglements of land mines and barbed wire built to protect Axis defensive positions at El Alamein before the Second Battle of El Alamein in late 1942. The defences stretch from the Mediterranean coast to the Qattara Depression. An estimated 16 million mines, planted by the Europeans during the world wars and called "devil's gardens", still hinder development of most of Matrouh Governorate, and are constantly being removed.