Sidi Abdel Rahman is near the site of the famous Battle of El Alamein of World War II in 1942. Mausoleums and a cemetery for the Allies is nearby with at least ninety-nine soldiers laid to rest there. The unmarked remains of thousands of other German soldiers are in that cemetery, as well. On September 30, 1942, the settlement was the site of the death of German "Luftwaffe" ace Hans-Joachim Marseille, who claimed an unrivaled total of 158 aircraft destroyed against the Allies, marked with a pyramid about 10km south of the village.