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Three German officers confer together atop a tank in North Africa.
|Active||12 February 1941 – 13 May 1943|
|Garrison/HQ||Tripoli, Italian Libya|
|Motto||Ritterlich im Kriege, wachsam für den Frieden
("Chivalrous in War, Vigilant for Peace")
|Seal of the Deutsches Afrikakorps|
The Afrika Korps or German Africa Corps (German: Deutsches Afrikakorps, DAK listen (help·info)) was the German expeditionary force in Africa during the North African Campaign of World War II. Originally sent as a holding force to shore up the Italian defense of their African colonies, the force fought in Africa from March 1941 until its surrender in May 1943. The term "Afrika Korps" is derived from the original German name (written as one word). The term originally referred to the original formation, the Deutsches Afrikakorps (DAK), which became incorporated into the Axis command of the German and Italian forces in North Africa. However, it was often used by the news media and Allied soldiers as a name for all German units in North Africa. The reputation of the Afrika Korps is closely associated with that of its first commander, Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel.
The Afrika Korps formed upon Adolf Hitler's personal orders on 11 January 1941. Hitler picked Erwin Rommel to be their commander on 12 February 1941 (Rommel himself landed on African soil in Libya on 14 February 1941 to begin leading his forces that would be brought into action). The German Armed Forces High Command (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, OKW) and Army High Command (Oberkommando des Heeres, OKH) had decided to send a "blocking force" (Sperrverband) to Libya to support the Italian army. The Italian army group had been routed by the British Commonwealth Western Desert Force in Operation Compass (9 December 1940 – 9 February 1941). The German "blocking force", commanded by Rommel, at first consisted of only the 5./leichte "Afrika" Panzer Regiment, which was quickly cobbled together from the second regiment of the 3./Panzer Division and various other small units attached for water treatment and medical care. These elements were organized into the 5th Light Division when they arrived in Africa from 10 February – 12 March 1941. In late April and into May, the 5th Light Division was joined by transference of the various elements constituting the 15th Panzer Division from Italy, though it did not completely arrive until after Rommel had made a counter-offensive and re-taken most of Cyrenaica and then subsequently gone back over to the defensive. At this time, the Afrika Korps consisted of the two divisions plus various smaller supporting units, and was officially subordinated to the Italian chain of command in Africa (though Rommel had conducted his offensive without any authorization).
On 15 August 1941, the German 5./leichte "Afrika" Division was redesignated 21st Panzer Division (commonly written as 21./PD), still attached to the enlarged entity still known as the Afrika Korps.
During the summer of 1941, the OKW and OKH invested more command structure in Africa by creating a new headquarters called Panzer Group Africa (Panzergruppe Afrika). On 15 August, Panzer Group Africa was activated with Rommel in command, and command of the Afrika Korps was turned over to Ludwig Crüwell. The Panzer Group controlled the Afrika Korps plus some additional German units that were sent to Africa, as well as two corps of Italian units. (A German "group" was approximately the equivalent of an army in other militaries, and in fact, Panzer Group Africa was redesignated as Panzer Army Africa (Panzerarmee Afrika) on 30 January 1942.)
After the defeat at El Alamein and the Allied landings in Morocco and Algeria Operation Torch, the OKW once more upgraded its presence in Africa by creating the XC Army Corps in Tunisia on 19 November 1942, and then creating a new 5th Panzer Army headquarters there as well on 8 December, under the command of Colonel-General Hans-Jürgen von Arnim.
On 23 February 1943, Panzer Army Africa—now called the German-Italian Panzer Army—was redesignated as the Italian 1st Army and put under the command of Italian general Giovanni Messe, while Rommel was placed in command of a new Army Group Africa (Heeresgruppe Afrika), created to control both the Italian 1st Army and the 5th Panzer Army. The remnants of the Afrika Korps and other surviving units of the 1st Italian Army retreated into Tunisia. Command of the Army Group was turned over to von Arnim in March. On 13 May, remnants of the Afrika Korps surrendered, along with all other remaining Axis forces in North Africa.
Composition and terminology
The principal units of the Afrika Korps were the 15th Panzer Division and the 21st Panzer Division. In addition, Rommel concentrated the formation's artillery into an Artillery Group which he placed under the command of General Karl Böttcher. Separate from the Afrika Korps was the Afrika zbV (zur besonderen Verwendung, "special purpose") Division, which was created as an infantry division and slowly upgraded to a fully motorized division, and then redesignated as the 90th Light Afrika Division; the 164th Light Afrika Division, the 999 Light "Afrika" Division, also the 334th Infantry division; and the Luftwaffenjäger-Brigade 1 or Fallschirmjäger-Ramcke Brigade Ramcke Parachute Brigade (named after its commander Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke). When Rommel was promoted to the newly formed Panzerarmee Afrika, his command included a number of Italian units, including four infantry divisions. The two Italian armoured divisions, Ariete and Trieste initially remained under Italian control. They formed the Italian XX Motorized Corps under the command of General Gastone Gambara.
German unit organizations were based on tables of organization, (Kriegsstärkenachweisungen, or KStN). Every unit in the German Army raised had one, and all orders raising units indicated the corresponding KStN number and date which applied to them. For instance, the 5./leichte "Afrika" or 5th Light "Africa" had an organizational structure that was missing specific elements to make it a complete Panzer "Division", as did its late April to May 1941 arriving "full complement" partner division in Africa, the 15./Panzer Division. The 5./le. "Africa" Division eventually became at least partially expanded into the 21./PD or 21st Panzer Division. It was given German unit elements that were already on the ground in North Africa and some replacement equipment to meet the prescribed full Panzer Division KStN constraints (except for the Motorcycle Battalion component, which was never complete) and then renamed in August 1941.
The Afrika Korps was restructured and renamed in August 1941. "Afrikakorps" was the official name of the force for less than six months, but the officers and men continued to use it throughout the duration of the conflict. The Afrika Korps was the major German component of Panzerarmee Afrika, which was later renamed the Deutsch-Italienische Panzerarmee and finally renamed Heeresgruppe Afrika (Army Group Africa) during the 27 months of the Desert campaign.
A number of additional German units sent to Africa became components of Panzerarmee Afrika, but were not a part of the Deutsches Afrikakorps. The 10th Panzer Division which fought in Tunisia would be one such example. Another, such as the 164./le. "Africa" or 164th Light Afrika Division was at first only a partially motorized infantry division, and actually never had any tanks at all, only armored cars and reconnaissance vehicles. Various German divisions in Africa occasionally reorganized or re-equipped without a change of name, or conversely were re-designated with a new name without any substantial reorganization. None of the German units fielded for service in North Africa ever completely met the service KStNs directed for their completion, as was common for this period of the war. Equipment attrition due to battle losses, losses suffered in transit across the Mediterranean, and the tremendous wear on the vehicles all played a role in keeping formations under strength.
The designation "Light" (German: leicht) indicated the unit was lacking in heavy or armored formations, but did not refer to a standardized table of organization and equipment (TOE) for the various German divisions that bore that designation. For example, 5th Light Division had a single tank regiment, when the standard tank division complement was two, while 90th Light division was an infantry formation that was motorized, but never had a tank regiment as part of its make-up.
Ramcke Parachute Brigade
The Luftwaffenjäger-Brigade 1, known more commonly as the Ramcke Parachute Brigade, was sent to Africa in July 1942 after Operation Hercules, the planned invasion of Malta, was called off; just in time for the Second Battle of El Alamein. Initially subordinate to the 15th Panzer Division it was taken under direct command of the DAK's parent unit, Panzergruppe Afrika. Lacking transport, the brigade had to be abandoned by the German command when their defensive position crumbled. Ramcke lost some 450 men at El Alamein, but rather than surrender he led 600 of his paratroopers off into the desert on a march back to the Afrika Korps. Taking a British supply unit by surprise, they used the transport to travel some 200 miles on their own before catching up with the retreating Axis forces.
From the coast of North Africa extending inland lies a raised, flat plain of stoney hard desert that runs 200 to 300 km in depth until the great dunes of the Sahara are reached. The battles of the Afrika Korps were largely fought in this rocky desert plain of Cyrenaica, what is now modern day Libya. Traversed by the nomadic Bedoins, the region is sparsely populated. The ground is a flat, hard scrabble with little or no cover, and difficult for infantry to dig into.
Conditions in the desert were harsh: miserably hot during the day, while temperatures dropped precipitously at night. The great coats of the German soldier were not discarded in Africa, nor were scarves, which were used not only for the cold of the desert night, but for the sand storms that were frequent and blinding. Sand storms made flying impossible, and travel by land difficult. "The Ghibli" was the Bedouin name for the Sirocco, the hot desert wind of Libya which produced the sandstorms. Navigation was by compass, and each man had one. Even the short trip to the latrine could result in a man being lost if he forgot to take his compass with him when a sand storm was flying. It was easy to become lost in the desert, and hard to be found again. The sand storms could last from a few hours to several days at a time. Sand would creep into everything, and was very hard on equipment. Replacement parts were essential. Trucks were fitted with special air and oil filters. Aircraft had heavily modified air intakes fitted. British and American built trucks were more rugged and durable in the desert than German or Italian vehicles. At times, as much as 85% of the transport in the Afrika Korps was British built. Of course, this meant that spare parts for the trucks the Germans were using were hard to come by.
To fight an armoured war in the desert, the two essential provisions were fuel and water. Neither of these were readily available. They had to be brought forward to the combat units, and husbanded carefully. Only the Bedouins knew where to dig in the desert for water. Beyond these difficulties, the hardest thing for the men to deal with was the oppressive number of flies. Flies by the score were present everywhere. They could not be escaped. They got into the food stores, making eating difficult. They also carried disease. Illness amongst the Afrika Korps was a major issue. On the British side, a variety of foods were supplied in tins. For the Germans, food was monotonous and available unevenly. Captured supplies of tins from the British was a prized variation to their diet. Between the disease, the unvaried diet and the strain of combat, soldiers in the Axis camp typically became quite thin.
The German forces in Africa developed a renown for their fighting qualities. Many of British whom they fought against were under the impression that it was an elite force, but the Afrika Korps was made up of common German soldiers from the Wehrmacht. They had no special training prior to their arrival in Africa beyond what was usually expected. The initial successes they saw shortly after their arrival were due to the energy and opportunism of their commander coupled with a weakened British position, the result of the British moving forces away to Greece in hopes of ensnaring Germany in a long campaign there. In short time Rommel trained up his force to match his ideas in mobile warfare. Their ongoing success was a reflection of the training and initiative that their commander instilled in them. Recalling the soldiers and officers of the Afrika Korps, General Fritz Bayerlein offered the following:
The merit and value of the desert soldier can be measured by his physical capacity, intelligence, mobility, nerve, pugnacity, daring and stoicism. A commander of men requires these same qualities in even greater measure and in addition must be outstanding in his toughness, devotion to his men, instinctive judgement of terrain and enemy, speed of reaction and spirit.
Loss of the Afrika Korps
The end of the Tunisia Campaign and the loss of the army in May 1943, was a great blow to Germany, and a personal loss to their previous commander, Erwin Rommel. Following their surrender in Tunisia most Afrika Korps POWs were transported to the United States and held in camps for the remainder of the war. One such camp was Camp Shelby in Mississippi. The men often wrote to Rommel, and kept him apprised of their condition.
Resurrection of units
Certain divisions were resurrected in Europe after the cessation of fighting in Tunisia:
- 15./Panzer Division
- 21./Panzer Division (in France)
- Hermann Göring Panzer Division (in Sicily and Italy)
- Fliegerführer Afrika
- Ramcke Parachute Brigade
- Western Desert Campaign
- László Almásy
- Operation Salaam
- Hans von Luck
- Panzer Division
- Afrika Korps (game)
- Lewin 1968, p. 54.
- Toppe 1952, p. 14.
- Von Luck 1989, p. 92.
- Von Luck 1989, p. 93.
- Von Luck 1989, p. 95.
- Von Luck 1989, p. 96.
- Toppe 1952, p. 59.
- Lewin 1968, p. 149.
- Von Luck 1989, p. 97.
- Toppe 1952, pp. 93–94.
- Toppe 1952, p. 5.
- Toppe 1952, p. 31.
- Toppe 1952, p. 41.
- Rommel 1953, p. 185.
- Rommel 1953, p. 507.
- Beasley 2010, p. 262.
- Rommel 1953, p. 524.
- Beasley, Jimmy Lee (2010). I Was There When It Happened. Xlibris. ISBN 1-4535-4457-7.
- Cooper, Matthew (1990). The German Army 1933–1945. Scarborough House. Chelsea, MI, USA. ISBN 0-8128-8519-8.
- Lewin, Ronald (1998) . Rommel As Military Commander. New York: B&N Books. ISBN 978-0-7607-0861-3.
- Von Luck, Hans (1989). Panzer Commander: The Memoirs of Colonel Hans von Luck. New York: Dell Publishing of Random House. ISBN 0-440-20802-5.
- von Mellenthin, Major General F. W. (1971) . Panzer Battles Panzer (First ed.). New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-24440-0.
- Rommel, Erwin (1982) . Liddell Hart, B. H., ed. The Rommel Papers. New York: Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0-306-80157-0.
- Toppe, Alfred (1952). "Desert Warfare: German Experience in World War II". US Army Historical Division, Foreign Military Studies.
- Chamberlain, Peter (1971). Afrika Korps: German military operations in the Western Desert, 1941–42. Almark Publishing Company. ISBN 0855240180. OCLC 165305.
- Major-General Alfred Toppe Desert warfare:German experiences in World War II, written with the assistance of nine German commanders who served in North Africa, the manuscript (translated by Mr. H. Heitman) represents a collaborative attempt to determine "as many factors as possible which exerted a determining influence on desert warfare."
- Macksey, Kenneth (1968). Afrika Korps. Ballantine Books. ISBN 0356025446.
- Mitcham, Samuel W. (2007). Rommel's desert war: the life and death of the Afrika Korps. Stackpole Books. ISBN 0811734137.
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to Afrika Korps.|
- Deutsches Afrikakorps
- Unser Rommel – Wir sind das Deutsche Afrikakorps (German) Our Rommel – We are the German Afrikakorps
- "164. leichte Afrika-Division". German language article at www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de. Retrieved May 7, 2005.
- "Deutsches Afrika-Korps (DAK)". German language article at www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de. Retrieved May 7, 2005.
- "Panzergruppe Afrika / Panzerarmee Afrika / Deutsch-Italienische Panzerarmee". German language article at www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de. Retrieved May 7, 2005.
- Pipes, Jason. "Heeresgruppe Afrika". Retrieved May 12, 2005.
- "Heeresgruppe Afrika". German language article at www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de. Retrieved May 12, 2005.
- Panzerarmee Afrika Multiple images, modeling techniques.
- Wendel, Marcus (2004). "Panzerarmee Afrika". Retrieved May 7, 2005.