WEHR MACHT ILLUSTRATED
~frika
1!orp5 1941-42
ALMARK PUBLICATIONS
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A 80 V E: A V olks wage n Kfz I o f a m o to rised in fant ry ball a/i on on a sco uting mission near Caw/a in th e sum m er of 1942 . (IWM-H U 560n).
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1Rorps
GERMAN MILITARY OPERATIONS IN THE WESTERN DESERT, 1941-42
Peter Chamberlain and Chris Ellis Drawings by Kenneth M. Jones
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© 1971, Almark Publishing Co. Ltd . Text © Peter Chamberlain and Chris Ellis Artwork © Kenneth M . Jones
All rights r eserved. No part of this publication may be reprod uced , stored in a retrieval system , or transm itted by any m eans, el ectronic, m echanical, or by phot o copying without prior permission from the publishers.
First Published- January 1971
ISBN 0 85524 018 0
Printed in Great Britain by Vale Press Ltd., Mitcham, Surrey CR4 4HR , for the publishers . Almark Publishing Co. Ltd. , 104-106 Watling Avenue, Edgware, Middlesex, England. 2 This PDF file created by Merriam Press. Many more PDFs at merriam-press.com.
Th e Pz Kpfw Ill was numerically and tactically th e most important lank used by the Afrika K orps. H ere a Pz Kpfw III A usf H with th e retrospectively fill ed ext ra fr ontal armour is seen during R ommel's big o!Jensive of January 1942 which resulted in th e re-taking of most of Cyrenaica . Fast m ovem ent of arm oured units from place to place made th e m ost of R ommel's limited tank forces against superior odds ( IWM-H V 5601 ).
Introduction THE war in the Western Desert actually started in June 1940 when Ita ly decl a red war on Britain. Libya was an Italian colony bordering Egypt which was guarded by a small British force. British troops took the initiative in the first few months of the war. The lOth Italian Army moved ponderously 60 miles into E gypt in mid-September 1940 under the command of Ma rsh a l Graz ia ni . British strength in Egypt was expanded mea nwhil e from the original 7th Armoured Division by the addition of three Commonwealth divisions, forming the Western Desert Force. On December 9, 1940, the British started a well-planned a nd brilliantly cond ucted offensive against th e numerica ll y superior Ita lian Army and this res ulted in a swee ping co nquest of Cyrenaica, includin g th e tak ing of the importa nt town s of Ba rdi a, Tobruk, and Benghazi. The Italian Army was virtually eliminated by th e first week in February with the captu re of 130,000 men a nd a big ha ul of equipment. While this campaign was at its height, Hitler beca me a la rmed a t the 3 This PDF file created by Merriam Press. Many more PDFs at merriam-press.com.
political consequences of an Italian defeat and determined to send in German re-inforcements. At this stage there was no long-term planning for German military operations in North Africa though the Chief of Mobile Forces, General Von Thoma, had had exploratory but inconclusive talks on this subject with the Italians as early as October 1940. However, it was not until July 1941 that the long term strategic possibilities of the campaign (ie, the conquest of Egypt and taking of the Suez Canal) were considered. Earmarked for despatch to North Africa via Tripoli was the 5th Light Division, composed of elements from 3rd Panzer Division which had fought in France. They started moving in between February !5-20 1941. In September 1941 this formation was renamed 21st Panzer Division. Following up and arriving early in Apri l was 15th Panzer Division. Together these formed the Deutsche Afrika Korps (DAK), more commonly called the Afrika Korps. The force commander was General!eutnant Erwin Rommel who had distinguished himself as a brilliant armoured division commander in the invasion of France. Later Rommel formed another division, 90th Light, from various odd unatta ched units. In September 1941 Rommel, promoted to Field Marshal, became commander of Panzergruppe Afrika with the Afrika Korps and two Italian corps under his command. The subsidiary command of Afrika Korps now passed to a succession of generals, notably Cruewell and Von Thoma, who were both captured by the British during 1942. The war in North Africa was never taken as seriously by Hitler and the High Command as German campaigns in other areas, and Rommel was always short of men, stores, tanks, and equipment, his forces being constantly numerically inferior to what became a huge British force, the 8th Army. Until the final 'steam roller' effect of the Battle of Alamein, in October ! 942, however, Rommel conducted a series of clever and forceful offensives using superior tactics and better handling of armour to offset h.is shortage of numbers. Eventually he was forced to retreat back to Tunis by chronic lack of supplies, and overwhelming air superiority and sheer weight of numbers by the British. The course of the campaign in North Africa has been well documented in a number of books, some of which are listed here fo r further readi ng. An outline of German operations up until the period of Alamein is given pictorially in this present publication, the object being to give a visual idea of the style and conditions of the campaign. The pictures between pages 6 and 28 are presented chronologically as far as possible and give a good idea of how uniform, equipment, and appearance of the troops changed over the period covered. Some items of equipment are shown, but these are covered more fully in other titles in this series. Most of the pictures are reproduced by courtesy of the Imperial War Museum (IWM) and negative numbers are given where known. Prints may be ordered from the photographic library of the IWM. For further reading The Desert Generals, Barnet, (Kimber, 1960) Rommel, Young (Collins, 1950) Alamein, Lucas Phillips (Heinemann, 1962) The Desert War, Moorehead (Hamish Hamilton, 1965) Alamein and the Desert War, ed . Jewell (Sphere, 196 7) All the above. have been published in paperback; there are many ether books on the subject including the official histories, also:
The Rommel Papers, ed. Liddell Hart (Harcourt Brace, 1953)
Campaign maps are given on pages 11, 15, 20 , 23 and 32; colour plates are on pages fi, 25, 28, 29, and front cover. 4 This PDF file created by Merriam Press. Many more PDFs at merriam-press.com.
ABOVE: An infantry platoon on th e march during th e retreat from Alamein to Tripoli in Nov ember/ December 1942. Of int erest is th e light cart for ammunition and kit , and th e sho vels for clearing mines . MG34 section brings up th e rear. Th e desert wint er was cold {des pite th e sun) and o ve rcoats were common wear {IWM-HU5591). BELOW : A dominant and destru ctiv e weapon used to good efj ec! on R ommel's initiative was th e 8.8cm Flak 18, here seen engaging British tanks at Marsa el Brega durin g ih e opening of th e big G erman offensi ve in th e la.1·1 week of January !942 . Th e half-track towing vehicle is just visible beyo nd , vee red off to th e left to enable th e gun to go into instant action with out emplacem en t (JWM-MH5545 )
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First G erman division to arriv e in North Africa was 5th Light Di vision . made up of elements from 3rd Panzer Division and virt ually a redu ced scale panzer division. The move to Tripoli from South ern France to ok place over F ebruary 15-20, 1941 , th ough th e last of th e tanks did not arrive until March ll. ABOVE: Pz Kpfw ll and a Pz Kpfw I Ausf. A (right) being embarked. Th ey have tail smoke emitters and still carry th e old 3. Pz -Di v. sign. Th e PzKpfw I is a regimental staff officer's veh icle (IWM-STT3 59). BELOW: M en of a motor-cycle recce. unit, still in field grey, are ferried ashore at Tripoli. Their machines are just visib le left and the riders wea r breech es inst ead of trousers (JWM-HU5598).
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ABOVE: G eneral/eu lnant Erwin Rommel was fo rmally appoint ed to 'command German troops in Libya' on Feb ruary 6, 194 1, and arrived in Tripoli on February 12. A large parade was held in Tripoli shortly aft er 5!h Lighl Division had arrived in early March . H ere Rommel, wilh an !! a/ian general, inspec/s m en of 5!h Light Division in !h eir newly issu ed lropical uniforms. On !h e right are lank crews with 'dea!h's h ead' badges on !h eir lapels (see colour drawing , cover). Nol e !hat the officers wear ca ps and th e m en forag e caps-lat er ca ps became almost universal wear (IWM-H U5632) . BELOW: Rommel's map caravan (!i! ill in markings fo r !h e Polish campaign) and his Sd Kfz 251 /6 command vehicle (slill in French campaign markings) parked on th e beach durin g !h e subsequent move to Cyrenaica.
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An infantry ge fr eiter (lance co rpo ral) shown h ere in ty pica/ fighting o rder for th e summ er of /94 /. H ere sh orts and boots are wo rn, but alternative wear were th e breech es shown on page 25. Wh en new th e tro pical unifo rm was a very light o li ve green shade, but this wash ed and fad ed o ut ve ry quickly to a more neutral tone.
Th e black lea ther equipm ent atl(/ th e standard Maus er Kar 913 7.92mm rifle are shown. Th e braces of th e leath er equipm ent we re f requ ently dis carded in desert co nditions.
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