Panzer Korps Afrika Korps Serial Number -
Joelle Ridgeway
The Afrika Korps formed on 11 January 1941 and one of Adolf Hitler's favourite generals, Erwin Rommel, was designated as commander on 11 February. Originally Hans von Funck was to have commanded it, but Hitler loathed von Funck, as he had been a personal staff officer of Werner von Fritsch until von Fritsch was dismissed in 1938.[2]
On 15 August 1941, the German 5th Light Division was redesignated 21st Panzer Division, the higher formation of which was still the Afrika Korps. During the summer of 1941, the OKW increased the presence in Africa and created a new headquarters called Panzer Group Africa. On 15 August, the Panzer Group was activated with Rommel in command, and command of the Afrika Korps was turned over to Ludwig Crwell. The Panzer Group comprised the Afrika Korps, with some additional German units now in North Africa, plus two corps of Italian units. The Panzer Group was, in turn, redesignated as Panzer Army Africa on 30 January 1942.[4]
After the German and Italian defeat in the Second Battle of El Alamein and the Allied landings in Morocco and Algeria (Operation Torch), the OKW once more upgraded the presence in Africa by adding first the XC Army Corps, under Walter Nehring, in Tunisia on 19 November 1942, then an additional 5th Panzer Army on 8 December, under the command of Colonel-General Hans-Jrgen von Arnim.
On 23 February 1943, the original Panzer Army Africa, which had since been re-styled as the German-Italian Panzer Army, was now redesignated as the Italian 1st Army and put under the command of Italian general Giovanni Messe. Rommel, meanwhile, was placed in command of a new Army Group Africa, created to control both the Italian 1st Army and the 5th Panzer Army. The remnants of the Afrika Korps and surviving units of the 1st Italian Army retreated into Tunisia. Command of the Army Group was turned over to Arnim in March. On 13 May, the Afrika Korps surrendered, along with all other remaining Axis forces in North Africa.
When Rommel was promoted to the newly formed Panzer Army Africa, his command included a number of Italian units, including four infantry divisions. Two Italian armoured divisions, Ariete and Trieste, initially remained under Italian control as the Italian XX Motorized Corps under the command of General Gastone Gambara.[6]
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 used it for the duration. The Afrikakorps 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.[7][8]
The Afrika Korps gained a reputation by the Allies and by many historians as being magnanimous with Allied prisoners of war; since then many historians have used the term "War without hate" to describe the North African campaign as a whole.[9] However, Jewish people suffered during the fascist regime laws, and the local administration took part in the Holocaust deporting some thousands of Jews to Italy, under the supervision of Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring, Wehrmacht commander of the Axis in the Mediterranean theater. Others suffered from forced labour and ill treatment at the hands of the Italian administration, including a Schutzstaffel and SD detachment. Robert Satloff described in his book Among the Righteous: Lost Stories from the Holocaust's Long Reach into Arab Lands that as the German and Italian forces retreated across Libya towards Tunisia, the Jewish population became victims upon which they released their anger and frustration. According to Satloff, Afrika Korps soldiers plundered Jewish property all along the Libyan coast. This violence and persecution only came to an end with the arrival of General Montgomery in Tripoli on 23 January 1943.[10] According to Maurice Remy, although there were antisemitic individuals in the Afrika Korps, actual cases of abuse are not known, even against the Jewish soldiers of the Eighth Army. Remy quotes Isaac Levy, the Senior Jewish Chaplain of the Eighth Army, as saying that he had never seen "any sign or hint that the soldiers [of the Afrika Korps] are antisemitic."[11] The Telegraph comments: "Accounts suggest that it was not Field Marshal Erwin Rommel but the ruthless SS colonel Walter Rauff who stripped Tunisian Jews of their wealth."[12]
According to Maurice Roumani, "Libyan Jews noted that in daily matters, the Germans largely acted out of pragmatic economic interest rather than adopting the political and ideological practices known elsewhere. The German authorities found Libyan Jews well equipped with goods they needed for their military activities. The Jews complied with their demands, some out of fear and others out of strict economic interest. By the end of their time in Libya, this strategic economic arrangement led the Germans to perceive the Jews as similar to the native Muslims and they therefore regarded the Jews to be less threatening than their brethren in Europe."[16]
The 2 volumes forming this series will not only include well over 1,000 mostly unpublished photographs of the III SS Panzerkorps during 1943-45, but also a large number of previously unpublished personal battle descriptions by surviving officers and soldiers of this corps from the authors' archives of personal correspondence. The photographs are also accompanied by interesting unit histories, biographies, commentaries on weapons and vehicles, as well as analyses of battlefield tactics.
I'm looking to build a Panzer IV in service with the Africa Korps. I'm keen on the Tamiya Ausf H boxing but would this be suitable for a desert machine? I've seen a few pictures online but they all state that they're G variants so wanted to check with those in the know.
As far as I remember, the last model to see service in North Africa was the Ausf F2, later redesignated the G, IIRC. The obvious differences were the lack of turret and hull Schurtzen, and the shorter L43 7.5cm gun with a single-baffle globe muzzle brake, the H got full Schurtzen options and the longer L48 7.5cm gun with the double baffle brake, there may of been some differences in the hull as well.
Don't use the Bovington PzIV as a reference, it's an ausf D hull with an L43 gun and the muzzle break from an L48, of course it's not an impossible combination, who knows what the DAK engineers could have got up to?
If you want a long barrelled Panzer IV, F2 and G versions are the ones to look at for Africa. The double muzzle brake began appearing in September 1942, and there were other changes/eliminations introduced (and applied to existing vehicles in service) along the way before the H version entered production - but too late to be sent to Tunisia.
The short barrel might be easier, just depends on the kit. I don't know if Tamiya's vintage boxing had a tropical option, and some early Dragon kits also have errors. I believe their Dragon - Nr. 6265 boxing is the best option in that regard, and includes five decal options for the desert.
I'd say both short and long barreled panzer IV model is well represented by Dragon kits, but if you want to stick with Tamiya, then yes options are limited for representing a medium tank belonging to the Afrikakorps.
Again, the IV.D from Tamiya will be 40 yrs old next year, the figures supplied wear the beret which limits the theater and time frame (though I suppose you could pose them in a parade setting when they first arrived in Tripoli). There are issues with the tracks and suspension, partly due to the fact that the kit was designed to be a motorized toy.
Dave, if you want authentic for theatre with fabulous slide moulded detail and don't mind a moderate spend as an alternative to the probably hard to find now 6265 excellent recommendation by Jack, I can highly recommend Dragon's 6315. I have it, and can report that it's a highly detailed F1 perfect for what you want, comes with Magic Tracks - which I guess one either loves or hates, in my case it's "loves", sufficient but not so much etch as to be a PITA, and comes OOTB with decals for two units which saw action in Libya in 1942.
The base color is Tamiya XF-59 "Desert Yellow" airbrushed in a random pattern leaving areas of the gray base color exposed. That is documented as a practice from the early weeks of the campaign, due to shortages of paint. The gray was supposed to be covered with RAL 7008 Khakigrun, but it too was in short supply.
The Deutsches Afrika Korps (also simply called Afrika Korps or DAK) was an expeditionary force of the Wehrmacht that attacked at Northern Africa during World War II, The Afrika Korps became famous alongside its first commander, Erwin Rommel. Lacking resources and manpower, the Afrika Korps were defeated in May 1943.
The central philosophy of Rommel was the attack first, quickly, surprising and disorienting the enemy. Because the characteristics of desert warfare, the advance of large distances, pushing the enemy back to their lines, it was possible, using surprise and concentrated firepower. Their Achilles heel was logistics supplies, extremely difficult, as the Italians, responsible for supplying the troops, had to cross the Mediterranean in ships to supply the troops Afrikakorps. To further complicate the logistics operation, the landing supplies and fuel in Benghazi or Tripoli had to travel long distances in trucks to the front, even though they had conquered Tobruk and Mersa Matruh, more advanced positions. Some air refueling was done by the Luftwaffe, but in general inexpressive because it also did not live their best moments. Also, the African front was not the priority of the German High Command, so the Wehrmacht did not make great efforts to meet the needs of this front.
Some units have become notable in combat, including the 15th Panzer Division, 21st Panzer Division, a division initially created as an infantry division and slowly upgraded to a fully motorized division. The following has been redefined as the 90th Light Africa Division. Others, such as 164th Light Africa Division, the 999th Light Africa Division, and also the 334th Infantry Division, and Brigade Luftwaffenjger-1 or Fallschirmjger-Ramcke (Ramcke Parachute Brigade, named after its commander Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke). There were also eight Italian divisions (of the ten Italian divisions in North Africa), under the command of Rommel in Panzer Army Africa, including two armored divisions, two motorized divisions, three infantry divisions, and the Folgore Parachute Division.
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