90° Light Afrika Division The defeat of italy’s forces in North Africa over the winter of 1940/41 threatened Germany's 'Fortress Europe'. For his own security, Hitler felt that he had no option but to intervene on behalf of his ally. By the middle of February 1941, the first contingent of German support had reached Tripoli. It was not very large - in fact, it consisted of one general and two staff officers; but the general was a man called Rommel. As the commanding officer of the 'Ghost' Division in France, Major-General Erwin Rommel had won a reputation as a brilliant commander. His orders were to stabilize the situation. Rommel's force initially included only the Fifth Light Division. For the moment, he was simply expected to stiffen Italian resistance.

But Rommel would not wait. Within days, he was planning a full- scale counterattack. And with that began two years of cut-and-thrust battles with British and Commonwealth forces. The battlefield was to be the Libyan desert, an area aptly described as a tactician's paradise and a quartermaster's nightmare.

Afrika-Division

Rommel's initial attack drove the British back through Libya and had reached the Egyptian border by mid-April. By this time, there was an assortment of German units of varying sizes arriving in North Africa, and in August the Afrika-Division z&V was created to control them. The first major action by the new unit came in November 1941, during Rommel's unsuccessful attempt to capture the vital port of Tobruk. The Libyan port's Commonwealth garrison had been cut off by advancing German and Italian forces in April, but was still holding out.

Later that month, the division was engaged in the first major tank battle of the campaign, when Rommel responded to the launch of the British Operation Crusader on 18 November by launching a rapid counterattack at Sidi Rezegh, a vital airfield about 25km (15.5 miles) southeast of Tobruk. After stopping the Allied advance, Rommel struck for the Halfaya Pass on the Egyptian border. But the British stood firm, and Auchinlcck, the commander-in-chief, ordered a further attack westwards to cut off Rommel's forces. As a result, Rommel withdrew to Gazala. On 27 November 1941, the Afrika- Division received an official designation, becoming the 90 Leichte Infanterie-Division.

Now it “was” british who were operating at the end of long supply lines. On 21 January 1942, Rommel launched a new attack from his positions around El Agheila, driving the British 1st Armoured Division from its positions around Adjabiya. The British were again retreating with Rommel in pursuit. Near Msus, Rommel swung his forces northeast, striking out through rough but undefended terrain to try to reach Benghazi and cut off the retreating Commonwealth forces. Though the Germans reached the coast on 28 January, the British managed to smash through the lead elements of the Afrika Korps and continued their retreat eastwards. At this point, Rommel was forced to stop his advance while his troops were resupplied; the Germans and their Italian allies had captured valuable supplies in Benghazi, but German supply woes continued to affect Rommel's tactical and operational decisions. The British used the pause to retreat to prepared positions around Gazala.

In the spring of 1942, Rommel decided that the time was ripe for Panzerarmee Afrika to finally take Tobruk. Rommel pre-empted a possible British attack out of Gazala on 26 May 1942, by launching his own attack first. After a feint to the north, Axis mobile forces swung south around deep minefields and the tough French-held position at Bir Hacheim. After a clash near Bir el Gubi, Rommel pressed on, shrugging off a series of disorganized British assaults. On 13 June, the Axis forces inflicted heavy casualties on Commonwealth troops south of El Adam, before pushing the British further east past Sidi Rezegh. With only 70 tanks left, the British continued to retreat while Rommel turned back to smash through the defences of Tobruk. On 21 July, the division was again renamed, becoming the 90. Afrika-Division. The early summer of 1942 had been a period of almost constant retreat for British and Commonwealth forces in North Africa, but from their powerful defensive line at El Alamein, the Eighth Army held off two powerful Axis attacks in June and August. Now, massively reinforced and with the Axis troops exhausted, it was time to strike back.

Safe behind strong defences, flanked to the north by the Mediterranean and to the south by the impassible sands of the Qattara Depression, the British could concentrate on building up forces for a major attack on the Axis army. Under new commander General Bernard Law Montgomery, the Eighth Army soon had a massive materiel superiority over Rommel's command.

By October 1942, the reinforced Commonwealth forces could deploy 250,000 men, 1200 tanks and over 750 aircraft against an Axis force of 80,000 men, 489 tanks and 675 aircraft. The imbalance was made greater by the fact that Rommel's men were tired and poorly supplied, and most of his hard-used equipment was close to breakdown.

El Alamein

On the night of 23/24 October, Montgomery launched Operation Lightfoot, the first phase of a meticulously planned, multi-stage offensive. By morning, the infantry had gained most of their objectives, but the armour had been delayed in the night and were still under the guns of the German artillery. As a result, a grim battle was fought over the next eight days in the vast dust bowl between the sea and the Miteirya Ridge.

Meanwhile, Montgomery planned another massive strike - Operation Supercharge. Rommel had by now realized that he could not win such a set-piece battle and began planning his withdrawal. Unfortunately he received orders from the Führer to stand fast. By 2 November, he had only 35 operational tanks left and most of his divisions, including the 90th Africa Division, had suffered serious combat losses.

At 01.05 on the morning of 2 November, another massive artillery barrage signalled the start of Operation Supercharge. By dawn on 4 November, British reconnaissance patrols had passed south of Tel el Akkakir, only to find that the expected Axis defences were not there. To save his army, Rommel had disobeyed his Führer, and the entire Axis force was now withdrawing westwards. The battle was over. Now it was time for the pursuit. Battle for Tunisia Before long, as he came closer to his bases, he would be reinforced, while as the British supply lines grew longer his opponents would eventually be weak enough for him to counterattack. Any such thoughts must have been dashed on 8 November, when news came of massive Allied landings «in Algeria, at the other end of North Africa.

The Germans that did manage to make it to Rommel's first makeshift defensive line at Fuka after the Battle of Alamein were worth little more than a battalion, and even when joined by the survivors of the 90th and 164th Divisions they constituted in battle-ready terms a brigade only. Hitler, who had for so long starved Rommel of troops when victory had seemed in his grasp, now in extremis poured in men and materials to bolster the Tunisian bridgehead.

Two-front campaign The weather in North Africa was terrible that winter, and campaigning came to an abrupt halt. Both sides used the opportunity to build up their supplies — a race that could only be won by the Allies. By early 1943, the Axis was being squeezed between the Eighth Army driving north and the Anglo-American armies driving east. Rommel did manage to inflict a defeat on the Americans at Kasserine, but he was defeated by Montgomery at Medenine. Constant Allied pressure meant that by May 1943, the remnants of the Axis forces had been compressed into a small enclave. Once the Allied Operation Vulcan was launched on 6 May, the remnants of the once mighty Afrika Korps disintegrated. Across the north of Tunisia. Allied forces mopped up the last German resistance. When the dust had settled, more than 150,000 Axis troops had fallen into Allied hands, in a defeat o: Stalingrad proportions. Among the units destroyed was the 90th Africa Division.

Order of Battle

Formed on 26 November 1941 from the Division z.b.V. Afrika, the division had: 1/, 21, 3/155th Schutzen Regiment 1/, 2/361st (Afrika Regiment) Infantry Regiment 580th (mixed) Reconnaissance Company 361st Artillery Battalion 900th Pioneer Battalion 190th Signals Company The "many weapons—few men" organization was also applied to the 90th Light Division in February 1942.The proposed organization for it was as follows: 90th Light Afrika Division 155th Infantry Regiment (8 companies) 2 Battalions, each with 4 companies, each company to have 13 MP, 18 LMGs, 2 HMGs, 3 80mm mortars, 3 28mm PzBu41 and 6 76.2mm (r) or 75mm (f) anti-tank guns 1 Self-Propelled Infantry Gun Company (3 platoons) 1 Pioneer Company, with 13 MP, 18 LMGs, 2 HMGs, 3 80mm mortars, 3 28mm PzBu41 and 6 76.2mm (r) or 75mm (f) anti-tank guns 361st Afrika Regiment (5 companies) same as 155th proposed organization 288th Sonderverband (Special Unit) (8 companies, no vehicles) 361st Afrika Artillery Battalion (guns still in Italy; to be expanded to a full regiment, with two battalions, each battalion to have 2 105mm leFH batteries and 1 100mm K 17 gun battery) 3/255th Infantry Regiment (nearly totally destroyed) 3/347th Infantry Regiment (2 1/2 companies) 1/3rd Mixed Signals Company z.b.V. Afrika When the 3/255th Infantry Regiment was destroyed, its remnants were sent to the 288th Infantry Regiment, later becoming the 1/200th Infantry Regiment. Apparently the division was also to have also have the following units attached, but they were never organized: 1 Reconnaissance Battalion (with two mixed reconnaissance companies organized like the 580th) 1 Pioneer Battalion (2 companies, each with 13 MP, 18 LMGs, 2 HMGs, 3 80mm mortars, 3 28mm PzBu41 and 6 50mm PAK 38) 1 Mixed Signals Company (6 medium platoons) On 10 March 1942, when the reorganization was completed, the new structure of the division was as follows: 90th Light Afrika Division 259th.(mot) Mapping Detachment 155th Schutzen Regiment 1 (mot) Staff Company 1st and 2nd Battalions, each with 4 (mot) Companies, each with 18 LMGs, 2 HMGs, 2 80mm mortars, 1 28mm PzBu41 and 2 50mm PAK 38) 200th Schutzen Regiment 1 (mot) Staff Company 1st and 2nd Battalions, each with 4 (mot) Companies, each with 18 LMGs, 2 HMGs, 2 80mm mortars, 1 28mm PzBu41 and 3 50mm PAK 38) 361st (mot) Infantry Regiment 1 (mot) Staff Company 1st and 2nd Battalions, each with 4 (mot) Companies, each with 18 LMGs, 2 HMGs, 2 80mm mortars, 1 28mm PzBu41 and 2 75mm PAK 40) 707th Heavy Self-Propelled Infantry Gun Company (6 150mmsflsIGguns) 708th Heavy Self-Propelled Infantry Gun Company (6 150mm sfl sIG guns) 190th Panzer Battalion 1 Panzer Staff Platoon 1 Panzer Platoon 1 Medium Panzer Company 3 Light Panzer Companies 1 Panzer Replacement Platoon 190th (mot) Artillery Regiment 1 (mot) Regimental Staff Battery 1st and 2nd (mot) Battalions, each with 1 Staff Battery 2 (mot) Batteries (4 105mm leFH 18 and 2 LMGs) 1 (mot) Battery (4 100mm K17 guns and 2 LMGs)

580th (mot) Reconnaissance Company 1 Pioneer Platoon (3 HMGs, 9 LMGs and 3 28mm PzBu41) 1 Armored Car Platoon (6 37mm and 6 LMGs) 1 Panzerjager Platoon (3 50mm PAK 38) 1 Flak Battery (4 20mm and 2 LMGs) 1 90th Panzerjager Battalion 2 (mot) Panzerjager Companies (9 50mm PAK 38 and 6 LMGs ea) 190th (mot) Signals Company Administrative Units 535th (mot) Bakery Company 517th (mot) Butcher company (mot) Ambulance Company (mot) Military Police Detachment 190th (mot) Field Post Office On 1 April 1942 the division was renamed the 90th Light Infantry Division. The 200th Schutzen Regiment, shown above, was actually not formed until 1 April 1942. The 190th Panzer Battalion, though assigned, was not in Africa. On 1 April 1942 the division was renamed the 90th Light Infantry Division and the 155th Schutzen Regiment became the 155th Light Infantry Regiment. The 3/155th Schutzen Regiment was reorganized as the 2/200th Panzergrenadiers and the 3/200th was organized from the 3/347th Infantry Regiment. Then the 361th, 155th, and 200th Infantry Regiments, became Schutzen Regiments. On 16 April 1942 the division was reorganized and contained: 90th Light Afrika Division 259th (mot) Mapping Detachment 155th Schutzen Regiment 1 (mot) Staff Company 1st and 2nd Battalions, each with 4 (mot) Companies (18 LMGs, 2 HMGs, 2 80mm mortars, 1 28mm PzBu41 and 2 75mm PAK 40 ea) 200th Schützen Regiment 1 (mot) Staff Company 1st and 2nd Battalions, each with 4 (mot) Companies (18 LMGs, 2 HMGs, 2 80mm mortars, 1 28mm PzBu41 and 2 75mm PAK 40 ea) 361st (mot) Schiitzen Regiment 1 (mot) Staff Company 1st and 2nd (mot) Battalions, each with 4 (mot) Companies (18 LMGs, 2 HMGs, 2 80mm mortars, 1 28mm PzBu41 and 2 75mm PAK 40 ea) 707th Heavy Self-Propelled Infantry Gun Company (6 150mm sIG sfl guns) 708th Heavy Self-Propelled Infantry Gun Company (6 150mm sIG sfl guns) 1 (mot) Infantry Gun Company (6 150mm sIG guns) 190th Panzer Battalion (not in Africa) 190th (mot) Artillery Regiment 1 (mot) Regimental Staff Battery 1st and 2nd (mot) Battalions, each with 1 Staff Battery 2 (mot) Batteries (4 105mm leFH 18 and 2 LMGs) 1 (mot) Battery (4 100mm K17 guns and 2 LMGs) l/613th (mot) Light Flak Battalion (12 20mm Flak guns) 580th (mot) Reconnaissance Battalion 1 Pioneer Platoon (3 HMGs, 9 LMGs and 3 28mm PzBu41) 1 Armored Car Platoon (6 37mm, 6 LMGs) 1 Panzerjager Platoon (3 50mm PAK 38) 1 Flak Battery (4 20mm) 190th Panzerjager Battalion 2 (mot) Panzerjager Companies (9 50mm PAK 38 and 6 LMGs ea) 190th Pioneer Battalion 2 (mot) Pioneer Companies (9 LMGs, 3 28mm PzBu41 and 3 50mm PAK 38 ea) 190th Panzer Signals Battalion 1 (mot) Telephone Company 1 (mot) Radio Company 1 (mot) Light Signals Supply Column Administrative Units 566th (mot) Maintenance Company 535th (mot) Bakery Company 517th (mot) Butcher company 546th (mot) Munitions Company Divisional Administration 638th (mot) Ambulance Company (mot) Military Police Detachment 190th (mot) Field Post Office On 26 July 1942 the 90th Light Afrika Division was a full division. The three regiments, however, became Panzergrenadier Regiments. The division now consisted of: 1/, 2/155th Panzergrenadier Regiment 1/, 2/200th Panzergrenadier Regiment 1/,2/3 61st Panzergrenadier Regiment 190th Panzer Battalion (not in Africa) 190th Panzerjager Battalion 580th Reconnaissance Battalion 1/, 2/190th Artillery Regiment 900th Pioneer Battalion 190th Divisional Service Units During 1942 the following units were assigned to the 90th Light Afrika Division and operational in Africa: Divisional Staff 259th (mot) Divisional Mapping Detachment 155th (mot) Infantry Regiment 200th (mot) Infantry Regiment 361st (mot) Afrika Infantry Regiment Afrika (mot) Panzergrenadier Regiment Kolbeck Battalion 707th Heavy Infantry Gun Company (150mm sfl sIG guns) 708th Heavy Infantry Gun Company (150mm sfl sIG guns) 190th (mot) Panzerjager Battalion 190th (mot) Artillery Regiment 580th (mot) Reconnaissance Company (mot) Signals Battalion 900th (mot) Pioneer Battalion Feldersatz Battalion 638th (mot) Ambulance Platoon 566th Maintenance Platoon 540th (mot) Munitions Administration Company 535th (mot) Bakery Company 517th (mot) Butcher company (mot) Divisional Administration Bureau (mot) Military Police Detachment 190th (mot) Field Post Office The 259th (mot) Divisional Mapping Detachment was detached to the Staff of Panzer Army Afrika on 26 January 1942. The 200th (mot) Infantry Regiment was formed with one battalion of the 155th Infantry Regiment and the 3/347th Infantry Regiment on 24 March 1942. The 361st (mot) Afrika Infantry Regiment was formed with veterans of the French Foreign Legion. The Afrika (mot) Panzergrenadier Regiment, formerly the Sonderverband 288, was reorganized and renamed on 6 August 1942, though the formal redesignation occurred on 31 October 1942. The Kolbeck Battalion was formed on 25 November 1942 from the 90th Light Division transport and Flak transport personnel. It was reinforced by 500 men from the 361st Afrika Infantry Regiment who were rescued from a New Zealand POW camp. It was put under the command of Major Kolbeck on 28 November. The 707th and 708th Self-Propelled Infantry Gun Companies were detached to the division on 14 August 1942.The 190th (mot) Panzerjager Battalion was formed by combining the 3/33rd Panzerjager Battalion, 3/39th Panzerjager Battalion, and 1/613th Flak Battalion on 24 March 1942. The 190th (mot) Artillery Regiment was formed from the 361st Artillery Regiment on 27 May 1942. The 580th (mot) Reconnaissance Company was reorganized as the 580th Reconnaissance Battalion on 23 May 1942. When the rest of the Afrika Korps was reorganized on 15 August 1942 the 90th Light Afrika Division was also reorganized. Its new organization, actual head count and actual weapons present were as follows: 90th Light Afrika Division 259th (mot) Mapping Detachment 155th Schûtzen Regiment (51 officers/1,145 men) 1 (mot) Staff Company 1st Battalion 4 (mot) Companies (total equipment 34 LMGs, 3 HMGs, 4 80mm mortars and 3 75mm PAK 40) 2nd Battalion 4 (mot) Companies (total equipment 30 LMGs, 8 HMGs, 4 80mm mortars and 4 75mm PAK 40) 200th Schûtzen Regiment (30 officers/898 men) 1 (mot) Staff Company 1st Battalion 4 (mot) Companies (total equipment 44 LMGs, 7 HMGs, 5 80mm mortars, 3 28mm PzBu41 and 7 75mm PAK 40) 2nd Battalion 4 (mot) Companies (total equipment 29 LMGs, 9 HMGs, 4 80mm mortars, 2 28mm PzBu41 and 9 75mm PAK 40) 361st (mot) Infantry Regiment (35 officers/919 men) 1 (mot) Staff Company 1st Battalion 4 (mot) Companies (total equipment 21 LMGs, 8 HMGs' 5 80mm mortars, 0 28mm PzBu41 and 5 75mm PAK 40) 2nd Battalion 4 (mot) Companies (total equipment 30 LMGs, 8 HMGs, 7 80mm mortars, 0 28mm PzBu41 and 3 75mm PAK 40) 707th Heavy Self-Propelled Infantry Gun Company (5 150mm sIG sfl guns) 708th Heavy Self-Propelled Infantry Gun Company (4 150mm sIG sfl guns) 1 (mot) Infantry Gun Company (6 150mm sIG) (newly raised as of 1 Aug. 1942) 190th Panzer Battalion (newly raised as ofl Aug. 1942; not in Africa) 2 Light Panzer Platoons 3 Light Panzer Companies 1 Medium Panzer Company 1 Panzer Maintenance Platoon 1 Panzer Replacement Platoon 1 90th (mot) Artillery Regiment 1 (mot) Regimental Staff Battery 1st (mot) Battalion 1 Staff Battery 1 (mot) Battery (4 British 25pdrs) 1 (mot) Battery (3 British 25pdrs) 1 (mot) Battery (4 76.2mm (r) guns) 2nd (mot) Battalion (newly raised as of 1 Aug. 1942) 1 Staff Battery 2 (mot) Batteries (4 105mm leFH 18 and 2 LMGs ea) 1 (mot) Battery (4 100mm K17 and 2 LMGs ea) 190th (mot) Light Flak Battalion (7 20mm Flak guns) 580th (mot) Reconnaissance Battalion 1 Armored Car Platoon (2 armored cars, 4 MTW and 2 self-propelled gun carriages) 1 (mot) Reconnaissance Company (18 LMGs, 2 HMGs, 3 PzBu3939 and 4 50mm PAK 38) 1 (mot) Heavy Reconnaissance Company 1 Pioneer Platoon 1 Panzerjager Platoon 1 Signals Platoon (total 21 LMGs, 2 HMGs, 1 80mm mortar and 8 50mm PAK 38) 1 (mot) Battery (7 British 25pdrs) 1 (mot) Light Reconnaissance Supply Column 190th Panzerjâger Battalion (6 officers/219 men) 2 (mot) Panzerjager Companies (7 50mm PAK 38) 190th Panzer Signals Battalion 1 PanzerTelephone Company (newly raised as of 1 Aug. 1942) 1 Panzer Radio Company 1 (mot) Light Signals Supply Column (newly raised as of 1 Aug. 1942) 90th Feldersatz Battalion 6 Companies (no heavy weapons) 190th Supply Battalion (appears to be organizing) l-4/190th (mot) Light Supply Columns 566th (mot) Maintenance Company 190th (tmot) Supply Company Administrative Units 190th (mot) Bakery Company 190th (mot) Butcher Company 190th Divisional Administration 546th (mot) Munitions Company I/, 2/190th (mot) Ambulance Companies 2/92nd Medical Company (mot) Military Police Detachment 190th (mot) Field Post Office On 24 September 1942 the division was once again reorganized and now consisted of: 90th Light Afrika Division 259th (mot) Mapping Detachment 155th Schützen Regiment

1 (mot) Staff Company 1st and 2nd Battalions, each with 4 (mot) Companies (18 LMGs, 2 HMGs, 2 80mm mortars, 1 28mm PzBu41 and 6 50mm PAK 38 ea) 200th Schützen Regiment 1 (mot) Staff Company 1st and 2nd Battalions, each with 4 (mot) Companies (18 LMGs, 2 HMGs, 2 80mm mortars, 1 28mm PzBu41 and 6 50mm PAK 38 ea) 361st (mot) Infantry Regiment 1 (mot) Staff Company 1st and 2nd Battalions, each with 4 (mot) Companies (18 LMGs, 2 HMGs, 2 80mm mortars, 1 28mm PzBu41 and 6 75mm PAK 40 ea) (mot) Infantry Gun Company (2 150mm sIG and 4 75mm leIG guns) (mot) Heavy Infantry Gun Company (6 150mm sIG guns) 190th Panzer Battalion (not in Africa) 1 Panzer Staff Platoon 1 Panzer Platoon 1 Medium Panzer Company 3 Light Panzer Companies 1 Panzer Replacement Platoon (theoretical totals 7 PzMk II, 55 PzMk III, 14 PzMk IV and 2 command tanks) 190th (mot) Artillery Regiment 1 (mot) Regimental Staff Battery 1st and 2nd (mot) Battalions, each with 1 Staff Battery 2 (mot) Batteries (4 105mm leFH 18 and 2 LMGs) 1 (mot) Battery (4 100mm K17 guns and 2 LMGs) 190th (mot) Flak Company (12 20mm Flak guns) 190th (self-propelled) Panzerjager Battalion 2 Panzerjager Companies (6 76.2mm (r) PAK and 6 LMGs ea) 190th (mot) Pioneer Battalion 2 (mot) Companies (9 LMGs, 3 28mm PzBu41 and 6 50mm PAK 38 ea) 190th (mot) Panzer Battalion 1 Panzer Telephone Company (6 LMGs) 1 Panzer Radio Company (28 LMGs) 1 (mot) Light Signals Supply Column (3 LMGs) 190th Feldersatz Battalion 6 Companies (6 LMGs and 1 50mm PAK 38 ea) Administrative Units 535th (mot) Bakery Company 517th (mot) Butcher company (mot) Ambulance Company (mot) Military Police Detachment 190th (mot) Field Post Office The 190th Panzer Battalion arrived in Africa between 8 and 22 November 1942. On 26 February 1943 the 580th Reconnaissance Battalion was assigned to the 21st Panzer Division as the 21st Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion and the 3rd Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion was assigned to the 90th Light Afrika Division as the 90th Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion. In May 1943 the division was captured in Tunisia, and it was formally disbanded on 30 June 1943. Its losses in Tunisia were: Division Staff 190th Mapping Detachment 155th Panzergrenadier Regiment Staff, staff company, 2 battalions and 9th Infantry Gun Company 200th Panzergrenadier Regiment Staff, staff company, 2 battalions and 9th Infantry Gun Company 361st Panzergrenadier Regiment Staff, staff company, and 2 battalions 90th Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion 3 companies and 1 battery 90th Panzerjager Battalion 3 companies (staff still in Italy) 190th Artillery Regiment Staff, 2 battalions (each with staff and 6 batteries; appears 2nd Battalion and staff company still in Italy) 2/22nd Artillery Regiment (3/190th) Staff and 3 batteries 190th Light Flak Battalion 190th Signals Battalion 2 companies and light supply column 190th Pioneer Battalion Staff, 3 companies and light supply column 190th Feldersatz Battalion Staff and 3 (6) companies

Battle of Tobruk

10 Apr 1941 - 27 Nov 1941 In mid-Feb 1941, German forces began to arrive in North Africa. Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel, untried before the French campaign but by now a proven effective field commander, took command of this force. He immediate set forth an aggressive plan, starting his offensive on 24 Mar 1941, capturing El Agheila on the first day. This offensive surprised the British, who thought the German build up in North Africa was slow, and the Germans would not be ready for an attack until some time between mid-Apr and mid- May. On 2 Apr, Agedabia and Zuetania in Libya were both taken by his troops, followed by Msus (location of major fuel and supply dump; all fuel sabotaged by the British to prevent Axis capture) on 6 Apr and Derna on 7 Apr. On 6 Apr, the British military governor of Cyrenaica Lieutenant General Philip Neame withdrew his headquarters to Tmimi, which was west of Tobruk; his column was intercepted by a German patrol near Martuba during the night of 7 Apr 1941, and both Neame and Lieutenant General Richard O'Connor were captured. On 8 Apr, commanding officer of the Australian 7th Infantry Division Major General John Lavarack assumed Neame's responsibilities. On 8 Apr, the Allied defense at Mechili fell apart. On 9 Apr, Axis troops had arrived in the vicinity of Tobruk in eastern Libya. On 10 Apr, Rommel ordered the 15th Panzer Division under General Heinrich von Prittwitz und Gaffron to attack Tobruk directly from the west. Rommel's original plan was to perform a flanking movement to the east of Tobruk to surround the port city before launching a direct assault, but when he arrived he thought the Allied defenses were so weak that such a move was not necessary. Tobruk was garrisoned by troops of the Australian 9th Division under Lieutenant General Leslie Morshead; the 20th, 24th, and 26th Brigades of Australian 9th Division held their ground, killing Prittwitz on the first day of the attack. Overall, Morshead had about 25,000 fighters, British, Australian, and Indian, available for the defense. Lavarack was withdrawn to Egypt, thus would not play a direct role in the eventual Axis siege of Tobruk.

Later on 11 Apr, Rommel reverted back to his original plan, and by the morning of 11 Apr he was successful in surrounding Tobruk with a flanking movement. To the east of Tobruk stood troops of the German 5th Light Division; to the south was the German 15th Panzer Division; finally, the Italian Brescia Division was positioned west of Tobruk. Behind these three groups, Rommel still held three Italian infantry divisions and one Italian armored division (Ariete). Just after noon on 11 Apr, the second attack on Tobruk's defenses began with the 5th Panzer Regiment of the German 5th Light Division attacking troops of the Australian 20th Infantry Brigade just west of the El Adem road; this attack was halted with 5 German tanks destroyed. At 1500 hours, 400 German infantry advanced, but this attack was also stopped. At 1600 hours, about 700 German troops attacked the same location once again, supported by German and Italian tanks; the Axis tanks soon became bogged down in the antitank traps, and the attack was driven back with great casualties after the arrival of four British tanks. Soon after sun down on 13 Apr, the German 5th Light Division launched a renewed attack; the Australian 8th Machine Gun Battalion held off the attack, and Corporal John Edmonston would later be awarded the Victoria Cross for his efforts during this defense. In the early hours of 14 Apr, another attack was mounted that saw the German 5th Panzer Regiment securing a small bridgehead on the El Adem road; 16 of the 36 German tanks dispatched for this attack were destroyed by dug-in British Crusader tanks by the time the Germans withdrew.

On 15 Apr, Rommel shifted the weight of the attack on the western side of Tobruk. At 1730 hours, 1,000 Italian troops attacked the defensive line held by the 2nd Battalion of the Australian 24th Brigade, overrunning one position quickly; only the arrival of an additional company plus heavy artillery fire by the 51st Field Artillery Regiment drove back the Italians. On 16 Apr, the 1st Battalion of the Italian 62nd "Trento" Regiment attacked from the direction of Acroma, with tanks from the Italian Ariete Division trailing behind for support; 51st Field Artillery Regiment once again halted the Italian attack, while Australian infantry flanked the offensive, forcing the Italians to withdraw.

During the night of 19 to 20 Apr, the British launched a raid on Bardia behind German lines. Although poor intelligence and poor execution marred the operation, it was successful in that it forced Rommel to garrison troops at Bardia to guard against further raids when they could had been used on the front lines in an offensive role.

Throughout the day on 30 Apr, Axis artillery shells fell on the defensive positions near Ras el Madauar to the west of Tobruk. At 2000 hours, Axis tanks equipped with grappling hooks destroyed a section of barbed wire, allowing German troops, supported by German tanks, to rush in. Post S1, one of many posts manned by men of A Company of 2nd Battalion of Australian 24th Brigade, fell quickly as its defenders could not contest with the fire from two German tanks. The same two tanks then proceeded to overwhelm post S2, which contained the A Company headquarters, in the same manner. Shortly after, posts R0 and R1 also fell, but the posts' 2- pounder guns were able to knock out a number of German tanks before being silenced. In the early hours of 1 May, posts S5 fell, followed by S4, S6, S7, and R2 through R7 after daybreak. Posts S8, S9, and S10 resisted the initial attacks by Italian infantry, but eventually fell as well despite the presence of 12 British tanks in the sector. After a penetration of about 3 kilometers, it was a minefield that finally stopped the Italian-German advance; by this time, the Axis forces had lost its momentum but now possessed many defensive posts as well as the area's highest fort. By this time, the 2nd Battalion of the Australian 24th Brigade had about half of its strength lost to combat casualties or to captivity. On 3 May, the Australians launched a counterattack with men of the Australian 18th Brigade, thus far held in reserve; the counterattack was only able to capture one post, while the Italian defenders fought of attacks on all other posts. On 4 May, the lack of progress led to Rommel calling off the offensive. This action was later named the Battle of the Salient.

The successive failures by the Italian and German troops to break through caused Rommel to shift strategy. While he gathered strength for the next attack, he placed Tobruk in a state of siege by 5 divisions of Italian troops (Ariete, Trieste, Pavia, Bologna, and Brescia). The Italian troops launched frequent small offensives against the Australians during the siege. One of the more successful attacks took place during the night of 16 May, where two platoons of the Italian 32nd Combat Sappers Battalion breached barbed wires and minefields, allowing troops and tanks to come through and gain several bunkers, although Colonel Emilio Caizzo, commanding officer of the 32nd Combat Sappers Battalion, was killed in that action.

The Australians were not silent. On 2 Aug, two Australian companies attacked Italian positions with the support of over 60 field guns. Italian troops fought back with ferocity, halting the attack after inflicting heavy casualties. This particular attack, however, represented the last Australian attempt to regain positions lost in early May.

Although this lengthy campaign was called a siege, the Axis forces actually were unable to completely surround Tobruk. Because the British Royal Navy controlled the Mediterranean Sea, warships were able to bring in fresh supplies and evacuate the wounded; occasionally, they even provided gunfire support. During Aug 1941, the Australian and Indian troops were gradually being replaced by the Polish Carpathian Brigade and the Czechoslovakian 11th Infantry Battalion (East). In Sep and Oct, the British 70th Infantry Division and the British 32nd Army Tank Brigade arrived. By this time, only one Australian battalion and two Australian companies remained in Tobruk; all other Australian units were withdrawn. Around the same time, Morshead was replaced by Major General Ronald Scobie. The siege on Tobruk was lifted in late Nov due to the success of the Allied Operation Crusader offensive which began on 18 Nov 1941. Between Apr and Nov 1941, the Allies suffered over 3,000 casualties and 941 captured, most of whom were Australian. The Axis suffered about 8,000 casualties. Siege of Tobruk Timeline

The Battles of EL Alamein The Alamein position was almost the only unflankable position in the Western Desert. Forty miles south of El Alamein lay the Qattara Depression: a huge mixture of salt marshes and quicksand that was impassable to wheeled or tracked vehicles. This time, Rommel would not be able to go around the enemy's left flank. He would have to launch a frontal assault. Figure 36.1 shows the situation as of July 1. 1

Meanwhile, in Alexandria, panic set in. Diplomats, soldiers, and civilians alike had lost faith in the 8th Army's ability to deny Rommel his goals. The British fleet left the port of Alexandria as Rommel approached, and demolition squads prepared to blow up the harbor installations. Many civilians fled to Cairo, which suffered terrible traffic -.ams due to the emigration. Telltale smoke appeared from the British embassy: the diplomats were burning their secret papers. Meanwhile, various military headquarters evacuated the city; long columns of army trucks sped off in the direction of Palestine, while the few remaining combat worthy units of the X Corps dug in on the Nile; and General Auchinleck actually considered giving up Egypt and sending the 8th Army to the Sudan, Palestine, and Iraq.1 The Rommel legend had grown to such an extent that his very name was enough to spread terror in the enemy's capitals. Unfortunately for him, Rommel had little Jeft but his name. His entire German contingent consisted of 55 wornout panzers, 15 armored scout cars, 77 field guns, 65 anti-tank guns including a few 88s), and about 2,000 tired infantrymen. To make matters worse, his supply lines now collapsed completely. Of the 60,000 ams he needed each month, the Axis authorities could deliver only 3,000, mainly because the British were forewarned of the departure times and routes of merchant convoys via ULTRA intercepts and by spies and traitors in Rome.

Rommel began the First Battle of El Alamein with only the vaguest idea of the British dispositions; however, at El Alamein, he was not a lucky as he had been at Mersa Matruh. The 90th Light lost its way and ran into the Alamein box instead of bypassing it. The 3rd South Afr can Brigade kept it pinned down until a sandstorm provided it cover to withdraw. Under the cover of the blowing sand, the 90th moved south, but when the dust finally settled, the division found itself in open terrain among the South African brigades and within range of the 1st Armoured Division's artillery, which tore it to pieces; some elements panicked and the tough, veteran division was almost routed. Meanwhile, to the south, General Nehring led the Afrika Korps forward and ran into the 18th Indian. The courageous Indian brigade was annihilated, but the DAK lost 18 of its 55 remaining tanks. "[T]he fighting edge of the Afrika Korps was finally blunted," Mellenthin wrote.

Rommel attacked again on July 2, but was turned back by the South Africans and the 1st Armoured Division. He planned to launch a concentrated assault on the Alamein Box on July 3, but Auchinleck beat him to the punch, and sent the 2nd New Zealand Division forward in a bayonet charge against the Ariete. The best Italian unit in Panzer Army Afrika broke and ran, leaving behind 28 of its 30 field guns and several tanks. To meet this threat to his desert flank, the field marshal was forced to pull the 15th Panzer Division out of his main attack and send it south. As a result, the attack on the Alamein Box failed. Rommel now had no choice but to admit defeat and go over to the defensive, awaiting the arrival of the X and XXI Italian Infantry Corps, which were marching toward the front—perfect targets for the Royal Air Force. Then he would be able to withdraw his mobile elements from the front, create a reserve, and attack again. Grimly, the weary and filthy survivors of the Afrika Korps and 90th Light dug in. Mercifully they did not know what was in store for them, but one thing was clear: the glorious advance to the Nile was at an end.

Now that it was too late to achieve decisive results, Rommel was finally reinforced. Kesselring flew in more elements of the 164th Infantry Division from Crete to Tobruk, where they joined units already in Africa to form the 164th Light Afrika Division. In addition, the Luftwaffe began ferrying the 2nd Parachute Brigade across the Mediterranean, and the Italians contributed the Folgore Parachute Division and two infantry divisions—units released by the cancellation of the Malta invasion. To bolster his badly undermanned defenses, Rommel employed what for him was a new weapon: the land mine. He requested thousands from Berlin and dug up thousands more from the Galaza Line, Mersa Matruh, and Tobruk. Rommel's natural grasp of mine warfare was fantastic, and the mine soon became a major part of the Axis defensive line at El Alamein. On the other side of the line, Auchinleck hastily rebuilt his units and brought up the 9th Australian and 8th Armoured Divisions. By August, 8th Army had 400 tanks, 500 guns, 7,000 vehicles, and 75,000 tons of supplies. Rommel's men, on the other hand, continued to live almost exclusively on supplies captured at the Gazala Line and at Tobruk.

During this brief lull, Auchinleck came up with a plan designed to destroy Panzer Army Afrika once and for all. He realized that the Italian divisions were used up, so he deliberately concentrated against them, forcing Rommel to use the Afrika Korps as a fire brigade, so it he would be too busy restoring his front and saving Italians to have no opportunity to launch a major offensive itself. Auchinleck began his offensive on July 5, when the XIII Corps attacked Rommel's southern flank. This advance was checked in three days of fighting, after Rommel committed much of his depleted reserve. Then, on the 8th, Auchinleck struck Rommel's northern flank with a huge artillery bombardment (10,000 shells were fired), followed by an infantry attack, which was turned back by the 15th Panzer Division.

On July 10, Auckinleck struck again. Along the Coastal Road, the fresh 9th Australian Infantry Division attacked the Italian Sabratha Division, which melted away in minutes.2 The panzer army's tactical headquarters was only a few miles behind the Italian infantry. The senior officer present, Colonel von Mellenthin, recalled driving to the front and seeing [HJundreds of Italians streamed towards me in panic-stricken rout ... I immediately got in touch with [Panzer Army Afrika] Headquarters and scraped together everything I could in the way of staff personnel, flak, infantry, supply units, field kitchen companies ... and with these heterogeneous troops faced the Australian attack. In bitter hand-to-hand fighting, in which staff officers manned machine guns, we managed to halt the first enemy rush.

At this most opportune moment, a new German unit, the 382nd Grenadier Regiment of the 164th Light Afrika Division, arrived on the battlefield. It had no vehicles, but marched straight into the combat and halted the Australian attack within 3,000 yards of panzer army headquarters. Unfortunately, most of the Wireless Intercept Service, including its commander, had been killed. "The Tommies have netted two battalions of the Sabratha shits," Rommel reported, "It ... makes you puke." Auchinleck launched several more major attacks in July 1942. All were repulsed. The First Battle of El Alamein ended on July 27. The British 8th Army, which was shaken by the failure of 10 successive attacks, had lost 13,000 men, as opposed to 7,000 for Panzer Army Afrika (fewer than 1,500 of them German). It is ironic that Auchinleck stopped attacking when Rommel was on the verge of defeat. His artillery was out of ammunition and the few remaining panzers had only a few shells left. He had already decided to retreat to the frontier if the attacks were resumed.

Battle of Alam Halfa Ridge

With the failure of Auchinleck's last attack, a lull descended on the North African Front. Churchill visited Egypt near the end of the month, relieved Sir Claude Auchinleck of his commands, and replaced him as commander-in-chief, Middle East, with General (later Field Marshal) Sir Harold Alexander. General Gott was named commander of 8th Army, but he was killed by a Luftwaffe fighter on July 26 and was replaced by General Sir Bernard Law Montgomery. General Sir Brian Horrocks succeeded Gott as the commander of the XIII Corps.

Meanwhile, the Allies won the supply war. In the central Mediterranean, they now had 250 British airplanes on Malta, and they (along with Malta-based submarines and surface vessels) were able to choke off Rommel's supply lines and defeat the II Air Corps' efforts to neutralize the island. In North Africa, Anglo-American naval forces unloaded 500,000 tons of supplies for 8th Army in the second half of August, as opposed to 13,000 tons for Rommel: a supply imbalance of 38 to 1. Rommel, therefore, decided to launch one, last, desperate effort to break through to the Nile. The Panzer Army General Staff informed Rommel that he would be outnumbered three to one in tank strength and five to one in aircraft when the battle started. Even the Desert Fox considered abandoning the offensive, but, on August 27, met with Cav-allero and Kesselring and demanded a minimum fuel reserve of 6,000 tons. "The outcome of the battle depends on the punctual delivery of this fuel," the Desert Fox declared, emphatically. "You can start your battle, Field Marshal," Cavallero replied. "The fuel is already on the way." The chief of the Italian High Command did, in fact, try his best to deliver the fuel by sending four tankers to Africa. The British sank all four. Rommel was nearly out of fuel and virtually defeated before the battle began.

Montgomery correctly assumed that Rommel would attack his southern flank, so he assembled an overwhelming force of 700 tanks in this sector. Rommel had only 259 panzers (most of them worn out) in his entire army. The Desert Fox waited until the last possible moment to attack, but the full moon that the engineers needed to breach the minefields was already on the wane, so he struck on August 30, despite the fact that he had not received his promised fuel. Figure 36.2 shows the Battle of Alma Haifa Ridge.

The attack was a nightmare. The DAK broke through the frontline of the XIII Corps quickly enough, but then ran into a dense minefield, which was covered by the 7th Armoured Division. As the Axis attack stalled in the open terrain, the Royal Air Force shot up the motorized columns and lit up the area with a new magnesium flare called the Christmas tree. The entire battlefield was soon as light as day. Among those killed were Major General Georg von Bismarck, who was personally leading the 21st Panzer Division forward when his tank was incinerated. General of Panzer Troops Walter Nehring, the commander of the Afrika Korps, was seriously wounded by a fighter- bomber. Colonel Fritz Bayerlein, Nehring's chief of staff, temporarily assumed command of the DAK. Major General Ulrich Kleeman, the commander of the 90th Light, was also seriously wounded. Rommel had lost three of his top four German commanders within three hours of the start of the offensive. The Afrika Korps did not succeed in breaching the minefield until after dawn. Rommel struck his first blow at Alam Haifa that evening but was met by the entire British 44th Infantry Division (a fresh unit) and the 22nd Armoured Brigade, with dug-in tanks and heavy artillery support. One British tank squadron was wiped out, but Horrocks' line held.

The decisive attack came on September 1. The 21st Panzer Division was so low in fuel that it could not be used, so Rommel (who was now so sick that he could not get out of his cot most of the time) struck with only the 15th Panzer, which had only 70 operational tanks left. Horrocks met it with two infantry and two armored divisions, as well as much of the 8th Armoured Brigade—more than 400 tanks in all. Colonel Crasemann led his division up the face of the ridge, only to be taken in the flank by the 7th Armoured Division. A fierce but unequal tank battle ensued; meanwhile, British artillery fired round after round into German ranks, and the Royal Air Force fighters and fighter-bombers roamed all over the battlefield, striking again and again. In all, they dropped an estimated 1,300 tons of bombs on Axis positions from August 30 to September 4. By late afternoon the whole battlefield was littered with burning tanks and motorized vehicles—most of them German. The attack had failed; Erwin Rommel had suffered his "Stalingrad of the Desert.”

Panzer Army Afrika began its retreat on September 1, but it was all too slow, because it was virtually out of fuel. The relay bombing continued for the next four nights, inflicting even heavier casualties on the Afrika Korps. Had Montgomery launched a major counteroffensive at this point, he might well have won a decisive victory, but he did not. The retreat finally ended on September 6. Rommel wrote, "With the failure of this offensive, our last chance of gaining the Suez Canal had gone. We could now expect that the full production of British industry and, more important, the enormous potential of America ... would finally turn the tide against us." It already had. Panzer Army Afrika was doomed.

The second battle of El Alamein After his defeat at Alam Halfa Ridge, Rommel fell back and incorporated the captured Allied minefields into his own defensive network. He manned his frontline with six Italian infantry divisions, along with the 164th Light Afrika Division, which held his northern flank. Behind the front lay his mobile reserve and his best divisions: the 90th Light in the north, the 15th Panzer in the center, and the 21st Panzer to the south. The 90th Light was now commanded by Major General Count Theodor von Sponeck; Major General Hans von Randow took charge of the 21st Panzer; and Lieutenant General Ritter Wilhelm von Thoma (a general of panzer troops as of November 1) succeeded Nehr-ing as commander of the Afrika Korps. Vaerst, meanwhile, resumed command of the 15th Panzer Division, and General of Panzer Troops Georg Stumme arrived in Africa as Rommel's deputy commander. (Goering had persuaded Hitler to release Stumme and his former chief of staff, Colonel Gerhard Franz, who were in prison because of a security violation.) The Desert Fox then returned to Europe, to undergo liver and blood- pressure treatment at Semmering, a mountain resort in Austria, and Stumme assumed command of the panzer army. General Stumme did what he could to prepare for Montgomery's offensive, but he was badly outnumbered in every category. Strawson called the Second Battle of El Alamein "the antithesis of the blitzkrieg." Rommel called it "a battle without hope." Montgomery began it at 9:40 p.m. on the night of October 23, when a massive artillery bombardment blasted a five-mile sector of the German lines. Fifteen artillery regiments—more than 1,200 guns—took part in the shelling. More than 500 of these guns had a caliber heavier than 105 millimeters. The density of guns was 240 guns per mile, or one cannon for every 7.3 yards of frontage. The main concentration was against Major General Carl-Hans Lungershausen's 164th Light Afrika Division, which endured five hours of uninterrupted fury. Entire units were buried alive; command posts were wiped out, communication? were totally disrupted, and a large part of Rommel's minefields (called Devil's Gardens) were detonated prematurely by the concussion of the blasts. The attack had a particularly bad effect on the Italians, entire battalions of which fled to the rear in complete disarray.

At 1 a.m. on October 24, the Allied ground attack began. Montgomery's plan was to launch his major attack in the north. Lieutenant General Sir Oliver Leese's XXX Corps struck with five infantry divisions, supported by two armored brigades. Once they achieved the decisive breakthrough, Monty's plan called for the X Corps (Lieutenant General Herbert Lumsden) to exploit the situation with the 1st and 10th Armoured Divisions. Meanwhile, to the south, Horrocks' XIII Corps would attack with three divisions and three brigades and pin down the forces on Stumme's right and center. This phase of Montgomery's battle plan, however, did not survive contact with the enemy.

Many of the South Africans and New Zealanders who led the advance on the northern flank did not expect to find a single German left alive. Instead, they ran into the remnants of the 125th Motorized Infantry Regiment of the 164th Light, which fought with unbelievable tenacity and turned back two full Allied divisions. South of the 125th, the 382nd Motorized Infantry Regiment checked the 9th Australian and 51st Highlander Divisions, but could not prevent a breakthrough when the Aussies found the gap created by the rout of the 62nd (Trento) Italian Infantry. Lungershausen and Major General Fritz Krause, the commander of Arko 104 (the 104th Artillery Command— the Panzer Army Artillery), however, had wisely ordered their artillery not to fire during Montgomery's initial bombardment; as a result, it had survived the barrage and now opened up on the Allied infantry with devastating effect. Finally, Lungershausen threw in his reserve (the 433rd Motorized Infantry Regiment) into the battle, halting the 9th Australian and 51st Highlander. Casualties had been heavy on both sides, but Montgomery had been denied his breakthrough—for the moment, at least.

Meanwhile, General Stumme followed the tradition of the German panzer commander and was leading from the front. En route to the headquarters of the 90th Light Division, he took a detour to observe the enemy's advance. Suddenly he came under machine gun fire. Colonel Andreas Buechting, the chief signal officer of the panzer army, was hit in the head and fell back into the staff car, mortally wounded. Stumme jumped on the running board of the car and ordered the driver to get out of there—an order which he obeyed with audacity. In the excitement, the driver did not notice that the general suffered a heart attack and fell off of the running board. For several hours no one knew what had happened to him. Lieutenant General von Thoma, the commander of the Afrika Korps, reported to Berlin that Stumme was missing in action and assumed command of the panzer army himself.3 Montgomery's attacks, like blows from a sledgehammer, continued all night and into the daylight hours of October 24. The Italians south of the 164th Light were attacked by more than 100 American Grant and Sherman tanks. They panicked and fled to the rear, yelling "Front kaput, front kaput!" Thoma restored the situation by launching a counterattack with the 8th Panzer Regiment, which forced the Allied armor back into a minefield, where 35 Shermans were destroyed. This setback did not deter Montgomery, however; he simply called for massive Royal Air Force airstrikes against the 8th Panzer and launched another attack on the southern flank. This one was turned back by the 21st Panzer and Ariete Divisions, Thoma's last reserves in that sector.

Monty's crumbling operations continued all afternoon on the 24th. Hitler personally telephoned the Desert Fox in Austria and asked him to start for Egypt immediately. Rommel took off from Wiener Neustadt a short time later. Aboard a Storch reconnaissance airplane, Rommel landed near his tactical headquarters at nightfall on October 25. Thoma met with him a few hours later and briefed him on the desperate situation. By now, Stumme's body had been found, Trento had been smashed, the 164th Light badly damaged, the Afrika Korps fuel was almost gone, and the 15th Panzer Division had only 3,294 men and 31 battleworthy tanks left. "Rommel could do nothing," Colonel Bayerlein recalled. "No major decisions which could alter the course of events were possible."

Despite the odds against him, Rommel checked every Allied attack for a week. At the end of October, Monty regrouped for another major offensive, which he appropriately codenamed "Supercharge." He planned to have the Australians attack north for the Coastal Road during the night of October 30-31, in an effort to force Rommel to commit his reserves; then he would launch the main attack against Rommel's center, just west of Kidney Ridge. According to the plan, the 2nd New Zealand Division (supported by the 23rd Armoured Brigade and two British infantry brigades) would break through and would be followed by 400 British tanks at dawn on November 2. They would destroy whatever was left of the Afrika Korps.

The Australian attack began on the night of October 30-31. With generous artillery support, they broke through the remnants of the 125th Motorized Infantry Regiment and cut the Coastal Road. General von Thoma led an immediate counterattack with all available force; but could not reach the encircled regiment. The next day, Rommel personally scraped together a battle group, consisting of elements of the 21st Panzer and 90th Light Divisions, and broke through the Aussies, rescuing the gallant 125th. However, this move drew most of the German reserves into the northern sector, well away from Montgomery - intended point of attack—just as the British general had planned.

By this point, Rommel's men were almost out of ammunition and had only 90 operational panzers and 140 nearly useless Italian tanks left, as opposed to 800 operational tanks for the 8th Army.

The main attack began on both sides of Kidney Ridge on the night of November 1-2, and the fighting was savage. The northern prong broke through the 15th Panzer Division, but was checked by elements of the 90th Light. To the south, Lumsden's X Corps overran a regiment of the Trieste Division and a battalion of German infantry. Colonel Wilhelm Teege's 8th Panzer Regiment lost 35 of its tanks— half of its total strength. British losses were also heavy. The 9th Armoured Brigade alone lost 70 of its 94 tanks, but Lumsden had torn a 4,000 yard hole in the German front. Rommel knew that he would have to close this gap, or the battle was lost.

On November 2, Ritter von Thoma launched two major attacks against the "Supercharge" forces, and again the fighting was desperate. "The enemy fought with all the certain knowledge that all was at stake, and with all the skill of his long experience in armored fighting," Montgomery wrote later.10 Both of Thoma's attacks were thrown back.4 Then 400 of Lumsden's tanks surged forward again. The 15th Panzer Division quickly rallied and made a last-ditch stand that has since been known as the Battle of Tel el Aqqaqir—one of the most desperate battles in the history of armored warfare. It was the death ride of the 8th Panzer Regiment. Willi Teege led his men forward into the counterattack with reckless abandon. Soon the battlefield was littered with burning British vehicles, but weight of numbers decided the battle in the end. All 35 of Teege's panzers were destroyed; the colonel died with his men. The elite 8th Panzer Regiment was effectively wiped out, and the 33rd Panzer Artillery Regiment lost all but seven of its guns. The once mighty 15th Panzer Division—half of the Afrika Korps—was thus reduced to a strength of zero tanks and seven guns.

Disaster overtook the panzer army all along the line. Shortly before noon, the Trieste and Littorio Divisions finally broke under the strain and headed for the rear. Rommel, who now had only 35 German tanks left, took the desperate step of throwing the Ariete Armored Division into battle against the Lees, Grants, and Shermans. "The dead are lucky," Rommel wrote to wife. Montgomery did not attack on November 3, the day Rommel began his retreat from the Alamein line. For a time it looked as if he would be able to at least get his motorized formations back to Tripolitania, but, at 1 p.m., a message arrived from Fuehrer Headquarters. It commanded Rommel to— (S)tand fast, yield not a yard of ground, and throw every gun and every man into the battle----It would not be the first time in history that a strong will has triumphed over bigger battalions. As to your troops, you can show them no other road than that to victory or death.

Rommel was stunned. When he finished reading the dispatch, he simply sat down and stared blankly out the window. The sound of artillery fire was distinctly audible.

Rommel, for perhaps the first time in his life, did not know what to do. Finally he told Colonel Westphal: "So far I have always insisted upon unqualified obedience from my men ... even if they do not understand my orders or consider them wrong. Personally I cannot depart from this principle and I must submit to it."

"That means the end of the army," the chief of staff said.

"I am a soldier," Rommel answered. Shortly thereafter he ordered his regiments to reoccupy their former positions and to hold them at all costs. He would live to regret this decision. Hitler's order greatly affected the German soldiers, most of whom still believed in the Nazi dictator. "At the Fuehrer's command they were ready to sacrifice themselves to the last man," Rommel wrote later.14 The 164th Light beat back several Allied attacks on the northern flank, but a South African armored car regiment pushed through Rommel's broken center and into his rear, destroying transport and supply columns and generally spreading confusion and disorganization. They also cut the supply lines of the troops to the south, adding food and water shortages on top of everything else.

That night, Rommel agonized over his situation. Did he have the right to disobey his Supreme Commander or not? He sought out Major Elmar Warning of Westphal's staff and argued with himself. Warning, a tall, bald, bullet-headed man, was a good listener. Finally, Rommel declared, "My men's lives come first! The Fuehrer is crazy." Even so, he signaled Rastenburg and requested that the order be rescinded. He was still awaiting a reply when daylight broke. The first major Allied attack, which was spearheaded by 200 tanks, began at 8 a.m. Ritter von Thoma met it with 20 panzers; nevertheless, despite odds of 10 to 1, he turned it back. By now, the 8th Army had lost more than 500 tanks, or roughly three times the number lost by Rommel. Montgomery, however, could afford the losses; Rommel could not. The British attacked again, and von Thoma made his last stand with Rommel's old Kampfstaffel (personal battle group-approximately 350 men) around a dune called Tel el Mampsra. He lost his last tank about noon. With his command virtually wiped out, he stood, tall and erect, beside a burning panzer, facing the enemy. Almost miraculously, he survived a hail of machine gun fire without being touched. Then the firing suddenly stopped, and several Shermans and a British jeep slowly approached his position. The general walked toward the jeep and got in without saying a word. That night, General von Thoma dined with Bernard Montgomery, who liked him and treated him with great courtesy. Thoma, in turn invited Monty to visit him at his home in Bavaria after the war. This mutual admiration by two opposing soldiers was the subject of considerable criticism by the news media in England, the United States and Germany. It was not criticized in North Africa by either side. Churchill, however, commiserated with the German. "Poor von Thoma!" he declared. "I, too, have dined with Montgomery."

Of course, he was only joking. I think.

South of Tel el Mampsra, the Italian XX Motorized Corps resisted courageously, but its "mobile coffins" were no match for modern Allied tanks. By the evening of November 4, the Ariete and Littorio Armored and Trieste Motorized Divisions had been destroyed, except for a few reararea units—all because of a senseless order issued by a Supreme Commander hundreds of miles away from the battlefield.

Erwin Rommel was filled with bitterness. That afternoon, he ordered a retreat to begin that night, in direct disobedience of the Fuehrer. Later, Hitler blamed a major on the staff of OKW for the disaster, stating this man had failed to awaken him and inform him of the true situation. The major, a scapegoat, was disgraced, broken to the rank of private, and sent to a labor battalion. He only barely escaped a firing squad. Hitler, however, should never have issued the order in the first place, as the Desert Fox knew. For the first time, he was disappointed and disillusioned with the Fuehrer: a pregnant moment in the history of Nazi Germany. Meanwhile, the remnants of Panzer Army Afrika fell back to the west. After blowing up more than 40 tanks in the repair shops that they could not take with them, Rommel's army had only 12 tanks left. A dozen tanks in the whole army. A far cry from the proud legions that had so confidently smashed the Gazala Line, overrun Tobruk and invaded Egypt only four and a half months before.

Commanders Generalmajor "Max Sümmermann" (July 17, 1941 – December 10, 1941:

KIA) Oberst "Johann Mickl" (December 11, 1941 – December 27, 1941) Generalmajor "Richard Veith" (December 28, 1941 – April 28, 1942) Generalmajor "Ulrich Kleemann" (April 29, 1942 – June 14, 1942) Oberst "Werner Marcks" (June 14, 1942 – June 18, 1942) Oberst "Erwin Menny" (June 18, 1942 – June 19, 1942) Oberst "Werner Marcks" (June 19, 1942 – June 21, 1942) Generalmajor "Ulrich Kleemann" (June 21, 1942 – September 8, 1942) Generalmajor "Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke" (September 8, 1942 – September 17, 1942) Oberst "Hermann Schulte-Heuthaus" (September 17, 1942 – September 22, 1942) Generalleutnant "Theodor Graf von Sponeck" (September 22, 1942 – May 12, 1943) Generalleutnant "Carl-Hans Lungershausen" (May 23, 1943 – December 20, 1943) Generalleutnant "Ernst-Günther Baade" (December, 1943 – December, 1944) General der Panzertruppe "Gerhard von Schwerin" (December, 1944 – April 1, 1945) Generalmajor "Heinrich Baron von Behr" (April 1, 1945 – April 28, 1945)

Oberst "Johann Mickl" Dates: * 18. April 1893, Zekting / Steiermark - † 10. April 1945, Rijeka / Istrien (gefallen) Johann Mickl joined in 1911 as an officer cadet in the Theresian Military Academy in Wiener-Neustadt a. On August 1, 1914, he was promoted to lieutenant and took in the Imperial and Royal Landwehr Infantry Regiment 4 at the 1st World War part. On 26 August 1914, he was severely wounded by a shot in the chest and spent the time until April 1915 at the hospital. Subsequently, he was training officer and promoted to Lieutenant on 1 May 1915. He returned to the Western Front, where he was wounded five more times. When the war ended he was logistics officer and was taken in the Austrian Army in 1920. There he was promoted on 1 January 1921, Captain, on 25 September 1928 he became the Major. On 15 February 1935 he was General Staff Officer at the 3rd Brigade in St. Pölten. Poland and France Mickl commanded the 42nd Panzerjäger Battalion of Generalmajor

(brigadier) Georg Stumme's 2nd Light Division during the invasion of Poland, for which he was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class. He remained in charge of the battalion during the Battle of France when the division, renamed the 7th Panzer Division, was commanded by Generalmajor Erwin Rommel. Mickl got along well with Rommel, and his battalion fought well but suffered serious casualties during the Battle of Arras while trying to stop the heavily armoured tanks of the British 1st Army Tank Brigade with its 37 mm anti-tank guns. Mickl was promoted to Oberst and was also awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class in June 1940. After the French surrender, Mickl was attached to the division's 25th Panzer Regiment to gain more knowledge about armoured tactics, and in December 1940 was appointed to command the 7th Rifle Regiment of the division. He remained in this role during occupation duties in southwestern France, redeployment to Germany, and during the division's preparation for the invasion of the Soviet Union.

North Africa In late May 1941, Mickl was suddenly transferred to North Africa at Rommel's request, and was appointed to command the 155th Rifle Regiment of the composite Afrika (Special Purpose) Division. During the North African campaign Mickl and his regiment fought in the Siege of Tobruk, including the early British attempts to relieve the garrison, Operations Brevity and Battleaxe. During the Battle of Sidi Rezegh, Mickl was captured by elements of the New Zealand Division on 26 November 1941. Under guard at a temporary collection point, Mickl quickly organised the 800 prisoners of war who overwhelmed the camp guard. The group then escaped across the desert to the west, eventually reaching the German lines. Rommel recommended Mickl for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, which was awarded in December 1941. When his division commander, Generalmajor Max Sümmermann, was killed on 10 December 1941, Mickl was appointed to temporarily command the division for the rest of the month. The harsh conditions of desert warfare had begun to affect Mickl's health, so at the end of December he was sent back to Europe for several weeks' rest.

Eastern Front In March 1942, Mickl was appointed to command the 12th Rifle Brigade of Generalmajor Erpo Freiherr von Bodenhausen's 12th Panzer Division, which was deployed in Reichskommissariat Ostland (today's Estonia), resting and rebuilding after the Red Army Winter Campaign of 1941–42. The division was the main reserve formation of Army Group North, and was soon committed to fighting south of Leningrad, managing to stop Red Army attempts to relieve the city at significant cost. By January 1943, the division had been so depleted by losses that it did not need a brigade headquarters to command its infantry regiments, and Mickl's staff was disbanded. He was transferred to the Army Headquarters officers' reserve pool (German: Oberkommando des Heeres Führerreserve), and was promoted to Generalmajor and awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves by Adolf Hitler in March. On 11 May 1943, Mickl was appointed as commander of the 11th Panzer Division, which had not yet finished rebuilding after suffering serious losses during the attempted relief of Stalingrad in December 1942 and during the Third Battle of Kharkov in February and March 1943. In July and August 1943, the division was committed to the Battle of Kursk as part of Generalfeldmarschall (Field Marshal) Erich von Manstein's Army Group South. For the Battle of Kursk, the 11th Panzer Division was part of General der Panzertruppe Otto von Knobelsdorff's XLVIII Panzer Corps, which was a component of Generaloberst Hermann Hoth's 4th Panzer Army. Hoth's 4th Panzer Army and Detachment Kempf formed the southern pincer of the attack, which was aimed at cutting of all Red Army forces within the Kursk salient. It was to attack north out of the areas west of Belgorod, and link up with Generalfeldmarschall Günther von Kluge's Army Group Centre, which was to attack south from the Orel region. Mickl's division achieved its objectives during XLVIII Panzer Corps's preliminary operation on the afternoon of 4 July, and commenced its main assault at 06:00 on 5 July, but its progress was hampered by minimal air support, difficult terrain and constant Soviet counterattacks. Despite this, by the evening of 6 July, XLVIII Panzer Corps had breached the formidable Soviet defences, and Mickl's division had captured a number of villages, and reached the Pena river north and northeast of Cherkasskoe. Von Knobelsdorff's corps regrouped during the night of 6/7 July, and the 11th Panzer Division continued its advance towards Oboyan on 7 July, alongside Panzer Grenadier Division Großdeutschland. The two divisions defeated advanced elements of the Soviet 10th Tank Corps and continued to advance north, gaining the most northern penetration of the Soviet salient achieved by Army Group South during the battle. At this point, the tide turned against the Germans, and 11th Panzer Division suffered heavy losses. The severely mauled division was redeployed north, and participated in the Battle of Belgorod in late July and early August. On 8 August, while the battle was still being fought, Mickl was relieved of command. The reason behind his relief is unclear. His performance commanding the 11th Panzer Division had not been markedly worse than comparable divisional commanders during the preceding battles, and it is possible that Wehrmacht or Army Headquarters had decided Mickl was better suited to fighting insurgents in his native Balkans, especially given his fluency in several local languages. In January 1936, the brigade to division and Johann Mickl Ia was in the bar. In March 1938, he was accepted as a lieutenant colonel in the Army. On November 10, 1938, he became commander of the anti-tank section 42, in which he took part in the Polish and French campaigns. On 1 June 1940, he was promoted to colonel and on December 10, 1940 Commander of the Rifle Regiment 7. On 31 May 1941 he gave the command of the regiment, to June 1, 1941 the Rifle Regiment 155 in Africa to take over. In the fight for Sidi Rezegh late November / early December 1941, he distinguished himself especially, for which he was awarded the Knight's Cross on 13 December 1941. In December 1941, slightly wounded, he was born on March 25, 1942 commander of the 12th Rifle Brigade on the Volkhov and the end of June 1942 the Panzer Grenadier Regiment 25. From January to May 1943, he attended a General Staff Course and has received on March 6, 1943 for the services of Panzergrenadier Regiment 25 at Rzhev oak leaves. With effect from March 1, 1943, he was promoted to Major General on 15 May 1943, the leadership of the 11th Panzer Division entrusted with which he took part in the offensive at Kursk. Then put in a reserve leader, he was born on September 1, 1943 commander of the 11th Panzer Division. On April 1, 1944, he was promoted to lieutenant general. On April 9, 1945, he was severely wounded by a shot to the head in the fight against partisans. A day later he succumbed to his injuries in hospital of Rijeka.

Promotions Leutnant– 1 August 1914

Oberleutnant – 1 May 1915 Hauptmann– 1921 Major– 1928 Oberstleutnant– 16 January 1936 Oberst– 1 June 1940 Generalmajor– 1 March 1943 Generalleutnant– 1 April 1944

Awards and decorations Austria-Hungary

Military Merit Cross 3rd Class (16 October 1915) Order of the Iron Crown 3rd Class (22 March 1916) Military Merit Medal for Bravery in Bronze (26 August 1916) 1st in Silver (20 January 1917) 2nd in Silver (24 January 1918) Karl Troop Cross (8 September 1917) Wound Medal with 5 Stripes (10 March 1918)

Carinthia Common Carinthian Cross for Bravery (5 December 1919) Special Carinthian Cross for Bravery (3 April 1920)

Federal State of Austria Medal of Merit in Gold (7 October 1934) Third Reich

Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (1 October 1939) 1st Class (15 June 1940) Panzer Badge in Bronze (24 September 1940) Wound Badge in Black (25 December 1941) Infantry Assault Badge (22 July 1942) Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves Knight's Cross on 13 December 1941 as Oberst and commander of Schützen-Regiment 155 205th Oak Leaves on 6 March 1943 as Oberst and commander of Panzergrenadier-Regiment 25

Generalmajor "Ulrich Kleemann" Dates. * 23. March 1892, Langensalza + 3. January 1963, Oberursel Ulrich Kleemann became efective on 23 October 1911 as a cadet in the Dragoon Regiment 21 a. Nachseiner promotion to lieutenant on 16 June 1913, he was ordered in October 1913 on the officer's riding school to Paderborn. When the war started, he was transferred to the Dragoon Regiment 21 and moved this into the field. On 26 May 1915 he was wounded and taken to hospital. After his recovery, in June 1915, he came to the Reserve Infantry Regiment 83, but was again wounded in September. After this injury, he was transferred to the Dragoon Regiment 21 and there carried on 18 June 1916, Lieutenant. On April 1, 1918, he was adjutant of the Dragoons, 21 and on January 20, 1919 squadrons officer in the Dragoon Regiment 21. When the war ended Kleemann became leader of the volunteer squadron of 12 until he in September 1919 in the Reichswehr Cavalry Regiment 113 was added. After the Cavalry School Hannover visit was followed by 1923, the transfer to Rider Regiment 18 and with promotion to captain on 1 October 1923, the transfer to the staff of the Reiter-Regiment 18. On 1 June 1925, he became the head of the third Squadron of the ReiterRegiment 18 and 1928 appointed commanded to fight school course A in Doberitz. Following the commanding followed at the Cavalry School Hannover and 1930 for shooting course for heavy infantry weapons in Doberitz. On August 1, 1933 Kleemann was promoted to Major and transferred on October 1, 1930, the staff of the ReiterRegiment 15. On October 1, 1934 Kleemann became commander of the first half of the Regiment Rider Regiment Erfurt, on 15 October 1935, he became commander of motorized infantry battalion 1. On 1 March 1936, promoted to lieutenant colonel and on 1 January 1938 followed He was commander of the Rifle Regiment 3. After promotion to colonel on 1 October 1938, he was on December 4, 1939 commander of the 3rd Brigade shooters. On October 13, 1941 Kleemann was awarded the Knight's Cross. As a leader of a battle group south of Smolensk he had several river segments (Ssosh, Iput and Desna) subdued and thereby contributed significantly to the encirclement of Soviet east of Kiev. On November 1, 1941 promoted to major general, Kleemann was added on January 5, 1942 in the Füherer Reserve OKH and on April 10, 1942 Commander of the 90th Light Africa Division. After a brief use of the OKH Reserve from November 1942 Kleemann 1943 was promoted commander of Rhodes Assault Division and on 10 June 1943, Lieutenant-General on 28 May. After the fall of Italy, he was tasked to disarm the Italian forces in the Mediterranean. For the execution of this command him the Oak Leaves was awarded on Sept. 16, 1943. On 18 September 1944 he became the commanding general of the LXXXXI. Army Corps z.b.V. appointed and restored to the leaders of the Reserve Army High Command in October 1944. In the same month his promotion was made general of the armored troops. Also in October, he became Commanding General of the IV. Panzer Corps, which was renamed on November 28, 1944 in Panzer Corps "Feldherrenhalle". On 22 December 1944 he was also entrusted with the leadership of the 8th Army. When the war ended, he was taken prisoner, from which he was released in 1947.

Awards and decorations Iron Cross (1914)

2nd Class (26 October 1914) 1st Class (8 July 1918) Wound Badge (1914) in Black Knight's Cross Second Class of the Order of the Zähringer Lion with Swords Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (19 September 1939) 1st Class (25 October 1939) Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves Knight's Cross on 13 October 1941 as Oberst and commander of 3. Schützen-Brigade 304th Oak Leaves on 16 September 1943 as Generalleutnant and commander of Sturm-Division Rhodos Ärmelband “Afrika” Mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht (28 October 1944)

Generalmajor Werner Marcks Dates: * 17. July 1896, Magdeburg - † 28. July 1967, Wedel / SchleswigHolstein

Werner Marcks became efective on 1 August 1914 as a cadet in the body Regiment. 8 a and came in September 1914 40. promoted to lieutenant on 14 July 1915 to Fusilier Regiment, he was platoon and company leader and battalion and regimental adjutant and was wounded several times. After the war, he was transferred to the imperial army, and came in December 1921 as a lieutenant for Reiter Regiment 10. On 1 February 1933, the carriage followed the captain. In 1934 he came to the Reconnaissance Battalion 4, where he was promoted on October 1, 1936. Major. On April 1, 1937, he became commander of the anti-tank section 19, in which he took part in the Polish campaign. On January 1, 1940 promoted to lieutenant colonel, he took part in the 1940 Western Campaign. On Brock will channel he could destroy his department a British tank battalion, for which he was awarded the Iron Cross I. On October 1, 1940, he was appointed commander of the First Battalion of the Rifle Regiment 64, which he ran from June 1941 in Russia, where he was awarded the German Cross in Gold on December 11, 1941. Shortly thereafter, he was transferred to Africa and here in midDecember 1941 commander of the Rifle Regiment 155. As of January 1942, he led the battle group "Marcks' by the Cyrenaica. For this purpose, the Knight's Cross he was awarded on Feb. 2, 1942. On June 1, 1942 promoted to colonel, he fell ill in September 1942 and had to be heavily flown to Germany. After his recovery he came on October 1, 1943, staff of the Inspector General of the armored troops and took over on 20 February 1944, the leadership of the 1st Armored Division. On April 1, 1944 promoted to major general, he fell ill in September 1944, again difficult. On 21 September 1944 he was awarded the Oak Leaves. On 10 January 1945, he was still commander of the 21st Panzer Division and promoted to lieutenant general on 20 April 1945. The end of April 1945, he fell into Russian captivity and was convicted in 1951 of war crimes to 25 years in prison camps. The end of October 1955, he returned to Germany.

Awards and decorations Iron Cross (1914) 2nd Class (28 May 1915) 1st Class (22 February 1918) Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 in 1934 Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (14 September 1939) 1st Class (16 October 1939) Eastern Front Medal German Cross in Gold (11 December 1941) Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves Knight's Cross on 2 February 1942 as Oberstleutnant and commander of Kampfgruppe Marcks 593rd Oak Leaves on 21 September 1944 as Generalmajor and commander of 1. Panzer Division Medaglia d'Argento al Valore Militare General der Fallschirmtruppe "Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke Dates: * 21. August 1889, Schleswig + 4. July 1968, Kappeln

In 1905 Ramcke joined as a cabin boy of the Imperial Navy. He opened his training ships "Stosch" and "Moltke" and later among others on the light cruiser "Medusa", on the heavy cruiser "Prinz Adalbert" and the battleship "Wettin". At the outbreak of World War Ramcke boatswain's mate was on the heavy cruiser "Prinz Adalbert". After use at sea Ramcke was moved to the country and trained as marines. In 1915 and 1917 he fought in the 2nd Regiment sailors in Flanders. After being wounded on 26 January 1916, he was treated as a platoon leader in the elite storm troopers of the Marine Corps Flanders. As Ramcke in its section dismissed six British assaults in one day, he was awarded the Military Merit Cross in Gold, the then highest honor for a non-commissioned officer. On July 18, 1918 Ramcke was promoted to lieutenant. When the war ended he fought as a company commander in the Freikorps "von Brandis" in Poland and the Baltic states. When Captain Ramcke was transferred to the Army in November 1919 and platoon commander in Infantry Regiment 1. After further uses in various infantry units Ramcke was posted on July 15, 1936 Commander of the military training area Zeithain near Riesa. On January 11, 1940 Ramcke Commander of Infantry Regiment 401 and then the Infantry Replacement Regiment was 69. On July 19, 1940, he became the headquarters of the 7th Air Division commanded and simultaneously attended the Parachute School III, Braunschweig. On August 1, 1940 Ramcke stepped over to the Air Force and offset from the Parachute Regiment 3. On August 23, 1940, he was transferred to the staff of the Parachute Regiment 1, where he was responsible for the formation of the heavy weapons for the paratroopers. In 1941 he took the supplement units and schools XI. Air Corps. When using the paratroopers over Crete Ramcke took command of the Parachute Assault Regiment 1 and jumped off with this over the airfield Maleme. For his achievements in the conquest of Maleme airfield and the island of Crete Ramcke was promoted on July 22, 1941 Major General and awarded on 21 August 1941, the Knight's Cross. In March 1942 Ramcke was the Italian army commanded where he trained the Italian Parachute Division "Folgore". On April 1, 1942, he was entrusted with the leadership of the Paratroopers Brigade 1 (Ramcke) in Africa. In October 1942, his brigade wurd separated by a British advance from the rest of the Afrika Korps. Ramcke to march by the British unnoticed over 130 km of desert to their own lines of his men and set on the way still more than 100 German and Italian prisoners succeeded. For this he was awarded the Oak Leaves on 13 November 1942 at 21 December 1942 was promoted to lieutenant general. As of February 13, 1943 Ramcke was with the establishment of the 2nd Parachute Division commissioned its commander, he was on February 17, 1944. The appointed general of paratroops on 1 September 19 Ramcke was posted on August 11, 1944 Commander of the Brest Fortress. For the defense of the enclosed fortress Ramcke were presented simultaneously swords and diamonds on September 19, 1944. On September 20, 1944 Ramcke fell into British captivity and was brought to the United States. Here he broke out twice from the well- guarded prison camp in order to draw attention to the poor treatment of his men. In both escapes he sent each a letter to the US Senate and returned voluntarily returned to the prison camp. In December 1946, he was handed over to the French, and sentenced on 23 June 1951 by a French court for alleged war crimes in Brest to five years in prison. Due to the international Proteset Ramcke but was released ahead of schedule on March 21, 1951.

Awards Prussian Iron Cross of 1914

2nd Class on 17 April 1916 1st Class on 27 January 1917 Prussian Golden Military Merit Cross on 24 April 1918 Gold Badge for Wounds Sustained in Combat on 3 November 1919 Baltic Cross, 1st and 2nd class Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 on 26 January 1935 Wehrmacht Long Service Award, 1st to 4th class on 2 October 1936 Clasp to the Iron Cross of 1939 2nd Class on 1 October 1939 1st Class on 23 May 1941 Mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht four times (9 June 1941, 9 November 1942, 10 September 1944 and 21 September 1944) Luftwaffe Paratrooper Badge on 1 August 1940 Ground Assault Badge of the Luftwaffe Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds Knight's Cross on 21 August 1941 as Oberst and commander of the Fallschirmjäger-Sturm-Regiment 145th Oak Leaves on 13 November 1942 as Generalmajor and commander of Fallschirmjäger-Brigade "Ramcke" 99th Swords on 19 September 1944 as General der Fallschirmtruppe and commander of fortress Brest 20th Diamonds on 19 September 1944 as General der Fallschirmtruppe and commander of fortress Brest Italian Silver Medal for Bravery in 1942 Cuffband Kreta Cuffband Afrika Liutenant General Theodor von Sponeck Dates: January 24, 1896 Offenburg; † 13 June 1982 Bächingen

A German officer, last Lieutenant General in World War II, as well as commander of the 90th African Division, with whom he participated in the Second Battle of El Alamein. Karl Theodor Anton Graf von Sponeck was the son of Anton von Sponeck, Major and district officer to Mosbach, born and his wife Therese, born Baroness von Cornberg scion of an old noble family of Baden. After attending high school in Mosbach he pursued a military career and went in 1912 in the Hauptkadettenanstalt large light field. At the age of 18 years, was appointed lieutenant, he fought during the First World War on the Western and Eastern Front. After the war, he was transferred to the Army in 1920 as a lieutenant and used as an intelligence officer in the 14th Infantry Regiment in Konstanz. There Sponeck remained almost ten years and was promoted to the circumstances of the small army in 1925 according to company commander and 1 April 1929 captain. His good performances were his successful training as General Staff Officer result, the pushed open the door in his Defense Ministry. The Polish campaign experienced Theodor von Sponeck first General Staff Officer (Ia) of the XV. (Motorized) Army Corps under Hermann Hoth. In March 1940, he was promoted to colonel and appointed commander of the Rifle Regiment 11, which belonged to the 9th Panzer Division, was appointed. With this, he took part at the west and the Balkan campaign. Due to its successful use in the campaign against the Soviet Union, he was awarded on 12 September 1941, the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. On November 1, 1941, he suffered a knee in the attack on the Kursk bullet, which had several months convalescing result. After his promotion to major general in June, he was transferred in late September 1942 to North Africa, where instead of the wounded Ulrich Kleemann he took over the leadership of the 90th Light Africa Division. During the second battle of El Alamein in October/November 1942 Sponeck was used again and again with his division at the focal points successfully, but also led the retreat in the Fukastellung anxious and concerned about the welfare of his soldiers. Even the opposing army leaders, including Montgomery, praised Sponeck strikingly care attitude towards his men again and again. On March 11, 1943, he was appointed by name in the Wehrmacht:

Awards Iron Cross (1914) II.

"On the African theater, the slight Africa Division have particularly distinguished under the leadership of Lieutenant General Sponeck and the 15th Panzer Division under the command of Major General Borowietz."

On May 12, 1943 Sponeck had with the remnants of his division in Tunisia surrender and fell into British captivity. Shortly before he was even promoted to lieutenant general. Upon his return in 1947 he was still working for a time as a sales manager Württemberg Maschinenfabrik until he died at the age of 86 years in the hospital Heidenheim. And First Class Knight's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with Swords Knight's Cross II. Class of the Order of the Zähringer Lion with swords Wound Badge (1918) in Black Clasp to the Iron Cross II. And First Class Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 12 September 1941 [3] Mention in the Wehrmacht report on March 11, 1943

Generalleutnant Carl-Hans Lungershausen Dates: *20.07.1896 Darmstadt / Hessen - + 27.12.1975 Darmstadt /Hessen.

Promotions: 04.08.1914 Fahnenjunker 18.06.1915 Leutnant (mit Patent vom 10.08.1914) Oberleutnant 01.02.1931 Major 01.02.1939 01.11.1940 01.10.1942 01.09.1943 service as Hauptmann

Oberstleutnant Oberst Generalmajor Generalleutnant

Career: Entered Commissioned as a 01.05.1931] Assigned Fahnenjunker. Leutnant in Dragonen- Regiment 24. to Stab / 6.Division (HQ: Münster 01.10.1936 - 01.09.1939 (?) Kommandeur of I.Abteilung / KavallerieRegiment 8. 01.09.1939 (?) - 01.10.1939 Kommandeur of Aufklärungs-Abteilung 18. 01.10.1939 - 01.06.1941 (?) Adjutnant of Heeresgruppe B. 01.06.1941 - 01.04.1942 (?) Kommandeur of Schützen-Regiment 7. 01.04.1942 - 13.07.1942 (?) Kommandeur of 7.Schützen-Brigade. 13.07.1942 - 10.08.1942 Führer of 90.leichte Afrika-Division. Suceeded Ulrich Kleemann / Succeeded by Theodor Graf von Sponeck. 10.08.1942 - 15.01.1943 Kommandeur of 164.leichte Afrika-Division. Succeeded Josef Folttmann / Succeeded by Kurt Freiherr von Liebenstein. 23.05.1943 - 20.12.1943 Kommandeur of Division "Sardinien" (redesignated 90.Panzer-Grenadier-Division, 06.07.1943). Succeeded by ErnstGünther Baade. 01.07.1944 - 01.03.1945 Inspekteur der Italienische Verbände bei Oberbefehlshaber Südwest.

General der Panzertruppe Gerhard Helmuth Detloff Graf von Schwerin Dates: * 23. June 1899, Hannover † 29. October 1980, Rottach- Egern

Gerhard von Schwerin became efective immediately before the outbreak of World War II in the Royal Prussian Cadet Corps. On August 10, 1914, the son of the landowner and police chief was taken with the character as a midshipman in the Royal Prussian army. He came here for the 2nd Guards Regiment of Foot. He then came up with this regiment to the front. On June 8, 1915, he was promoted to lieutenant. His patent was dated later on June 23, 1916. As such, it was used in the war as a platoon leader, company commander and battalion adjutant. On September 26, 1918, he was wounded. When the war ended Lieutenant von Schwerin was still lying wounded in hospital. During the First World War it next to the Knight's Cross of the Royal Prussian House Order of Hohenzollern and two Iron Iron Crosses were awarded yet another order. After the war he was initially taken as a lieutenant in the Imperial Army. In the spring of 1920 he was adopted in the formation of 200,000 man army transition from the army. Then he made a commercial apprenticeship at the coffee trade AG in Bremen. After that, he was employed as Head of Transport Department of the AG for petroleum industry. In the summer of 1922, he appeared as a lieutenant back into the Reichswehr. His rank seniority was now set to the 1 March 1918. He was now at 1 (Preuss.) Infantry Regiment. In the spring of 1924 he was part of the 6th Company from 1 (Preuss.) Infantry Regiment in Insterburg. In the spring of 1925, he was part of the 2nd company from 1 (Preuss.) Infantry Regiment in Konigsberg. In the summer of 1925 he was promoted to first lieutenant. The rank seniority was firmly placed on the April 1, 1925. On January 1, 1926, he was transferred to German Eylau to the 7th Company of 3 (Preuss.) Infantry Regiment. In the spring of 1927 and 1928 he was part of the 8. (MG.) Company of the 3rd (Preuss.) Infantry Regiment in German Eylau. 1928/29 was relocated in the coming years in the 9th Company of 3 (Preuss.) Infantry Regiment to Osterode in East Prussia. From 1 October 1931, he then belonged to the 2nd Company of the 18th Infantry Regiment in Paderborn. On 1 May 1933, he was promoted to captain. As such, he was ordered to report to Military Academy for two years from October 1, 1933. On 15 October 1935, he was then transferred to the General Staff of the 22nd Infantry Division to Bremen. On March 1, 1937, he was promoted to Major there. His rank seniority was firmly placed on the October 1, 1936. From 1 October 1937, he was one of a company commander in the Infantry Regiment 17. From the autumn of 1938 he served in the 3rd Division's Chief Quartermaster IV (OQU IV) in the High Command of the Army. On April 1, 1939, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. In the mobilization of the 2nd World War, he was initially used further in the OKH. In preparing the Infantry Regiment United Germany on October 1, 1939, he was appointed commander of the First Battalion. In the winter of 1939-40 he was temporarily in charge of the deputy from the Rifle Regiment 86. He then led the infantry regiment Greater Germany during the French campaign. In the summer of 1940 he led at times even the Infantry Regiment 254. In January 1941, he was appointed commander of the new regimental staff zbV 200 appointed. With this he then moved to Africa. There, the MG battalions him were 2 and 8 remained under the barrier Association Libya. In March 1941, Schwerin, a German-Italian section to a long reconnaissance raid in the Fezzan and put it back 2000 km. In April was the "Battle Group Schwerin" take the oasis Mechili and capture over 2,000 Britons, including two generals! In July 1941, he resigned his command. He allegedly took the lead briefly about the Panzer Regiment 5, which he led in the fighting in Libya. Then he was transferred to the reserve leaders. On August 1, 1941, he was promoted to colonel. In early August 1941, he was appointed commander of Infantry Regiment (mot.) 76 on the Eastern Front. He proved himself in the fighting on the Volkhov, with key Petersburg, on the Neva and in Leningrad and received on 17 January 1942, the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. At times he was also charged with the deputy leadership of the 254th Infantry Division. On 23 July 1942 he was entrusted with the leadership of the 8th Jäger Division. In October 1942, was promoted to Major General von Schwerin. As such, he took over in mid-November 1942, the 16th Infantry Division as commander. This he led in the Caucasus and succeeded to free the Division after the Russian counter-attack from the enclosure. After rearguard actions towards Mius the 16th Infantry Division was pulled in the spring of 1943, from the front, refreshed and reclassified to Panzer Grenadier Division. After a few months, the 16th Panzer Grenadier Division returned to Army Group South. On May 17, 1943, the commander received for the performance of his grenadiers in the Mius sector, awarded the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. The end of May 1943, he resigned his command for a month to Colonel William Crisolli. On 1 June 1943, he was promoted to lieutenant general. Schwerin led his 16th Panzer Grenadier Division from the end of June 1943, the heavy fighting retreat at Isjum, Slavjansk, and Krivoy Rog Stepanowsk. On October 18, 1943, he was mentioned by name in the Wehrmacht report: "The Rhenish- Westphalian 16th Panzer Grenadier Division under the command of Lieutenant-General Count von Schwerin deserve for their exemplary Einsatzfreudigkeit during major withdrawals east of the Dnieper and in the fighting in the bridgehead of Zaporozhye special recognition. ". He was awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves on November 4, 1943, the swords. In the spring of 1944, the division was reclassified 116th Panzer Division and moved to the West. After the Allied landing in Normandy, the division was not immediately recognized against the enemy landed. Its been repeated public appearance against Hitler's war drew the Count of Schwerin in the perspective of the military resistance by Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg. This meant that Lieutenant General Speidel, was Chief of Staff of the Army Group B in France at that time the idea 116th of Schwerin Panzer Division and the 2nd Armored Division of the also known as opponents of Hitler Lieutenant General Heinrich von Lüttwitz in the plans to overthrow the resistance included! Despite the raging for weeks defensive battle at the invasion front in Normandy Speidel retained the two battle-worthy divisions under a pretext to late July 1944 in the Greater Paris area back! Once Hitler had been killed by von Stauffenberg's bomb, these two organizations should be ready for possible use against troops loyal to Hitler in France. However, on 19 July 1944 - one day before the attack could Speidel the installation command for the 116th Panzer Division no longer hold back! The United Association moved in the direction of Normandy. The division was used during the battle of Normandy and then retired to the east. Schwerin managed to stay out of the Division from the Falaise pocket and sent them over the Orne. Shocked by his own losses and the senseless commands Hitler proved the division commander admirable courage and wrote with Lieutenant General Heinrich von Lüttwitz a memorandum in which he called for the end of the war and the removal of the regime! Presumably, both officers remained unmolested only because of their past achievements. In the fall of 1944, Schwerin, the 116th Panzer Division in defense Battle of Aachen. As of Schwerin realized that his troops against superior Allied forces had no chance, he once again proved determination. He wrote a personal letter to the US General Hodges, who commanded the fighting against Aachen 9th US Army. In this asked of Schwerin his opponent, not to destroy the cultural value and crowded with civilians and refugees city and offered as consideration to the defenseless retreat of his division. But instead of at Hodges landed this offer in dark corners at functionaries of the NSDAP. Meanwhile Hodges came after weeks of fighting the assault on Aachen, the German positions were overrun and Schwerin 116th Panzer Division had to retreat, but against Hitler's orders. As a result, was relieved of even more critical, and in September 1944 he was his post of Schwerin situation and tried for treason before a court martial. Only with the support of the Marshals von Rundstedt and Model he could escape the death sentence and only received a severe reprimand! In early December 1944, then appointed by Schwerin appointed commander of the 90th Panzer Grenadier Division. The end of December 1944, he gave up his command already off again. He now took the lead for the LXXVI. Panzer Corps in Italy. On April 1, 1945, he was promoted to General of the armored troops. He then became the Commanding General of the LXXVI. Panzer Corps appointed. On April 26, 1945, he fell into British captivity. From this he was discharged in late 1947 again. He then moved his residence in Rottach. From 1 May 1948, he was employed until the end of February 1949 as a driver at the local command of the US Army. On March 1, 1949, he then moved to Bonn. He was now working as an employee of the company Oranie Bonn. On September 1, 1949, he was promoted to General Manager of the then Diplomycib society. As of June 1, 1950 Graf von Schwerin was a consultant for military and security issues in the Adenauer government. As head of the "center for homeland service" the retired general was charge of setting up the Federal gendarmerie. In 1956 he went into the industry because he did not want to join the new Bundeswehr. Awards

Iron Cross (1914) 2nd Class 1st Class Wound Badge (1914) in Black

Knight's Cross of the House Order of Hohenzollern Wehrmacht Long Service Award Clasp to the Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (11 May 1940) 1st Class (19 May 1940) Infantry Assault Badge Eastern Front Medal Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords Knight's Cross on 17 January 1942 as Oberst and commander of Infanterie-Regiment 76 (mot.) 240th Oak Leaves on 17 May 1943 as Generalmajor and commander of the 16. Infanterie-Division (mot.) 41st Swords on 4 November 1943 as Generalleutnant and commander of the 16.Panzergrenadier-Division Mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht on 27 October 1943 "Afrika" Cuffband

Generalmajor Baron Heinrich Alexander Ferdinand von Behr Dates: * 26. June 1902, Roennen / Kurland - † 14. August 1983, Bonn Baron Heinrich von Behr occurred on January 7, 1919 as a volunteer in the Iron Division A, which was attributed to the German Freikorps in the Baltic States. He then joined the II. Department of Reiter-Regiment Libau in the Baltic Landwehr. On January 7, 1920, he began an apprenticeship as an engineer, but then stepped on 1 April 1922 as a volunteer in the 16th rider regiment. Appointed on August 16, 1924 cadet, he was promoted on 14 October 1925 Ensign. On August 28, 1926 promoted to senior cadet, he came on December 1, 1926 in the 6th (Preuss.) Reiter-Regiment. On the same day he was promoted to lieutenant. On April 1, 1929, he became the leader of the regimental train of 6 messages (Preuss.) Reiter-Regiment. On February 1, 1931, he was promoted to first lieutenant. As such, he was then employed from 1 August 1933 as a platoon leader in the message squadron of 6 (Preuss.) Reiter-Regiment. With the expansion of the army on October 1, 1934, he came to the Defense Ministry in Berlin. There he was employed as an aide at the Senior News officer in the inspection of the cavalry. As such, he was promoted on 1 June 1935, Captain. In the unmasking of the associations he was appointed on 15 October 1935, Chief of the 2nd Company of the news department 39. On April 1, 1937, he became a coach for modern pentathlon and Academic Director of the Army Sports School Wunsdorf. After mobilization for World War 2 in the summer of 1939, he was appointed head of the 2nd Company of the messages spare Division (mot.) 81 in Weimar on September 3, 1939. On 24 September 1939, he took over the leadership of the news department 198. As such, he was promoted on 1 October 1939. Major and thus appointed commander of the new news department 198. On April 20, 1940, he was appointed commander of the tank-news department 39. In this role, he was then used shortly thereafter in the western campaign. Both he was awarded the Iron Cross. The start of summer 1941, he led his department in the eastern campaign in the attack on central Russia. On September 15, 1941, he resigned his command of the Panzer news department 39 and he was named a local commander of Lochwitza in the middle section of the Eastern Front. On 20 October 1941 he took over command of the Panzer Corps News Department 424. On December 16, 1941, he issued this command and was transferred to the leader of the Reserve OKH. On 15 January 1942 he was 475 of the German Afrika

Korps (DAK) appointed commander of Panzer Corps News Department. On March 1, 1942, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. As such, he became deputy on November 13, 1942 Army News Leader of the Panzer Army Africa. He was then evacuated from Africa in November 1942 and again treated on 30 November 1942, the leaders of the OKH reserve, where he received training as commander of a Panzer Grenadier Regiment. On March 1, 1943, he was transferred to the Armour School Wunsdorf. On May 17, 1943, he was the 26th Panzer Division commanded to become familiar as regimental commander. On 1 July 1943 he was appointed commander of Panzer-Grenadier- Regiment 2

Sardinia. He was then appointed still early July 1943, commander of Panzer-Grenadier-Regiment 200, with the change of the regiment. On February 1, 1944, he was promoted to colonel. On January 27, 1944, the Panzer Grenadier Regiment 200 went to the counter- attack against broken by French units at Monte Cassino. The French were thrown and the front gap can be closed. For this purpose, Baron von Behr was awarded on 23 February 1944, the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. The end of September 1944, he distinguished himself at the defensive battles around the place especially Savignano and was being awarded to January 9, 1945 with the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. On 27 December 1944 he was entrusted with the leadership of the 90th Panzer Grenadier Division. On April 1, 1945, he was at the same time promotion to major general appointed commander of the 90th Panzer Grenadier Division. On 28 April 1945, he then came west in Allied hands, from which he was released on August 29, 1947. On 3 September 1956 he appeared as a Brigadier General in the Army and was entrusted with the preparation of the 5th Panzer Division. On October 1, 1956, he was commander of the division and promoted to major general on July 1, 1957. On 1 December 1959, he became deputy commanding general and commander of the corps troops of the First Corps. On September 30, 1962, he was forced to retire.

Awards and decorations Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (20 April 1940) 1st Class (24 June 1940) General Assault Badge Close Combat Clasp in Bronze Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves Knight's Cross on 23 February 1944 as Oberst and commander of Panzer-Grenadier-Regiment 200 689th Oak Leaves on 9 January 1945 as Oberst and commander of Panzer-Grenadier-Regiment 200 Ärmelband Afrika Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (19 September 1962)

Maps

North Afrika 1941-43

Rommel (Panzer Army Africa) 14 February 1941 arrives in North Africa with Deutsches Afrika Korps, abbreviated DAK, to oppose a British desert force (later British Eighth Army) under Field Marshal Wavell threatening Tripoli. Military operations extending over two years involve DAK'and Italian units in heavy fighting, developing into a confrontation between Army Croups; Afrika - First Italian Army (formerly Panzer Army Africa) plus Fifth Panzer Army versus British 18th Army Group First and Eighth Armies plus US (II) and a French Corps. Despite a nominal military balance, the key to successful panzer action lies in supply facilities, but German-Italian sea and air transports running a Mediterranean gauntlet, rarely escape the punishing attention of naval and air attacks mounted from Malta or Alexandria - notwithstanding the aggressive presence of German 2nd Air Fleet based in Sicily. Hitler's shortsightedness over reinforcements for Rommel, coinciding with an OKW view that the theatre is a sideshow, invites disaster and his decision to cancel 'Hercules', a Luftwaffe plan for eliminating Malta by airborne invasion, will prove fatal. Rommel (1) (Panzer Army Africa) 31 March 1941. 'Sunflower1 slowly increasing in power is Rommel's first offensive with DAK, but instead of 'blocking' Wavell, Rommel outmanoeuvres Eighth Army to reach Sollum on the Egyptian border but is thrown back to El Agheila. DAK 5 Lt Div vanguard/Ariete, two It inf divs; by 20 November 1941 DAK = 21st, 15th Pz, part 90th Lt Div, 178 Pz Kpfw lll-IVs X AirCorps, 50 Stukas plus fighters. Rommel (2) (Pz-Army Africa) 21 January 1942. Rommel's second offensive 'Theseus', as a Gruppe with more Italian units, develops into 'Venezia' capturing Tobruk (map 9) before pushing on to Alam Halfa/EI Alamein. A shortage of supplies, offsetting Rommel's often brilliant tactics, cripples panzer operations. Pz-Gr Africa DAK as hitherto. 'Ariete', 'Trieste', 'Littorio' (arriving) four other It. divs inc. Trento, 560 tanks (320 Pz Kpfws) (see map 9). II Air Corps? 530 aircraft inc. 80 Stukas. Rommel (3) Pz-Army Africa 23 October 1942. The 'Desert Fox', promoted Field Marshal after a triumph at Tobruk (map 9), is defeated at El Alamein - and turns about. Pz-Army Africa at Alamein; DAK plus 164th Lt Div, Para Bde (Ramcke), It. deployment as hitherto plus Folgore (Para) Div. 285 Pz Kpfws - reduced to twenty by 4 November 1942; 150 German aircraft. A hazardous withdrawal, almost 2,000 miles via Tripoli into Tunisia, is followed by 'Springwind' an offensive involving both PzAOKS and DAK in counter-attacks against US forces at Kasserine. PzArmy Africa (Messe) meanwhile faces Montgomery at Mareth; Rommel is now GOC, Army Group Africa - promoted 23 February 1943. Von Arnim (4) 'Springwind', Fifth Panzer Army 14 February 1943, involves 10th, 21st Panzer and a DAK battle group in attacks against US II Corps at Kasserine, but suffers from poor co-ordination. After early success against an inexperienced US defence, the attack is called off. A new plan follows. Fifth Pz-Army At Kasserine (Gruppe Zeigler) 15th, 21st Pz; DAK Battle Group (Liebenstein), 164th Lt, Centauro. Rommel, Messe (5) 'Capri', Pz-Army Africa 6 March 1943. At Medenine with Rommel's help Messe's Pz-Army Africa strikes at Eighth Army forming up to assault Axis positions . at Mareth. Rommel expects to prevent a British First and Eighth Army link-up, but the attack fails and 'Supercharge II', a British armoured counter- strike turns the defence, forcing Pz-Army Africa into retreat. At Medenine 15th, 21st, 10th Pz, 90th Lt - 141 Pz Kpfws. Messe Thereafter Pz-Army Africa renamed Italian First Army withdraws to Enfidaville fighting rearguard battles. All German and Italian forces in North Africa capitulate on 13 May 1943. Army Gr Africa Rommel, after 9 March 1943 von Arnim; Fifth PzArmy, and It. First Army: ten German divs (three pz), six It. divs. Western Desert Force/Eighth Army (1) Wavell, elements one armd div, three inf divs; by 20 November 1941 (Eighth Army), 6 divs (one armd) plus ind bdes, 577 tanks. Br Eighth Army (2) Ritchie six divs (four mot, two armd) plus ind bdes 800-1,000 tanks, see (map 9) 530 aircraft. (3) Montgomery ten divs (three armd) 1,200 tanks 1,200-1,500 aircraft. Br First Army (4) Anderson: II US Corps (Fredendall) part 1st US Armd Div, Fr inf, later Br 6th Armd. Br Eighth Army (5)Montgomery three divs (one armd), 300 tanks. Br 18th Army Gr Alexander; Br First and Eighth Armies, 24 divs inc five US (two armd), four Fr, fifteen Br (four armd). First Battle of El Alamein

Second Battle of El Alamein

Battle of Medenine

Annexes Panzer Division

Preface Heinz Guderian first proposed the formation of panzer units larger than a regiment, but this was rejected by the inspector of motorized troops Otto von Stuelpnagel. After his replacement by Oswald Lutz, Guderian's mentor, the idea gained more support in the Wehrmacht, and after 1933 was also supported by Adolf Hitler. On 15 October 1935 the first three panzer divisions were formed. The 1st Panzer Division was formed in Weimar and commanded by Maximilian von Weichs, the 2nd was formed in Würzburg and commanded by Guderian and the 3rd was formed in Berlin and commanded by Ernst Feßmann. Most other armies of the era organized their tanks into "tank brigades" requiring additional infantry and artillery support. Panzer divisions had their own organic infantry and artillery support. This led to a change in operational doctrine: instead of the tanks supporting operations by other arms, the tanks led operations, with other arms supporting them. Since the panzer divisions had the supporting arms included, they could operate independently from other units. These first panzer divisions (1st through 5th) were composed of two tank regiments and one motorised infantry regiment of two battalions each, plus supporting troops. After the invasion of Poland in 1939, the old divisions were partially reorganised (adding a third battalion to some infantry regiments or alternatively adding a second regiment of two battalions). Divisions newly organised around this time (6th through 10th) diverged in organisation, each on average with one tank regiment, one separate tank battalion, one or two infantry regiments (three to four battalions per division). By the start of Operation Barbarossa in 1941 the by then 21 panzer divisions had undergone further reorganisation to now consist of one tank regiment (of two or three battalions) and two motorised regiments (of two battalions each). Until the winter of 1941/42 supporting troops organic to these divisions consisted of a motorised artillery regiment (of one heavy and two light battalions), and one each reconnaissance, motorcycle, anti-tank, pioneer, field replacement, and communications battalions. The number of tanks in the 1941 style divisions was comparatively small, but all other units in these formations were fully motorised (trucks, half-tracks, specialized combat vehicles) to match the speed of the tanks. During the winter 1941/42 another reorganisation of these divisions became necessary, each tank regiment now composed of one to three battalions depending on location (generally three for Heeresgruppe Süd, one for Heeresgruppe Mitte, other commands usually two battalions). Throughout 1942 the reconnaissance battalions were merged into the motorcycle battalions. By the summer of 1943, the Luftwaffe and Waffen-SS also had panzer divisions. A renewed standardization of the tank regiments was attempted. Each was now supposed to consist of two battalions (one Panzer IV, the other Panzer V). In reality the organization continued to vary from division to division. The first infantry battalion of the first infantry regiment of each panzer division was now supposed to be fully mechanised (mounted on armoured half-tracks (Sd.Kfz. 251)). The first battalion of the artillery regiment replaced its former light towed howitzers with a mix of heavy and light self- propelled guns (Hummel, Wespe). The antitank battalion now included both assault guns and tank destroyers in addition to towed anti-tank guns. Generally the mechanization of these divisions increased compared to their previous organization. One myth that emerged in post-war years was that SS Divisions received more tanks than their Wehrmacht counterparts. Recent research has shown this to be untrue, with both types of unit receiving the same amounts of equipment. Since the Wehrmacht and SS used their own ordinal systems, there were duplicate numbers (i.e. there was both a 9th Panzer Division and a 9th SS Panzer Division), which occasionally led to confusion amongst their opponents.

Worl War II

World War II was marked by technical and tactical innovations. None was more of a shock to the world than the concept of armored warfare that the Germans developed, and there is little in the field of military history that has created more interest and excitement than the gray and sand colored panzers charging into battle. The concept of armored warfare developed by the Germans was built from their experiences in World War I. Though the German army was not the creator of the armored land fighting vehicle, various individuals in its ranks saw its potential and combined it with a purely German innovation, the shock troops and their tactics. These tactics consisted of infiltration, bypassing strong points to be handled by the infantry, and the very Napoleonic concept of manoeuvre sur les derrieres. Napoleon's famous manoeuvre sur les derrieres is a theory of the indirect approach to defeating your enemy. Camon provides the following list of advantages of the tactic: 1. It gives the attacking army a direction. 2. It provides the attacking army with reliable information on the enemy's army. 3. It places the enemy's parks and magazines in the control of the attacking army. 4. It permits large economies on the forces that are left behind to guard the attacker's territories. 5. If it succeeds, the results are decisive. 6. If it is only partially successful, it will cost the enemy large amounts of supplies and hurt his morale. In the first instance, providing the attacking army with Section, at the beginning of each campaign the ques-~ ?ns posed to the two opposing armies is which will have "j:e initiative and where will the attacking forces be directed. The panzers were a weapon of the initiative as well ;; die defensive, but they were in their glory on the offense. The second point, certain information on the enemy, ; :mes as a result of the capture of their headquarters and other means of communication that are less secure from i~ack and interception in the rear of the army than they are from a position in front of the enemy's army. The German war records are filled with captured documents and ±scussions of those documents captured in these great irmored thrusts. The capture of the magazines and parks is obvious. These £t behind the enemy's defensive lines. The capture of magazines and parks denies the enemy both food and munitions. In addition, the capturing army is certainly capable of sustaining itself with the food captured, though it cannot always use the munitions. It is worth noting that the Soviet army made special efforts to be able to use captured ammunition, but to deny the use of their munitions by their enemies. Many of the standard German munitions could be used in Soviet equipment because, for example, the German 80mm mortar shells could be fired from the 82mm Soviet mortar, but not vice wma.The Soviets deliberately made their munitions slightly larger than their enemy's so that they could make use of captured munitions but their own munitions, if captured, could not be used in sinilar fashion. The Germans solved this problem by capturing so many Soviet guns and munitions that they were able to equip large portions of their infantry with captured Soviet artillery. The minimization of the forces retained in the rear results from the enemy army being unable to pursue a successful frontal assault, because, by the time he has pushed particularly far forward, he will learn that his own lines of communication have been cut, his magazines have fallen, and he has been cut off from all resupply. His reaction will be an immediate withdrawal to reestablish his supply lines. This action was seen repeatedly on the Soviet front, and even the withdrawal of the Germans from France in 1944 can be seen in this light. The decisive results, if they occur, do so because the enemy has lost his supply system and his ability to fight with 100 per cent of his capability, which will steadily erode as the encirclement continues. In addition, the cut-off army's morale will collapse as its troops discover their predicament. Should the enemy, however, be able maneuver and escape the decisive battle sought by the maneuvering army, at the very least he will have to abandon his existing lines of communication and attempt to establish others. This movement will strip him of his supply system. In addition, not only will it severely damage his army's morale and reduce its fighting ability in any future combats, but during its precipitous retreat his army will begin a process of disintegration as soldiers abandon the ranks. This type of disintegration, however, can quickly be recovered if the pursuit is not maintained as close and as hotly as possible. Should the withdrawing army be allowed to stop and reorganize, it will steadily recover what it has lost and soon be able to respond to attacks with vigor. This process of disintegration can be found in many of the panzer battles of World War II. The French army collapsed because of this and the great battles in the early stages of the 1941 Russian campaign around Kiev and the other pockets clearly demonstrate the same process of collapse. Instead of the pursuit advocated by Napoleon, the process turned into one of encirclement of the slower moving infantry and other elements of the enemy's army. Napoleon had always advocated that the destruction of the enemy's army was the principal goal of war and this process of the panzers in forming great pockets of enemy troops led to the destruction of hundreds of Soviet divisions and the capture of millions of Soviet soldiers. To do all this, however, in the day of the machine gun required armor, and that is where the armored vehicle came into the picture. The genius shown by such men as Heinz Guderian came by the blending of the British invention of the tank with the tactics of the storm trooper and Napoleon. This combination of man, machine and tactic has set the tone for warfare since 1 September 1939 when the word "Blitzkrieg" was born on the plains of Poland. The latest example was the stunning Coalition victory over the Iraqis in the 1990-91 Gulf War. There are hundreds of books on the battles and campaigns of the German panzer divisions. There are numerous divisional histories. There many more filled with pictures of the tanks, armored cars and halftracks that were used. There are, however, very few works that chronicle the organization of these forces and no single work that examines that organizational history from the beginning of the panzer division in the late 1930s to 1945. It is the goal of this book to provide as thorough a review of the organizational development of those divisions and brigades as possible. In addition, there are several formations that were armored, but were outside of the scope of the panzer division. Among these are the panzergrenadier divisions, which as the war was ending began to lose their distinc- tiveness from the panzer division as the two types of formation began to blend into one. There were also the various sturmgeschutz and other armored anti-tank units, some of which contained the most famous tanks of the war (the Tiger and King Tiger) and others some of the most obscure (for example, the Ferdinand). Because the panzers worked in conjunction with the corps and army artillery and the famous nebelwerfers in order to achieve the Germans' goals, it had been felt necessary to explore the organizational history of the various artillery formations through the war. This study, however, forced an investigation into two extremes of organizational size. At the large end of the organizational spectrum there were a small number of artillery and nebelwerfer brigades, divisions, and even corps; at the other end there were literally hundreds of independent army artillery regiments and brigades. There are far too many of the latter to attempt any thorough documentation as was done with the larger formations, but, in the hope of providing some of the organizational history of these units, as many as could be identifed and have their structure determined have been included. History of the German Armored Formations The genesis of the tank and of armored warfare was on the fields of Flan ders. The first concentrated use of armor began with the Battle of Cambrai. As a result, the history of the German panzer forces began in the First World War. All of the men who were to form the German panzer arm were soldiers in this war and were greatly impressed by the possibilities of the tank. The first steps towards a modern German armored force began during the winter of 1923-24, when Oberstleutnant von Brauchitsch organized Germany's first maneuvers to explore the possibilities of employing motorized troops in a joint exercise with aircraft. This exercise attracted the attention of the German Army's Training Department and resulted in Heinz Guder-ian's appointment as an instructor in tactics and military history under the command of Oberst von Natzmer. While Guderian was in this position a number of exercises, both on ground and on paper, were held to explore the potential of mobile and armored warfare. These experiments were successful enough that a modest amount of motorization began occurring in Weimar Germany's army. In the autumn of 1928, Guderian was assigned to the command of the 3rd (Prussian) Motorized Battalion.While in this command, Guderian was forbidden to exercise with other units by a myopic Inspector ofTransportationTroops, under whom he served. As time passed, attitudes changed, and thus began the steady growth process that would lead to the formation of the panzer division. During the summer of 1932, General Lutz organized exercises involving cavalry, infantry, and simulated armored units. The first German armored reconnaissance cars appeared in these exercises—a bold experiment, as the Treaty ofVersailles still forbade Germany from owning tanks. Though no accelerated decision process occurred in the upper echelons, many junior cavalry officers were greatly enamored of the new idea. In 1933 Hitler rose to power and with his rise the tide of change quickened. Hitler tore up the Treaty ofVersailles. On 16 March 1935 the Germans reintroduced universal military service. On 15 October 1935 the first three panzer divisions were formed. As a result of the politics of the cavalry establishment for greater control over motorized troops, three "Light Divisions" were formed in place of a further expansion of the panzer divisions. They were to consist of two motorized cavalry rifle regiments, a reconnaissance regiment, an artillery regiment, a tank battalion, and supporting units. Internal German military politics was to have a considerable, and not necessarily positive, influence on the development of the panzer forces of the German army. Indeed, it would only be from the crucible of combat that, in 1945, the organization of the panzer division originally envisioned by Guderian would finally be accepted and ordered into existence. In 1937 the Germans began live fire field exercises to test in their concepts of armored warfare, courtesy of the Spanish Civil War. As part of the Condor Legion, Germany sent the Imker Armored Group to Spain. Initially two companies of Mk I tanks were sent to Spain. They were joined by a third company in October 1937. They took an active part in the campaign and operated with the air wing of the Condor Legion. Blitzkrieg was born as General Franco fought to take control of Spain. When Germany invaded Poland in 1939 it did so with the 1st through 5th Panzer Divisions and the 1st through 4th Light Divisions. Between the Polish and French campaigns the 1st through 4th Light Divisions were reorganized and used to form the 6th through 9th Panzer Divisions. The 10th Panzer Division and the second infantry regiment of the 4th Panzer Division were formed using the 33rd, 69th and 86th Infantry Regiments. At the same time the Kavallerie- Schvitzen Regiments were redesignated as Schutzen Regiments. In March 1940 the Panzerabwehr Battalions changed their names to Panzerjager Battalions. On 15 April 1940 the Pioneer Battalions became Panzer Pioneer Battalions. During the fall of 1940 the number of panzer divisions was doubled with the formation of the 11th through 20th Panzer Divisions. This did not mean that there were now twice as many tanks in the German army, only that the existing numbers of tanks were distributed among more divisions and the tank-to-infantry ratio in a panzer division was diluted. The 21st Panzer Division was organized in 1941 by the German Army in Africa. During the winter of 1941/42 the 22nd, 23rd, and 124th Panzer Divisions were formed from new drafts. On 23 March 1942 the artillery regiments in the panzer divisions were renamed "Panzer Artillery Regiments". On 5 June 1942 the Schiitzen Regiments of the Panzer Divisions were renamed as Panzergrenadier Regiments. The panzergrenadier battalions were reorganized with four companies, rather than the former five companies. A 9th (Machine Gun) Company was formed, as were the 10th (Light Flak) and 11th (Light Infantry Gun) Companies. In June 1942 the army flak battalions assigned to the panzer divisions were officially redesignated as the division's 4th Artillery Battalion. This, however, was reversed on 1 May 1943 when the artillery battalions reverted to their former names. In 1942 the 25th and 26th Panzer Divisions were formed in Germany. During the same year, the 27th Panzer Division was organized in southern Russia from part of the 22nd Panzer Division. With the twin disasters of Stalingrad and North Africa, Germany found it had lost the 10th, 15th, 14th, 16th, 21 st, 22nd, 24th, and 27th Panzer Divisions. All of these divisions were rebuilt, with the exception of the 1 Oth Panzer Division. In addition, the 15th Panzer Division was reformed as a panzergrenadier division, not as a panzer division. On 24 March 1943 the divisional Kradschutzen Bataillon (Motorcycle Reconnaissance Battalion) was redesignated as Panzer Aufklarung Bataillon (Reconnaissance Battalion). As the war progressed the following panzer divisions and brigades were formed: 1st through 27th Panzer Divisions 116th Panzer Division 178th (Reserve) Panzer Division 179th (Reserve) Panzer Division 223rd (Reserve) Panzer Division 233rd Panzer Division 273rd (Reserve) Panzer Division Clausewitz Panzer Division 1st Feldherrnhalle Panzer Division 2nd Feldherrnhalle Panzer Division Grossdeutschland Panzer Ersatz Brigade Holstein Panzer Division Jiiterbog Panzer Division Miincheberg Panzer Division Norwegen (Norway) Panzer Division Schlesien (Silesian) Panzer Division Tatra Panzer Division Panzer Lehr Panzer Division Führer Begleit (Escort) Panzer Division Hermann Goring Panzer Division 101-113th Panzer Brigades Norwegen (Norway) Panzer Brigade Oberschliesen Panzer Brigade West Schnelle Panzer Brigade West Panzerjagd Panzer Brigade Hermann Goring Parachute Panzer Recruit and Training Brigade 2nd Hermann Goring Parachute Panzer Recruit and Training Brigade In addition, there were a number of miscellaneous recruit and training "verbande" of various sizes, some quite large. The panzer troops underwent a continual stream of reorganizations, with Type 43 and Type 44 Panzer Divisions being developed. The reorganization of the divisions, however, was not a smooth process and generally occurred when the divisions were withdrawn from combat as a bloody shambles desperately needing rebuilding. The Type 43 Panzer Division organization was ordered for all divisions on 24 September 1943, with the exception of the 21 st Panzer Division and the Norway Panzer Division. In this reorganization the panzergrenadier battalions were reorganized with three rifle companies each. Each rifle company had four heavy and 18 light machine guns. The fourth company in each battalion was now a heavy support company (Schwere Panzer Grenadier Kompanie), equipped with four 80mm mortars, three antitank guns, and three machine guns. The 9th Company remained the infantry support gun company and was equipped with six self-propelled guns. The 10th Company was a light flak company with 12 20mm selfpropelled guns. In 1944 this company was replaced by a pioneer company with 12 machine guns and 18 flamethrowers. Only one of the panzergrenadier battalions of each division was equipped with half-tracks.This battalion had three rifle companies with four heavy machine guns, 39 light machine guns, two 80mm mortars, two 75mm guns and three 37mm guns. It had a fourth heavy company with 21 light machine guns, three 75mm PAK, two 75mm leIG and six 75mm field guns. At one point this last company had an engineer platoon with 13 light machine guns, one 37mm PAK 36, and six flamethrowers, but this company was quickly deleted from the organization. The 1/1 st, 1/ 2nd, 1/3rd, 1/4th, 1/5th, 1/6th, 1/8th, 1/9th, 1/10th, 1/12th, 1/13th, 1/21st, 1/40th, 1/59th, 1/64th, 1/66th, 1/73rd, 1/103rd, 1/110th, 1/126th, and 1/46th Panzergrenadier Regiments were equipped with half-tracks. During 1943-44 the 25th Panzer Division was rebuilt and the 18th Panzer Division was disbanded after the battles around Orel and Kiev, in southern Russia. On 1 March 1944 the Panzer Lehr Division was formed. In addition, three reserve panzer divisions were organized in 1944— 155th, 273rd and 179th Reserve Panzer Divisions. In 1944 the 101st through 113th Panzer Brigades were formed. These units were of regimental strength and represented the final step in the integration of the panzergrenadiers and panzer troops. They consisted of a panzergrenadier battalion in half-tracks and a panzer battalion. The brigade staff also generally had some platoon- sized reconnaissance elements. This same formation was also to occur in the Type 45 Panzer Divisions. Records show it also in the Feldherrnhalle and 13th Panzer Divisions. During the summer of 1944 the German panzer forces had suffered huge losses. The 13th Panzer Division, which was totally obliterated in Russia, was rebuilt from scratch. The other divisions were rebuilt and reorganized. In addition, three all-panzer corps were formed by merging pairs of divisions and adding a number of corps troops. The Grossdeutschland Panzer Corps was formed from the Grossdeutschland and Brandenburg Panzergrenadier Divisions.The Feldherrnhalle Panzer Corps was formed with the 1st and 2nd Feldherrnhalle Panzer Divisions. The XXIV Panzer Corps was formed with the 16th and 17th Panzer Divisions. The Type 45 Panzer Division was developed at this time and the difference between a Panzergrenadier Division and a Panzer Division vanished. However, because of the lack of vehicles and fuel, the level of mechanization of the panzergrenadier battalions fell dramatically. They became little more than foot infantry. The German Panzer Division was coming full cycle due to the collapse of the German war industry and the mounting allied victories. Another aspect of the German panzer forces that is always fascinating to the reader is the equipment.There were a number of unusual armored vehicles produced during the war. It is not my intention to provide technical details on those vehicles, but some of the more fascinating vehicles were not part of the panzer divisions' equipment. These vehicles were the Panther Mk V, the Tiger (Mk VI), the King Tiger (Tiger II), the Porsche Ferdinand, and the Goliath. All but the panthers were usually assigned only to independent battalions. The Panther tank began its appearance in late 1943. Each panzer division would eventually be equipped with only one battalion of Panther tanks. The dates and the numbers of tanks assigned per company were as follows:

The combat debut of the Porsche Ferdinands was at the battle of Kursk, where nearly all of them were destroyed. Of the ninety built, sixty-eight Ferdinands were assigned to the 656th Jagdpanzer Regiment, which was formed with the 653rd and 654th Panzer Jagdpanzer Battalions. Each battalion had three companies of 14 Ferdinands, a maintenance company, and a staff and staff battery that had three more Ferdinands and three self-propelled quad 20mm flak guns. The 653rd Panzerjager Battalion later served in Italy with the 1st Company being disbanded in September 1944 and the 2nd Company redesignated as the 614th Panzerjager Company. The Tiger tanks (Mk VI) were assigned to independent battalions and to some divisions. Their incorporation into the divisions is discussed in the following text, but the independent battalions, which were numbered 501st through 510th Panzer Battalions, are not. In addition, the 3/ Grossdeutschland Panzer Regiment was equipped with Tigers and it is possible that the 104th Panzer Battalion was also equipped with Tigers. The first KingTigers were assigned to the 503rd Panzer Battalion, which arrived on the battlefield in France on 17 June 1944. As a result of heavy fighting, by early August it had already lost all its tanks. The next instance of King Tigers in combat comes during the British assault on Arnhem, when the 506th Panzer Unit was encountered. The first KingTiger rolled off the production lines in March 1944 and by 1 March 1945 a total of 489 had apparently been built. The Goliaths were unusual vehicles. They were basically tracked bombs that moved up to a fortified position and were detonated. They were assigned to the 301st, 302nd, and 303rd Panzer Battalions and 311th through 317th Panzer Companies. Note: In the following text, the dates given for changes are generally the dates that the change was ordered and do not necessarily reflect the dale that the change was implemented, if it was implemented at all.

Ranks in German Army Fahnenjunker

A cadet is a trainee. The term is frequently used to refer those training to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. Its meaning may vary between countries. The term is also used in civilian contexts and as a general attributive, for example in its original sense of a branch of a ruling house which is not currently in the direct line of succession.

Fähnrich Fähnrich is an officer candidate rank in the Austrian Bundesheer and

German Bundeswehr. However, Fähnrich ranks are often incorrectly compared with the rank of ensign, which shares a similar etymology but is a full-fledged (albeit junior) commissioned officer rank. The word Fähnrich comes from an older German military title, Fahnenträger (flag bearer), and first became a distinct military rank in Germany 1 January 1899.

Lieutenant A lieutenant (abbreviated Lt., LT., Lieut. and LEUT.) is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different military formations (see comparative military ranks), but is often subdivided into senior (first lieutenant) and junior (second lieutenant) ranks. In navies it is often equivalent to the army rank of captain; it may also indicate a particular post rather than a rank. The rank is also used in fire services, emergency medical services, security services and police forces. Lieutenant may also appear as part of a title used in various other organizations with a codified command structure. It often designates someone who is "second-in-command," and as such, may precede the name of the rank directly above it. For example, a "lieutenant master" is likely to be second-in-command to the "master" in an organization using both ranks. Notable uses include lieutenant governor in various governments, and Quebec lieutenant in Canadian politics.

Oberleutnant

Oberleutnant is a junior officer rank in the militaries of Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Switzerland and Austria. In the German Army, it dates from the early 19th century. Translated as "senior lieutenant", the rank is typically bestowed upon commissioned officers after five to six years of active duty service. Oberleutnant is used by both the German Army and the German Air Force. In the NATO military comparison system, a German Oberleutnant is the equivalent of a first lieutenant in the Army/Air Forces of Allied nations. Other uses The equivalent naval rank is Oberleutnant zur See. In Nazi Germany, within the SS, SA and Waffen-SS, the rank of Obersturmführer was considered the equivalent of an Oberleutnant in the German Army.

Hauptmann Hauptmann is a German word usually translated as captain when it is used as an officer's rank in the German, Austrian and Swiss armies. While "haupt" in contemporary German means "main", it also has the dated meaning of "head", i.e. Hauptmann literally translates to "head man", which is also the etymological root of "captain" (from Latin caput head). It equates to Captain in the British and US Armies, and is rated OF-2 in NATO. More generally, it can be used to denote the head of any hierarchically structured group of people, often as a compound word. For example, a Feuerwehrhauptmann is the captain of a fire brigade, while the word Räuberhauptmann refers to the leader of a gang of robbers. Official Austrian titles incorporating the word include Landeshauptmann, Bezirkshauptmann, Burghauptmann and Berghauptmann. In Saxony during the Weimar Republic, the titles of Kreishauptmann and Amtshauptmann were held by senior civil servants. It might cognates with the Swedish word Hövitsman that have the same root meaning "Head man" or "the man at the head" and that are closely related to the word "hövding" meaning Chieftain. Both titles are since medieval times used for titles within the administration of the state rather then within the military.

Major Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces. When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. It is considered the most junior of the field ranks. In some militaries, notably France and Ireland, the rank is referred to as commandant, while in others it is known as captain-major. It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures, such as the New York State Police, New Jersey State Police and several others. As a police rank, Major roughly corresponds to the UK rank of Superintendent. When used in hyphenated or combined fashion, the term can also imply seniority at other levels of rank, including general-major or major general, denoting a mid-level general officer, and sergeant major, denoting the most senior NCO of a military unit. It can also be used with a hyphen to denote the leader of a military band such as in pipe-major or drum-major.

Oberstleutnant Oberstleutnant is a German Army and German Air Force rank equal to

Lieutenant Colonel, above Major, and below Oberst. There are two paygrade associated to the rank of Oberstleutnant. Paygrade A14 is the standard level paygrade whereas A15 is assigned to senior Oberstleutnant personnel. Oberstleutnant of the General Staff or Reserve have the words "im Generalstabsdienst" (i.G.), "der Reserve" (d.R.) after their rank— thus: "OTL i.G.", "OTL d.R." Oberstleutnant who are definitely retired are described as "außer Dienst" (a.D.) During World War II, the SS maintained an equivalent rank known as Obersturmbannführer

Oberst Oberst is a military rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to Colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland DDenmark aand Norway. The Swedish rank överste is a direct translation, as are the Finnish rank eversti and the Icelandic rank ofursti. In the Netherlands the rank overste is used as a synonym for a lieutenant colonel.

Generalmajor The German rank of general most likely saw its first use within the religious orders of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, albeit in modified forms and usage from the current understanding of general. By the 16th century, with the rise of standing armies, the German states had begun to appoint generals from the nobility to lead armies in battle. A standard rank system was developed during the Thirty Years War, with the highest rank of General usually reserved for the ruling sovereign (e.g. the Kaiser or Elector) and the actual field commander holding the rank of Generalleutnant. Feldmarschall was a lower rank at that time, as was Generalwachtmeister. By the 17th and 18th centuries, the rank of general was present in all the militaries of the German states, and saw its greatest usage by the militaries of Bavaria and Prussia. It was these two militaries that created the concept of the “general staff”, which was often manned entirely by members of the nobility. To be a general implied membership in the noble class as a count or Graf, baron or Freiherr (this also accounts for most German generals of this era having the prefix “von” before their names)

Generalleutnant

Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a captain general. In modern armies, lieutenant general normally ranks immediately below general and above major general; it is equivalent to the navy rank of vice admiral, and in air forces with a separate rank structure, it is equivalent to air marshal. A lieutenant general commands an army corps, made up of typically three army divisions, and consisting of around 60,000 soldiers. The term major general is a shortened version of the previous term sergeant major general, which was also subordinate to lieutenant general. This is why a lieutenant general outranks a major general, whereas a major is senior to a lieutenant. In many countries, the rank of corps general has replaced the earlier rank of lieutenant general (e.g. France, Italy). (The ranks of corps general and lieutenant colonel general are intended to solve the apparent lieutenant general / major general anomaly). However, for convenience, this is often translated into English as lieutenant general. In a number of states, the rank of lieutenant general is the highest army rank in use. In Lithuania and Latvia, the chief of defence is a lieutenant general, and in the Irish Defence Forces and Israeli forces the Chief of Staff holds this rank.

General der Artillery General of the artillery may mean:

1. a rank of general in the Imperial Army, Reichswehr or Wehrmacht the second-highest regular rank below Generaloberst. Cavalry officers of equivalent rank were called general of the cavalry, and infantry officers of equivalent rank general of the infantry. The Wehrmacht also had General der Panzertruppen (tank troops), General der Gebirgstruppen (mountain troops), General der Pioniere (engineers), General der Fallschirmtruppen (parachute troops), General der Nachrichtentruppen (communications troops). Today in the Bundeswehr, the rank of lieutenant general corresponds to the traditional rank of general of the artillery. There was no equivalent rank in the army of East Germany, where it was merged into that of Generaloberst.

2. in the Bundeswehr, the position of an artillery officer responsible for certain questions of troop training and equipment, usually with the rank of Brigadegenerals. The position of general of the artillery is connected with that of commander of the artillery school. Corresponding service positions also exist for other branches of the army. Since in this usage it refers to a position not a rank, an Oberst is sometimes "General of" his respective type of troops. The form of address is usually Herr General and/or Herr Oberst ; the form of address Herr General der Artillerie is unorthodox, since it does not refer to a rank.

Generaloberst

A supreme general or senior general ( Generaloberst, sometimes mistranslated "colonel-general" by analogy to Oberst, "colonel") was the second highest general officer rank—below field marshal (Generalfeldmarschall)—in the Prussian army as well as in the Deutsches Heer of Imperial Germany (1871-1919), the Reichswehr Reichswehr 1933), and the Wehrmacht (which included the Luftwaffe, established in 1935) of Nazi Germany (1933-1945). The rank was created originally for Emperor William I—then Prince of Prussia—because traditionally members of the royal family were not promoted to the rank of a field marshal. Since the rank of Generalfeldmarschall was also reserved for wartime promotions, the additional rank of a "supreme general in the capacity of a field marshal" — the Generaloberst im Range eines Generalfeldmarschalls— was created for promotions during peace. Such generals were entitled to wear four pips on their shoulder boards, compared to the normal three. The equivalent ranks of a colonel general were in the:

Kriegsmarine Generaladmiral ("general admiral") Schutzstaffel (SS) SS-Oberst-Gruppenführer Sturmabteilung (SA) - no equivalent Ordnungspolizei (Orpo) Generaloberst der Polizei ("colonel general of police")

Generalfelsmarschall Generalfeldmarschall in German (usually translated simply as General Field Marshal), was the highest military rank in the armies of several German states including the Austrian Empire and Kingdom o PPrussia (later the German Empire). Originally used in the Holy Roman Empire, the rank of Generalfeldmarschall became the highest military rank in the Habsburg Monarchy equivalent to that of Marshall in France or Field Marshall in England. Following the fall of the Holy Roman Empire, it was kept in the armies of the Austrian Empire (1804-1867) then in these of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1867-1919). The Prussian army also used it as the army equivalent to a navy Grand Admiral (German: Großadmiral) and was later used as a rank on the Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe of Germany during WWII.

In Germany

In the German-Prussian Army and later in the Wehrmacht, the rank had several privileges, such as elevation to nobility, equal rank with ministers of the royal cabinet, right of direct report to the monarch, and a constant escort/protection. In 1854, the rank of Colonel- General (German: Generaloberst) was created in order to promote then Prussian prince William (William I, German Emperor) to senior rank without breaking the rule that only wartime field commanders could receive the rank of field marshal for a victory in a decisive battle or the capture of a fortification or major town. In 1870 Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia and Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm—who had commanded armies during the Franco-Prussian War—became the first Prussian princes appointed field marshals.

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Index 90° Light Afrika Division ...... 5 Afrika-Division...... 5 El Alamein ...... 7 Battle for Tunisia...... 8 Two-front campaign ...... 10 Order of Battle...... 10 Battle of Tobruk...... 20 Siege of Tobruk Timeline ...... 26 The Battles of EL Alamein...... 35 Battle of Alam Halfa Ridge ...... 38 The second battle of El Alamein ...... 41 Commanders ...... 48 Oberst "Johann Mickl" ...... 48 Poland and France ...... 49 North Africa ...... 49 Eastern Front ...... 50 Promotions...... 51 Awards and decorations...... 52 Austria-Hungary ...... 52 Carinthia ...... 52 Federal State of Austria ...... 52 Third Reich ...... 52 Generalmajor "Ulrich Kleemann" ...... 52 Awards and decorations...... 54 Generalmajor Werner Marcks...... 54 Awards and decorations...... 56 General der Fallschirmtruppe "Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke...... 56 Awards...... 58 Liutenant General Theodor von Sponeck ...... 58 Generalleutnant Carl-Hans Lungershausen ...... 60 General der Panzertruppe Gerhard Helmuth Detloff Graf von Schwerin.. 61 Awards...... 65 Generalmajor Baron Heinrich Alexander Ferdinand von Behr ...... 66 Awards and decorations...... 68 Maps ...... 69 North Afrika 1941- 43...... 71 First Battle of El Alamein...... 74 Second Battle of El Alamein...... 75 Battle of Medenine ...... 76 Annexes ...... 77 Panzer Division...... 77 Preface...... 7 7 Worl War II...... 80 History of the German Armored Formations ...... 83 Ranks in German Army...... 88 Fahnenjunker ...... 88 Fähnrich ...... 88 Lieutenant ...... 88 Oberleutnant ...... 89 Hauptmann ...... 89 Major ...... 90 Oberstleutnant ...... 90 Oberst ...... 90 Generalmajor ...... 91 Generalleutnant ...... 91 General der Artillery ...... 92 Generaloberst ...... 92 Generalfelsmarschall ...... 93 In Germany ...... 93 Bibliography ...... 93 Index ...... 96 Notes...... 98

Notes

1 Afrika Korps Panzer III ausf L DAK 2 Panzerkampfwagen III Second battle of El Alamein 3 Panzerkampfwagen III 4 Erwin Rommel The Desert Fox