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o PRE . E - T- RMS ERI ommels 'Desert rJIrmy Te t by RTI I DR olour plate by MI H EL R FF

Osprey, Men-At-Arms #053 Rommel's Desert Army (1976) 77Ed OCR 8.12

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Page 1: Osprey, Men-At-Arms #053 Rommel's Desert Army (1976) 77Ed OCR 8.12

o PRE . E - T - RMS ERI

ommels 'DesertrJIrmy

Te t by

RTI I DR

olour plate by

MI H EL R FF

Page 2: Osprey, Men-At-Arms #053 Rommel's Desert Army (1976) 77Ed OCR 8.12

E -AT-ARMS ERIE

DITOR: AR TI WI DR W

ommels 'Desert~rmy

Text by MARTIN WINDROW

CoLour pLates b] MI HAEL ROFFE

o PREY PUBLI HI G LIlTED

Page 3: Osprey, Men-At-Arms #053 Rommel's Desert Army (1976) 77Ed OCR 8.12

)lublished in 1976 byOsprey Publishing Ltd12-14 Long Acre, London WC2E gLPMember Company of the George Philip Group

Copyright 1976 Osprey Publishing Lid

Thill book is copyrighted under the Berm:Convention. All rights r(:5Cr"cd. Apart from anyfair dealing for the purpose: of private study,research, criticism or review, as permitted under theCopyright Act, 1956, 110 pan of this publicationmay Ix: reproduced, 510red in a rctriC\"al system, ortransmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,electrical, chemical, mechanical, optical, photo­copying, recording or otherwise, without the priorpermission of the copyright owner. Enquiri~ shouldbe addres5«l to the Publishers.

ISBN 0 85045 095 0

The author is particularly grateful for the assistanceof Brian Leigh Davis. Andrew IJiwandi, Daniel Rose,Philip Katcher and Digby Smith during theprcpar;lIion of lhe leXI and assembly of Iheillustrations. Thc literature on lhc desert war is vast,but the main sourccs used during the preparation ofthis book were: Uniforms, Organisafiofl and flis/oQ'fif/lte Afrika Korps by R.J. Bender and R. D. Law,Uniformie Mi/ilaria llalirlfle by Elio and Viuorio DelGiudicc, A COl/cue Encyclo/Jtdia fif lIlt Suolld World Wtlrby Alan Reid, The Foxes fif tltt Destrl by )l;1U1 Carell,A/omtil/ by C. E. Lucas Phillips, Grrmafl Am!)'Uniforms and In.rignia '933-45 by Brian Leigh Davis,Army Uniforms of World War II by Andrcw ~..Iollo andMalcolm McGrcgor, Army Badges alld In.rignia ojWorld War II by Guido Rosignoli, Armies & Weaponsmagazine, various issues, IVorld Iilar II, various issut:S,Armour in Profile and AFI' Profiles, various issues.

FilmSCI by BAS Printcrs Limited, Wallop, HampshirePrinled in Hong Kong

-

Page 4: Osprey, Men-At-Arms #053 Rommel's Desert Army (1976) 77Ed OCR 8.12

l,ztroductioll

ar

r

aan

rtdr77!JJI

Italian infantry in the desert; MarJDanca, late 1941. TheliI:ht machine-gun i th badly d igned Breda 6·!)Dl.IDModel 30. (Imperial War Museum)

3

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Italian medical officer - Dote single ar on houlder andcap, incUCIlting 2nd Lieutenant - esam.in.ing wounded ser­gente maggiore. From the visible detail ofbi collar (Sam 'the NCO i a Ber agliere, although th usual cock' -tail plumei Dot worn OD the tapi. Note that both wear olive-greenEuropean unUorDls - Dot UDCOmDlOD in the desert., wheretemperatures vary harply. (lJnperial War Mus UDl)

ornm nb tll -linmutual rthlhi

MALTA

Med,terranelln

ALGERIA

L , 8 Y A

4

Sea

du e int lhadJ

quil

erIn rum the

am­thaI

XI

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Brescia and Savona Divisions. On 30 January'9.P the command was redesignated PanzerarmecAfrika, or altcrnatively dculSChe-italienische Pan­zerarmee. Within this command DAK retainedits identity. On 23 February 1943 the PallZerarmeewas redesif{nated 1 Italienisehe Armce undcr thecommand of the Italian General Messe; again,OAK retained its identity within this command,now comprising 15 and 21 Panzer-Division andgo and ,64leichlc Afrika·Oivisioll. Rommel wason the same day promoted to command Heeres­gruppe Afrika. consisting of I Italicnische Armeeand von Arnim's Panzer-Armceoberkommando 5in nonhern Tunisia. On 9 March 1943 vonArnim succeeded Rommel in command of theHeeresgruppe.

Throughout the book the author has tried tolimit the use of the title 'Afrika-Korps' or theabbreviation OAK to references LO that actualformation of tWO. three or four divisions - themobile spearhead of Rommel's army. and theveteran heart of the Axis forces in Africa.

The Alrlll.. Ko...,. provided • rnucb-ftHded "I"memot ofpowerful tDtKoriHd uail.S forth,,~.r-.. Here membenof .. armoured car UlLil (Sd.Kb. 263 wirtln. co d..."nicm ru...,nloed) (n'eruiH wi!Jo h ..l.... BenaSliui _010....cyclUu.. Note the topi ptUIDt'S or !Joe Lauer, ..d the .hu,srolcliD!:.lNI)'o'h:t ca.rbi.ae.llrnperiaJ War Mu.""o:n)

Space has forbidden the inclusion of a com­prehensive set of orders-ol:'ballle, which an:largely available from standard works; Ihis bookis, aflcr all, designed mainly for Ihe swdcnl ofmilitary cOstume and the hobby enthusiast. II ishoped that the August 1942 order-of-battle. thePanzer-Armecoberkommando 5 order-of·battlefor March 1943. and the brief notes on the mainGerman divisions engaged in Africa will suffice.Details or the service of individual rlalian divi­sions have provro 100 elusive for the author topresent a similar set of notes, but il is hoped thatthe many specific references in the chronology willallow readers to place individual units in theirproper perspective in the overall picture.

For thirt)' years the average British andAmerican student of the Second World War has

5

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Et-wia Ro_et, ill his simpte d_rt -nOnD; lOOCe K.fti«bt'sCross with OaIc.Ieavn al tlt...-t sbow! Powr" Mirite, whichdal"thepIC't'llrebdw__ Marcb IMlsad.January Ig.p,wbal be was s_rdeet tbe Swords. (ImJH'riaI War MUHRm)

along the single, incomplete. practical motorroad along the coas!. His attack was finallylaunched on '3 September. Ceneral Bcrgonzoli'sXXIII Corps, willi four divisions and an in·adcqualely·cquipped armoured group, made slowprogress under punishing conditions, but after aseries or skirmishes with clemellls of the British7th Armoured Division the '23rd of March'Blackshirt division took Sidi Barrani on theevening of the 16th.

Both M ussolini, and, ror very different motives,Wavell, hoped that Graziani would immediatelypush on another se\'enty-five miles to the im­portant base of Mersa Matruh. Graziani refusedto overreach himselr, however. He insisted on re·maining at Sidi Barrani while he improved hissupply lines and awaited reinforcements. Heconstructed several fortified camps east of SidiBarrani, stretching some forty miles from Maktilaon the coast to a point named Sofafi South-Westfar into Ihe desert; and here he stared, awaiting

Ghroll%gyofiheVesert "War

$,ptanbu 1940In the summer of 1940 Italy had some 236.000men; 1,811 guns; 339 tanks and 15t combataircraft in her Nonh African possessions. The fallof France in June removed any threat fromFrench North Africa to the west, and MarshalBalbo's forces thus faced only Ceneral Wavcll'ssmall British and Empire garrison in Egypt.Organised into two combat divisions, the 7thArmoured and 4th Indian, this had an effectivecombat strength of only 3',000 men. In westernLibya Balbo had Ceneral Gariboldi's 5th Army(X, XX, and XXIII Corps, with six infantry andtwO blackshirt divisions). In the eastern zone wasGeneral Berti's loth Army (XXI and XXJ ICorps, with three infantry, one blackshirt and twonative infantry divisions). rvlussolini pressedBalbo - and, after the latter's death at the handsof his own anti-aircraft guns, his successorGraziani - to invade Egypt without delay; theIt'alian dictator wished his offensive to coincidewith Hitler's proposed invasion of England.Graziani r istc:d this pressure, however, cor­rectly judging that his transport and supplysituation did not allow an immediate advance

been encouraged to see the contribution ofItalian troops in North Africa as negligible; thisis a shameful libel on thousands of very gallantsoldiers who on many occasions fought with greatcourage in spite ofinadcquate weapons, minimaltransport, and unspeakable leadership. The popu­lar image of the enormous migrations of 'talianprisoners of '940, trekking cheerfully towards the'cage' under the careless guns of a handful ofTommies, should nOt be allowed to obscure lhetragic heroism of, say, the Ariete Dh,;sion in '942.Well awart: that their obsolete tanks were death­traps, they still attacked without flinching, andstOCK! their ground to the last when the battletumed against them. It is unworthy ofan)one who IIhas not faced the same dangers to deny at leastsome of the 'talian units the respect so readily andjustly given to the OAK and the 8th Army.

6

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Aa ObendelO._' .. rd U"Opic:al .-i/o...... aDd lUs"'~dft.n1: t.oot. of6da'".' dte- marriace by p...-y or_ ..of.m..... NOlI! AFJUKAKORPS aa.lfrit.le, epllalen" or raak. aDdpiped officer'. IMlrtl!nl field _po (r...periU War M--.)

reinforcements which never arrived due to thedemands of the Balkan campaign. The campswere badly sited, far tOO widely dispersed foreffective mutual support given the low level ofmotorisation of the Italian forces. SimultaneouslyChurchill took the courageous decision to stripHome Forces of three tank battalions and strongartillery units - despite the danger of Germaninvasion - and send them to Wavcll.Dtcnnb" 1940Moving secretly at night. the British 4th Indianand 7th Armoured Di\·isions concentrated in thedesert opposite the southern sector of the Italiandefensive line. At dawn on the gth, while a brigadeunder Brigadier Selby struck west along the coastroad at Maktila, 7th Armoured Division pene­trated the southern tip of the enemy line andturned north to cut off lhe bulk of the Italianforces. ravaging their rear areas as they went. 4thIndian Division, with the single battalion ofheavily-armoured Matilda II tanks, struck be­tween the positions of the Cirene Division atRabia and the Maleui motoristtl group atNibciwa, turning north to attack the latter. The

.- -- •

obsolctc M.ll tanks of the Malcui Group wereno match for the Matildas of 7th Royal TankRegimenl, and within a short time 4lh IndianDivision was on its way northwards to overrun theTummar complex, held by General Pcscatori's2nd Libyan Division. The 7th Armoured Divisionreached lhe sea before night on the 9th, and lhecut-off Libyans were finally beaten into sub­mission the following day. Naval gunfire helped'Selbyforce' to drive Sibille's stubborn lSI LibyanDivision out of Maktila. and the following day theItalians were ordered to retreat to the Halfaya.Sollum-Capuzzo line. Cirene fell back success­fully, but the Catanzara Division was caughtbetween Buqbuq and Sollum and very roughlyhandled. In all, loth Army had losl 38,000prisoners, 237 guns and 73 tanks, as against totalBritish casualties of624- At the moment ofvictoryLieutenant Ceneral O'Connor's forces (soon to bedesignaled 13 Corps) were weakened by the rc­moval of 4th Indian Division. earmarked forEritrea, but O'Connor did not allow the enemy ton=gain the initiative. He surged westwards inpursuit and crossed the Libyan frontier on the14th. On the 18th he invested Bardia, shutting upBcrgonzoli's XXII1 Corps (Marmarica and 2srdof March djvisions) and the survivors of Cireneand Catanzara in the perimeter. That dayO'Connor received as replacements for 4thIndian the 6th Australian Division.January '94-'On the morning of thc 3rd O'Connor assaultedBardia from the west; the Australians cut theperimeler, allowing lhe twenty-three remainingMatildas of 7th Royal Tank Regiment (the re­mainder were largely immobilised by lack ofspares) to surge into the fortress and cut the de­fendcrs in two. On the 5th the Italians sur­rendered, and another 45,000 men, 460 guns and131 tanks went 'into the bag'. 7th ArmouredDivision meanwhile advanced westwards to cutoff the important port of Tobruk, held by theSirte Division. After the fall of Bardia theAustralians folJowed, and the attack on Tobrukbegan on 21 January, supported by the dozenremaining serviceable Matildas and some en­thusiastic Australians in captured M.ls/40 tanks.By nightfall the vital supply harbour was inBritish hands, as were another 25,000 prisoners,

7

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208 guns and 23 tanks. TOlal losses sufTered by6th Auslralian Division in the attacks on Bardiaand Tobruk were 179 dead and 638 wounded.

Graziani now decided to hold the line of theJebel Akhdar, the high rocky outcrop of hills be·tween Oema on the coast and Mcchili in the deepdesert. He placed an infantry division at theformer posilion and General Babini's armouredbrigade OIl Mechili, confident thai he couldprevent any further advance lowards Benghazi,and apparently ignOring Ihe fact thai the terrainwould prevent thest: IwO formations from actingin concert. On the 24th the Australians ap­proached Derna, while 7th Armoured Divisionstruck south·west into the dcsefl and savagedBabini's tanks OIl Mcchili; the I talians retreatednorth into theJebelrleaving a clear run across the'blue' for the Gulf of Sine, cUlting off the wholebulge of Cyrenaica.

On the 9th, at a Berghof confercncc, Hitlerdecided that a small German force must be sent

A~ -os- bowh:.er ia .etiOlL. TIte~~ •mQ()ey n.alt'" or aaifOnDII, iDdlld.iar; lopi., field alpa, sidecapa, .boru, 1oa& "'--n.. .1l.ir1. IUId jadeb. (lm~War Ma_1

to Libya without delay - within about threeweeks. I IS task would be limited; it would consiSIof a small but modern tank unit, anti·tank andami-aircraft troops, and engineers wilh largeslocks of mines. This SptrrlJn"bond or blocking forcewould simply prevent further British advances inLibya, thus shoring up the shaken morale of theItalian ally, and preventing British forces nowcommitted in Africa from being released to servein other theatres. The news of the fall ofTobrukaccelerated these plans, and on 31 January thefirst elements of the 5th Light Division leftGermany for Naples.Ftlmwry /94 I

On the 1st, Graziani decided thai he had noallernative but to abandon westcrn Cyrenaica.Orden were given for the organisation of thedefencc of Tripolitania and the retre31 of forcesalong the coast of Cyrenaica. The distance fromDerna to a point opposite Bcda fomm on theGulf of Sine was 225 miles by the only majorroad, the Via Balbia. The distance from Mechili,in the Cyrenaican desert, straight across the'bulge' to Bcda fomm, was 140 miles. 7th

8

Page 10: Osprey, Men-At-Arms #053 Rommel's Desert Army (1976) 77Ed OCR 8.12

rm ur d i isi n und rr agh tra lIing flat out

I rrain' n th ra bthe 5th tb J I th Hu

Italian arm ,whil

w r

3rd ,v n

bd urn

ioglw r to be

FUhrer in

rWIn

DnorItalian Ir p

The ',alway vulnerable at the dp of long lines of upplyover a Mediterranean haunted by British SllbIDarin andaircraft, IDade use ofany captured vehicles they could: h re­a Sri . h 'Dingo' coul car, photo raphed iD April '942'Below the cro 5 au the ide appear the Dame 'Wurzel', (USNational Archive )

mao

th

In

o

many ofm th rZ aland

rna t of 2nd

hi ph si al

9

Page 11: Osprey, Men-At-Arms #053 Rommel's Desert Army (1976) 77Ed OCR 8.12

means. The available Italian units - Bologna,Brescia. Pavia, Sabratha and Savona - wereshaken and demoralised. The Ariete ArmouredDivision was just arriving in Africa, but had notyet 'shaken down' in the new surroundings andwas equipped with obsolescent vehicles. Trieste, amotorised division, would follow, but not forseveral months. Thc 15th Panzcr Division wouldarrive piecemeal during April, but could not bccounted upon yet. With only 5th Lighl Division,Rommel was forbidden 10 undertake majoroperations. When 15th Panzer arrived he was toprobe towards Agedabia and, ifsucccssful, Beng.hazi, at the end of May. He believed, however,that even if he took Benghazi il was indefensibleunless the whole of Cyrenaica was controlled aswell. He also bcJieved in exploiting local successto the hill, and was unscrupulous when it ap­peared advantageous to ignore his nominalsuperior, the Italian Gencral Gariboldi. Rommelwanted the vital port of Tobrllk, and on 24March he began his wild gamble for it. With only5th Light Division, he <Hlacked the Bntish scrccn­ing units at EI Agheila, and drove them rapidlyback to Mania Brcga.

Without further ado Rommel pressed 011, turn­ing lhe desert nank of the position and splittinghis command into three columns which raced upthe coast road and fanned out across the deserttowards Mechili. By 2 April he had occupiedAgedabia, and brought Ariete and Brescia up insupport. On the night of 3/4 April he ellleredBenghazi, while General Garibaldi tried vainly to

A I~... conunon .;,101 - It hatl~ry of caplured a5-pdu. ill.Afrika Korp....rviee. Thi. weapon was sreal.1y rft:p«led byItte Gennaa foree.. (US National Arcmve.)

find him and call him to accounl for unaUlhorisedopera I ions. Most of 5lh Light Division spednorth-eastwards to Mechili, followed by Ariete;lhat town fell on 7 April, and by a lucky chanceGenerals O'Connor and Ncame were captured bya OAK patrol. Most of 3rd Armoured and 3rdIndian brigades went 'into the bag' shoru)' after-.wards, and Rommel presscd on towards Dernawhile Brescia moved up the coast road. TheAustralian brigade from Benghazi managed toavoid the trap and reached Tobruk, with the nowunified Axis army on their heels.

Wavell was instructed to hold Tobruk at allcosts, as it could be supplied by sea and had strongdefences captured intact from the Italians inJanuary. The garrison of36,000 men included 9thAustralian and part of 7th Australian Division, anarmoured car regiment and an anti-aircraftbrigade. Commanded by 9th Australian's GeneralMOnihead, an iron-willed officer knowll to hismcn as 'The Pitiless Thing', this static target wasnot vulnerable to one of Rommcl's favouritcsllrprise flanking attacks. Rommel's series ofassaults began on 10 April, and lasted until 4May; they cost him heavy casualties, and wereuniformly unSllccessful, although he was reinforcedduring the attacks by arriving clements of 15thPanzer Division. He was forced to detach someof his units 10 push on to the Egyptian fronlier,where lhey fought a series of savage actions tosecure the vital frontier positions of Fort Capuzzo,Sollum, and Halfaya Pass. This necessary divisionof his forces betwecn twO fronts robbed Rommelof decisi\'e succcss.

10

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April 1942, omt! 45 kilometres we t of Gazda - baud80mestudy of PzKpIw m i.n use as connnand ta.ff vehicle,laagered up and camou.flaged with ClUnel thorn. It bears thentUDe'B tie'. IlluuediatJy behiud the tank· a leDt made

a from carnou8aged shelter-quarter . (US National rc,hjv )

II

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tD~ IH2-lUli._eo(~e10U'9OpersoESPaJlZer­Rqim.all. 21. P......~vi.i_. (US N.doaaJ ArdU__)

sent to the bottom in increasing proportion.(Twenty per cent of Axis supplies loaded in Italyin October were sunk en route, and in Novemberthis figure rose (0 an appalling sixty-two per cent.)Nevertheless Rommel planned a renewed assaulton Tohruk for the period 2oNovcmbcr-4 Decem­beT; and to avoid orders from above 10 remain onthe defensive he played down intelligence hintsthat a British offensive on the frontier was immi­nent. This offensive - Operation 'Crusader' ­began on 18 November.

Auchinlcck's forces, now designated 8th Army,were as follows: The Tobruk garrison, which wasto strike at the Cerman rear in concert with thefrolllier attack, comprised 70th Division, thePolish lSI Carpathian Brigade, and 32nd ArmyTank Brigade. On the right flank of the offensivewas 13 Corps, comprising the New Zealand and4th I ndian Divisions and 1st Army Tank Brigade.On the lefl flank was 30 Corps, comprising 7thArmoured and 1st South African Divisions, and4th ArMoured and 22nd Guards Brigades. I n allthe army had 724 tanks plus reserves of 200, andwas supponcd by twenty-four combat squadronsin tht: air.

12

Axis forces, under purely nominal command ofthe lIalian General Bastico, were as follows:

Cambara's Italian XX Mobile Corps com­prised Ariete Armoured and Trieste MotorisedDivisions, around Bir el Cubi and Bir Hakeim.Rommel's Panzergruppe Afrika comprised theOAK, and the lIalian XXI Corps. The former,commanded by Cruewell, included 15th and 21stPanzer Divisions (the latter redesignated from 5thLighl Dh'ision), the goth Light Afrika Division(the number dates from slightly later, bUI will beused here for clarily), and the Savona Division.This formation was spread from Sidi Rezegh,south-east ofTobruk, to the Gam but and Gasr eIArid sector behind the SoUum front. Navarrini'sXXI Corps comprised the Italian infantry bulk.the divisions Pavia. Bresc-i... Trento and &logna.It was stationed south and west ofTohruk for theplanned attack on that port which was pre­empted by the opening of 'Crusader'. Total tankstrenglh was 438 - ISg Italian and 249 Gennan.The Italian M-tanks were of doubtful quality.however; and the German total included 6gPzKpfw lis, which were little bener. There were136 PzKpfw Ills, halfofthem filled wilh the new50mm gun, and 3' PzKpfw IV!! with 75mm guns.

Under Auchinleck, the Commander-in-ChiefMiddle East, was Ceneral Cunningham as com­mander ofath }\rmy. His plan was for 30 Corps tostrike across the frontier 10 Cabr Saleh, in theexpectation of drawing the OAK's tanks into abattle in thai sector, in which they would be des­troyed. Meanwhile 13 Corps would allack thecoastal area and capture Sollum, Capuzzo andSidi Omar. On the command the Tobruk garrisonwould break out and eventually rendezvous withgo Corps around Sidi Rczegh, while 13 Corpspushed on up the coastal flank. The plan wasweakened, in advance, by the removal of 4thArmoured Brigade from 7th Armoured Division­the vital spearhead or the attack upon which alldependt:d and its deployment as an intermediatecolumn 10 guard against a penetration betweenthe boundaries of the two Corps.

\...In 18 November, in one of the dcscrl's raretorrential storms, the advance began. While 13Corps made steady progress on the right flank inheavy fighting, go Corps' mission failed. AJ­though a stubborn ana successful defence of Bir

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cI Gubi by Ariete COSt 7th Armoured Divisionsome fifty tanks, Rommel did not come south withhis Panzers, but remained in the Gambut area.30 Corps reached and took Sidi Rezegh, but on23 November was heavily attacked there anddriven back by the PanzcrsofDAK and the cntireXXI Corps. 200 British tanks wcre lost, and theSouth Africans wcre roughly handled. If Rommelhad continued his attacks he could have destroyed30 Corps: but he chose this moment for an exhibi­tion ofdashing cavalry generalship mOI'e suitableto a divisional commander than an army com­mander - his besetting weakness. Leaving hisforces without orders for four days, he took 100

tanks from 15th and 21st Panzer Divisions andmade his 'dash to the wire'. He swooped south of30 Corps and eastwards along the desert flank ofthe engaged forces, hoping to swing north fromSidi Dmar and ravage the British rear, perhapsencircling them against the coast. In this hefailed; Auchinleck was not unduly impressed, andcontinued with his planned operations, while the4th Indian Division stubbornly resisted Rommel'sattacks. He returned to his HQon 27 November,by which time the battle was turning against him.

Cunningham had been badly shaken by thesetbacks of the 23rd, and was replaced by RitchiejAuchinleck himself exerted maximum pressure,and largely took over the conduct of the battle onthe ground. On 26th the Tobruk garrison and the

New Zealanders of 13 Corps linked up at EI Dudaafter heitvy fighting. For the next nine days aseries of whirling, confused engagements tookplace south of Gam but, with advantage swayingfirst one way. then the other; but with no hope ofearly reinforcement Rommel was the ultimateloser in this battle of attrition. On 6 December heordered his depleted forces to retreat westwards,leaving the unfortunate Savona to hold OUt aslong as possible in the Sollum-Halfaya-Bardiaarea. They did not surrender until 17 January1942 .

Dtumhtr /94'The Italian command wished to pull back onlyto prepared defences running through Gazala, butRommel correctly estimated that thc Axis forcescould only regroup with an)' sccurit)' if thcy rc­treated as far 3.S EI Agheila. Hc used cvcry meansto press his argument, and by the end of the )'earhad carried out a skilful withdrawal to that strongline. Christmas Day saw 8th Army in Benghazionce more. They had taken 9,000 German and23,000 Italian prisoners, and dcstroyed 382 tanks.during the two-month campaign; British long-­range patrols and raiding parties were particu­larly active during the final pursuit.

Aprill!HlI- two pioneers 0(_ armooored III.Ilit u.l!ae rroatlio.... Noc.. t.IlIe difl'e~eftl Htweal thm lUlifonns aaclhdau!". The (;.,(rl1t",r em t.IlI", I"isllt IU. fidel aop ""ekedbehiad lUI .lIolllduo-bn«, ••d wn d-.-. ' .........."'...'. (USN.rio-J ArdUva)

13

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The importance of securing the Jines of com­munication 10 Africa was recognised on 2 Dcccm­/x."r by Hiller's appointment of Ficld-MarshalKesselring of lhe Luftwaffe as 'Supreme Com­mander South', His mission, for which he wasgh'en command of all German and Italian forcesin the ("cntrotl .Mediterranean area and strong airreinforcements, was to neutralise Malta as anAllied base for offensive operations; to win airsuperiority over the sea; to ensure Axis supplylines: and to interdict Allied supply lines. (Hisnominal aUlhority o\'er land forces in Africa wasnot exercised very actively, but in facl he proved!O have a bellcr strategic grasp than RommeL)His air and sea forers in the Mediterranean soonachieved a remarkablc turn-around in the for­tunes of the supply convoys, which, coinciding asit did with theoutbrea.k ofwar in the Far East andthe diversion ofAfrican reinforcements to Malaya,placed Auchinlcck in an unenviable position. Notonly did he lose expected reinforcements, butunils were aClually removed from his theat~ ofcommand: 70th and 6th and 7th AustralianDivisions, and four fighter squadrons. Yet he wasstill under pressure to push the Axis armies backto the Tunisian fronlier as soon as possible.January 1942The Axis naval successes in the Mediterranean,and the air blitz on Malta allowed Rommel toH.-ceive a hundred per cent of the cargoes loadedin hOlly in this month; these included 54 PzKpfwIII and IV tanks, plus armoured cars and sclf­propelled guns, and two units of Italian stm0/1tnli

self-propelled guns. Keeping his intentions secretfrom his own superiors, as well as his enemies,Rommel laullched a surprise altack from thc EIAgheila line on 21 January. using his faithful t51hand 2 tst Panzer Divisions, plus Arietc, Trieste andSabratha of lhe Ilalian Mobile Corps. TheItalians followed the general line of the coast roadwhile the Germans swept through the descrt in­land. Advancing fifly-six miles in forty-eighthours, Rommel cut the Benghazi road; he arrivedoutside that city on 27 January, and British 1stArmoured and 4th Indian Divisions only escapedcomplcte encirclemenl and destruction al heavycost in men and vehicles. In view of his success,Rommel was forgiven for flouting orders, andpromoted Colonel-General on I February. The

14

loss of thc Cyrenaican 'bulge' 10 lhe Axis hadr... r-reaching consequences OIL sea: British aircraftcould 110 longer support convoys from Alexllndria10 Malta. For a time an !talo-German joint in­vasion of the island was a vcry real possibility.Ritchie's 8th Army now fell back to the 'Gazalaline', a seriN of defensive positions (artificiallycreated - there was no geographical reason forthis line) west ofTobruk. There his supreme com­mander, Auehinlcck, continued 10 build up hisforces for thrcc months, wisely ignoring heatedinslructions from London to go back on theoffensive. Rommel brought his infantry up (henow commanded thc Italian X and XXI Corpsdircctly, ,",s well as the mobile XX Corps) andprepared, in his turn, for anothcr great push.Mar]unt 1942On the evening of 26 May Rommel attacked theCazala line. His orders were to destroy Britishmobile forces west ofTobnlk: to capture the vitalport; and then to halt. A further advance wasto be dependent on the successful invasion ofMalta. (Rommel pad reservations about thisHmitation, and probably intended from the startto exploit a vie tory to the hilt. He was all too awareof the steadily improving British supply position,bUI in the event he was loo\'erreach himsclfwithfatal consequences.)

British forces holding thc Cazala line comprised ;COlt'S 13 Corps. with 1st South African Division

on the coast and 50th Division some twenty milesinland, supponed by 1st and 32nd Army TankBrigades. As garrison of Tobruk, 13 Corps alsocommanded 2nd South African Division and 9thIndian Brigade.

NOI'ric's 30 Corps, with 1St Free French Brigadeat Bir Hakeim and 3rd Indian Motorised Brigadeextending south·castwards from this 'hinge'. lSI

and 71h ArmoUT(..d Divisions were positioned eachside of 'Knightsbridge', an important track junc­tion, and 29th Indian Brigade were at Birel Cubi.The defensive line Gazala-Bir Hakeim wasfronted by a wide belt ofminefields, which turnednorth ag'''in behind the latter position.

Rommel had under command OAK (15th and21st Panzcr, and goth Light Divisions), andAriete and Trieste of Italian XX Corps. His lankstrength was 560, including 38 PzKpfw IV and232 PzKpfw III. While Ritchie had about 994

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tanks, only 160 of these were the new M3 Grant­the remainder were Matildas, Valentines, andCrusaders, all of which had their strengths but allofwhich were outclassed by the German mediums.

Rommel's penetration on either side of BirHakeim led to confused fighting. 3rd IndianMotorised Brigade was overrun and 7th ArmouredDivision badly beaten by 15th and 21St Panzer.Ariete was then thrown vainly but very couragc~

ously against Bir Hakeim, where it was badlymauled by Koenig's ligiOlmairts and colonialtroops - who were also to pul up a good showingagainst Tricste and goth Light. By nightfall on the27th Rommel was being counter~attacked 6ercelyby 30 Corps, and his mobile units were becomingisolated and tangled in the mine6elds. Frontalattacks by the Italian infantr)'ofX and XXI Corpswere not attracting as much attention as he hadhoped. On 28 May he managed to restore his lineof communication - dangerously broken whilethe Pan7;,ers charged around the minefields - anddrove at GOt eJ Ualeb with his armour while

April 19f2 a mortar utW orSdliitnD{W"'l.,ri.,}-~m_1

1150 15- PDlUef'-Divisi_, i.D the a.pt.red British posiooa_.tSes-1i South. 80 kilolftdres wes1 or Bir Ralr.dm. n.e..tdier OD th., risht wea... the ShOM webbi.Ds saite... occasion­..oy WOni with .....le boob by euu.... troops i.D Mrica. (USN.u_.l ..uchi...,sj

covering himself against 30 Corps attacks aroundKnightsbridgc with clements of Trieste andPavia. Success at Got cl Ualcb opencd a lcn·milcrift in thc Allied front; Rommel rcunitcd hisscattered forces and e10sed the jaws of the trap onBir Hakeim. By 2 June he had cost Ritc.hie 400tanks, mostly the precious Granls, and thousandsof dead and wounded. He had very nearly cometo gricf while isolaled on the wrong sidc of thcminefields, but as always his rcactions had beenfaster and morc imaginati\'e than those of hisdispersed enemy. Bir Hakeim held out valiantlyuntil 10 June, when the survivors broke outsuccessfully. On the night of the 14th the lastelements of '3 Corps also diseng-.tged and pulledback; Ritchie intended to stand before Tobruk,but with only 100 tanks left he was hustled to­wards the frontier.

IS

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Rommel attacked the port on 20June with 15thand 21St Panzer Divisions and XX Italian Corps,while goth Lighl and the newly arrived LinorioArmoured Division covered the remains of 8thArmy. The antj-tank defences were in a poor stale,the minefields were incompletc, and in four hoursthe tanks of 15th Panzer were raging inside theperimctcr. Fiercc fighting continued until thefollowing morning, when General Klopper of2ndSouth African Division surrendered the garrison:33,000 men of his own formation, 11th IndianBrigade, 32nd Army Tank Brigade and 20lstGuards Brigade, together with massive fuel andolher stores. Since 27 May Rommcl had takcn45,000 prisoners.

Rommel's appeal to hi:, victorious divisions for'one more great effort' signalled his intention ofpushing ahead bcyond the agreed stop-line ofHalfaya Pass, despite the planned detaehmcnt ofsome of his units for the invasion of Malta inAugust. Events would show thai the Italian HighCommand's pIcas for the eradication of Malta,for the sake of the Axis supply lines to Africa,before any further advance in the desert, wereentirely sensible; but Hiller, too, had become en·chanted by the vision of driving Britain right outof Egypt and seizing the vital Suez Canal, and henow allowed the impctuous Rommel his head.With German tanks approaching Mcrsa Matruhand 8th Army in full retreat, the prize secmedworth the risk ofoverreaching.July 1942Auchinleck took ovcr direct control from Ritchie,and began to build his dcfcnsive linc from the scato the Quauara Depression, just west of EIAlamein. He received two divisions of reinforce­ments, and was in a position to repulse an auackin early July. as Rommel arrived and threwhimself straight at the Allied line, hoping to burstit open before it could become established. So fasthad he advanced from 'Hellfire Pass' that he hadonly 6,500 mcn and fony-odd tanks up with him.goth Light was repulsed on I July, being reducedto some 1,500 infantry and fony guns. By mid­July Rommel had some thin)' battalions of in­fantry available, but their average strength WflS

only 165 men each; 15th and 2tst Panzer andAriete and Littorio only mustered fifty-eightserviceablc tanks bctween them! Behind the Axis

16

posluons stretched 250 miles of empty desertbefore the first useful depot, and Allied fighter.bombers ranged over the Via Balbia like hawks.British strength continued LO increase, and Auch­inleck carried out a series of fierce local allacks,usually on Italian unit'S, taking some 7,000prisoners in the three weeks up to 2'2 July.Rommel's eagerness had betrayed him, and for afew days his letters had a hopeless ring aboutthem.August 1942Churchill replaced Auchinleck as Commander-in­Chief Middle East with General Sir HaroldAlexander; despite his fine qualities and manysuccesses, 'the Auk' had shown consistently poorjudgement in his appointment of subordinates,whom he had later had to step in and rescue.Alexander, patient, brilliant, and enormouslypopular, was given the simple instruction ofdestroying Rommel's army. His field commanderwas to be Lieutenant-Gencral Bernard Mont­gomery, who was appointed on the death of theori.g:inal choicc, General Cott, in a plane crash.Motllgomery flew OUI immediately, and beganto study Auchinleck's dispositions before EIAlamein and to pursue his very personal policyfor improving 8th Army morale. Reinforcementscontinued to arrive, and he had been promisedgoo brand new American Sherman tanks and tOOI osmm. self-propelled guns - an unparalleled actof American generosity promptcd by the fall ofTobruk.Septnuber-October 1942Rommel, still dogged by supply problems andknowing his enemy was gClling stronger daily,all'acked the British line on go August. TheBritish positions were held by 30 Corps (gthAustralian, 1st South African, and 5th IndianDivisions) and 13 Corps (New Zealand and 7thArmoured Divisions). reading from the coastsouthwards. Unknown to Rommel, Montgomeryhad strongly reinforced Alam cl HaIfa ridge, afeature running cast-west behind the southcrn endof the British line, to block any typical 'DesertFox' hooks around the left wing and up tOwardsAlexandria; this sector was held by 44th Divisionand two brigades from loth Armoured Division.

Rommel's plan called for diversionary attacksagainst go Corps by the Italian XXI Corps and

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Peaked cap oC an cngioeer captain;ItalianAnnyEurop anpattem.Mouscgrey with black peak and trap andgold buttons, it ba rank stripthr - in gold, and the hraDch badgein gold on grey with black lozenge.(Daniel Roe Collectio.o)

Tropica.1 forage cap of tenente colo.o­eIIo, Laneieri. Bra.nch badge' oldbullion on black; rank patch i opengold wire 'box' with two ~old stars onblack backing in centre. (Daniel Ro eCollection)

Italian generaJ peaked c p: mou egrey crown and band, black peak andtrap. Generals' silver braiding scwn

direcdy to band; 0.0 ilver tripcabo e it indicat bri dicr-genual,two trip a divisional general, ~ 0

with a gold c:ap-badgc a gc.acraJ oCanny corp and three a Cull gc.aeraJ.The -.gle badge b re is ilver with ared backin the central ilv r ero ona red lozenge. Buttons are silver.(Daniel Ros Collection)

ltalia.n g eraJ' Corage cap in mo cgrey pbcrdine; tropical pattern wasidc.aticaJ but in sand-coloured twill.Flap fastened with pres tud· frontbadge black on red backing with whiteera on red lozenge; ide rank patch(full eneraJ) is of silver patternedbraid with red edging, bearing threegold with red edging. (DanielRose Collection)

Infantry major' white-Govered trop­ical peaked cap. Rank is indicated byODe thio gold band above one thick;th" branch badge i in gold on greywith a black lozrng", th" p"ak andtrap ar" black and th" buttoWj gold.

(Daniel Rose Collection)

Other Rank 'Europ..an model Corag"cap in coar e olive-gr...... cloth withOap fastened by wooden button. ArtiJ­I"ry badg" in black on olive-gree.n·r..pmental DlUDber 131 in whit" metalon oliv-..-green. (Danid Ro e Collec­tion)

17

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Ita.I.ian teel hehnet, paiDted sand yeUow 0 erolive-green. Brauch badge were ometimestencilled on the front in black paiDt. (DanielRo e CoUection)

tra-

rgof a

for

t riorating (not fi r the

B. da n

Ii

panzergren.adiere waiting the word to attack. Note hes ioulhelmet coverw, high laced boots. MP'40 and pouch gren- nade and webbing equipment. The UnteroJ6%ier Us th fore­s.round has duU ochre tre e round th collar of hi jacket.(Imp rial War Mu eUUl)

18

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the obviously ineviwble British riposte. Mont­gomel)' was now disembarking his new Shermans,and twO more divisions of men, including thefamous 51st Highland. Stumme's line consisted offrom north to south) Trelllo and 164th Light

Di\·isions, Bologna, the Ramcke Fallschirm­Brigade, Brescia, the Folgore Parachute Division,and Pavia. In rcsCr\'(' behind the northern sectorwere 15th Panzcr and Littorio; on the coast roadwell behind them was the army rcserve. gothLight and Tricste. Thc southern sector of thefront line was supported b) 21st Panzer andAricte. The entirc front wa.. protccted by massi\'emincfields some haifa million mincs in all. plusthousands of boobv~trap" - and covered byeighty~six of the deadly 88mm. anti-tank guns,and ninety·fh·c of the almost as cffcctive Russianj·62cm. weapons. some thirty of them self.propelled on Czech tank chassis. Thc Panzerarmcehad j71 field guns, of whkh 371 werc !Ialian:j2:2 anti-tank guns of all calibrcs, of which 150\\'ere Italian; 497 tanks, of .....hich 'lj9 wereItalian: and 70 infantry battalions of which 42were Italian. The infantry werc dug in, not in acontinuous front but in a systcm of mutuallysupporting positions built for all-round defence.This formidable army was. however, deathlyshort of fuel and ammunition, and of air support;and in October 44 per cent of Axis suppliesloaded in Ital)' wcre sent to the bottom of theMediterranean.

Montgomery's supply position was much morcsecure; he could lllUster 939 field and 1,5°6 anti­tank guns, 1,348 tanks and 500 armoured cars,and 86 strong battalions of inrantry. Note, how­ever, that or his apparently cnormous superiorityin armour only some 300 tanks - the Shermans­wcrc truly a match for the Panzcr JlIs and IVs.The Crusadcrs and Valcntines were as vulnerableto the Panzers as the Italian M-tanks were tothem; while the Grant. although more formidable,had many disadvantages which prevented itsmeeting the Germans on equal terms, as had beenproved at Knightsbridge in May and June.

£1 A/amtinAt 2140 hours on 23 October, Montgomef")opened his attack with a fierce artillery barragewhith silenced the enemy's batteries and dis-

rupted his communications. After firtcen minutesthe barrage lifted and sappers and mine~c1earing

tanks moved fonvard into the 'Devil's Gardens'which proleclcd the Axis front line. Behind themcame the infantry. The attack reI! on the wholelength of the Axis line, but the weight of it was illthe northern sector, north ofRuweisat Ridge; thesouthern attacks by 13 Corps were important butbasically diversionary. The attack caught thePanzerarmce by surprise: Rommel and the com­manders of the Italian X and XX I Corps were allabsent in Europe. It was also entirely differentin nature from anything yel seen in the desen.~10Illgomef")·had decided that rather than followthe classic pattern of a southern hook, with itspredictable a!tempt to force the enemy againstthe coast, he would attack in the nonh, using theempty wastes to the south as the 'sea' into whichthe enemy would try 10 avoid being pushed. Healso abandoned the desert philosophy that de­manded an early clash or armour, in the beliefthat once the enemy's mobile forces were des­troyed his infantry were helpless; recognizing thesignificance ofprevious encounters with the belter­trained and technically uperior Axis armour, heheld his tanks back and attacked in a set-piecemanner with carefully co-ordinatcd infantry andartillery forces. Using his superiority in numbers,he inlendt"(1 to crumble the Axis infantry linedivision by division, accepting casualties butforcing Rommel to commit his armour - his onlyreserves under circumstances which robbed themof freedom of movement. Once forced to moveinto a congested battlefield among the minefieldsand to r.'lce artillery ancllimilcd defensively-sitcdarmour, the Panzers could be dcstroyed steadilywithout ever mccting the bulk of the Britisharmour. In the event this is exactly what hap­pened.

The initial attack of 13 Corps in the south led tocostly fighting and prevented Rommel's southernreservc, Ariete and 21st Panzer, from movingnorth. Meanwhile 30 Corps, led by tlle 9thAustralian, 51st Highland and New ZealandDivisions, blasted their way along twO corridors inthe minefields and engaged Trento and 164thLight, causing heavy losscs. 1st and loth Arm~

oured Divisions were committed to close supportof the advance, but undcr tight control. When

19

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goth Light, 15th Panzer and Littorio were com­mincd to counler-attacks lhe tank losses on bothsides were heavy, but the Panzerarmcc's wererelatively the more grievous in vicw of theirsupply position. When Rommel gOt back to hisheadquarters late on 26 October he found thatonly 39 German and 6g Italian tanks remainedserviceable in his northern armoured reserve. Hewas forced to bring 21st Panzer up north ofRuweisat, and forty·eight hours later it was downto 48 tanks. IIS transfer also left Montgomery freeto bring 7th Armoured Division north as well. By29th October the 1st South African and 4thIndian Divisions, forming the left (southernflank of 30 Corps immediately north of Ru­weisat, had made a deep penetration into&Iogna Division's sector. Montgomery was ableto regroup some brig••des in preparation forthe major breakthrough attcmpt, while stillhammering Rommel's line and forcing the re­deployment of Ariete and Trieste, Rommel'sfinal reserves. Resisting pressure from Whitehall,Montgomery cominued to fight his plannedbailie calmly and without deviation.

On 2 November the breakthrough stage of theallack, 'Operation Supercharge', was unleashed.The previous night 9th Armoured Brigade ofFreyberg's New Zealand Division made a verygallant attack on part of the Axis gun-line, andwas virtually wiped out. 2nd and 8th ArmouredBrigades movcd illlo the gap hacked al such costby the 9th, and invited attack by 21St Panzer.Ncar Tel cl Aqqaqir a tank and anillcry ballie ofunprecedented savager)' W:15 fought Out, and on2 November some 77 German and ,~o Ilaliantanks were destroyed, LOgeliler with many guns.'''''hi Ie relative slalcl1l<llc apparenlly persisted 'onthe map', Montgomery's plan was working alltOO wcll. Rommel's reserves, and thus his options,were being whittled away; hc h:ld only about 187tanks left, ofwhich only about 32 were German.

Rommel orden..'" immediate preparations for awithdrawal to the Fuka line sixty miles westwards,covered by Ariete. The ncxt day he receivedHitler's 'fight 10 the last man' directive; suicidalthough it was, he dutifully c.'1.ncellcd his order andprepared a compromise plan by which goth Lightand the Italian infantry remained in their posi­tions while the survivors of Afrika Korps and

20

llalian XX Corps pulled back a few miles. Onthe night of the 3rd/4th, 51st Highland Divisjonsmashed through Ihe Axis line in lhe area ofTci1.'1 Aqqaqir, and the New Zealand and 7thArmoured Divisions poured through the gap onthe 4th. Arietc and the rest of XX Corps weredestroyed where they stood, after gallant resist·ance which belies - as do SO many of the desertbattles - the AIHed 'propaganda image' of theItalian soldier. On that day OAK commanderGeneral Ritter von Thoma was captured, as heleapt from his burning tank, by 1St ArmouredDivision. The battle was over; parts ofTrieste andLillono and the four OAK divisions were puIJedback successfully, but were only skeletons of theirformer strength. Trento, Bologna, Brescia andPavia were strandt."d without transport and 'wentinto the bag'; Ramcke's paratroopers made theirepic escape, but the Folgore was not so fortunate.Axis losses wcrc 25,000 dead and wounded and30,000 prisoners; 1,000 guns and 320 tanksdestroyed orcapturcd; and nine generals. (Gcner­al Stumme had died of a heart auack in the earl)·stages. his place being taken by von Thoma.Allied )osso were ,~.610 dead and missing and8,950 wounded. Some 500 tanks had been knockedout, but as the Allit:s were len in command of thebattlefield many were salvaged and onl)· 1.50werc totally dcstroyed. About 110 gUlls. mostlyanti-tank: guns, had been lost.~Vol'Cmber Dumbtr '942Rommel, whose belief in any eventual victory inAfrica had 1I0W completely c"aponlled, led askilful but desperate retreat westwards, pursuedby 8111 Army and overshado">'t."d by news of IheAnglo-American 'Torch' landings in Moroccoand Algeria. Covcring 700 milcs in five weeks,Montgomery rcached Marsa Brcga by 13 Decem·ber. Now 8th Army began to suffer from theproblems of over-extended supply lines; butRommel had no heart for delaying manoeuvres.He wanted to get the remnants of his army backto Tunis, which was being reinforced from Sicilyas a bridgehead, and e\'entuall)' to take themsafely home to Europe. The Anglo-Americaneastwards advance from Algeria on Tunis washeld up by the weather and by logistic problems.as well as by political quarrels. By 31 Decemberthe Axis build-up had brought total strength in

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Tunisia to 47,000 German and 18,000 Italiantroops of 5 Panzcrarmee, led by Gcneral vonArnim. ~'lain uniLS werc the excellent loth PanzerDivision, 334th Infantry Division, the ItalianSupc.rga Division, and various miscellaneous uniLSof both nationalities, including German para­troopers and a battalion (So 1St) of the new Tigersuper-heavy tanks. A temporary Axis air superior­ity had also been achieved over the bridgehead.JanlJary-F~bruary '943By 26 January Rommel was on the Mareth linein Tunisia, with the remnants of OAK 15th and21St Panzer and goth and l64-th Light Divlsions I;reinforced elements of Pistoia and Trieste; andweak new Italian forces designated the YoungFascist, Spczia and Centauro Divisions, of whichthe latter was nominally armoured and containedsome surviving units of Ariele. On 23 Februarythis whole force was redesignated 1st Italian Armyand put under the command of the I1alianGeneral Messc; simultaneoush' Rommel tookcommand of all Axis forces in the theatre - i.e.1St Italian Arm) and 5th Panzer Army - theunified command being cntitled HeeresgruppeAfrika.

On 14 February Rommel launched his lastoffensivc, planning to exploit the inexperience ofthe American forces to the west while Mont­gomery probed cautiously at the J\hreth line inthe south. Striking the unsuspccting U.S. 1stAnnoured Division in the Faid Pas.~, von Arnim,with loth and 21St Panzer, innicted vcry heavylosses in the Sidi bou Zid area. He beat off acountcr.aU3ck on the 15th, and the Americansabandoned Gafsa. Rommclnow struck into theirright nank with minor units of DAK, and on 17I'ebruary loth and 2 I st Panzer were transferred tohis command for an attack towards Tebcssa. Onthe 20th the Panzcrs took Kasscrinc Pass, andnext day loth Panzer was wheeled north to takeThala, while 21st Panzer headed for Sbiba. Thisline ofadvance was forced on a reluctant Rommelby his superiors; he pressed for a d rive on T eOCssain the old Wagnerian Panzer manner, correctlypredicting that the Thala line would bring himinto contact with strong Allied reservcs. Ii did;and the attack petered out for lack of resources.On 22 February Rommel abandoned the attemptand' dashed southwards again to face Mont.

" '-, .. .

tWiaa oBieu'. tropical "nice dreft., wora ........ by ......jor,ap~dyotdoe.2tIa'$at;sari' Wa.try Dimioa lojDCIs:" byIUs IlaIved wlUl~rNcollar patches. (Tb..l. onit did lIotHro·e .. Africa - doe pboto lake-. ia Sicily.) (l.m.perialWar MUHum)

gomery, leaving von Arnim to launch 'OperationOxhead', an attack on 26 Februar)' designed tocut Eisenhower's Bcja.Mcdjez cI Rab supply roadand win some elbow-room. The Faid-Sidi bollZid - Kasserine opera lions had cost the AmericanII Corps about 3,000 dead and wounded. 4.000captured, 235 tanks and 110 other armouredvehicles. II had the beneficial result orlcading tothe immediate replacemellt of the corps com­mander by General George S. Patton.Mault '943On 6 March Rommel opened an audaciolls butpredictable attack on 8th Army. While 1StItalian Army (Young Fascist, Spezia, Trieste andPistoia Divisions, plus goth and 164th LightDivisions) occupied the Mareth Line, they werefaced only by the advance forces of 8th Army ­the 51st Highland and 7th Armoured Divisions.Rommel determined to hook his loth, 15th and21st Panzer Divisions to Medcninc and then northto the sea, supported by 164th Light. ~Iont·

gomery reacted instantly to thc threat, bringingup heavy reinforcements and much artillery.

21

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buill around the New Zealand Division, to theshorl cast/west line Metameur.Mcdcnine. rightacross Rommel's path. I n bloody figilling theAxis attack was repulsed, wilh a loss of 52 ofRommel's I~I precious tanks and 640 men.British losses were one Sherman lank and 'gomen; the anillery had plared a major pan in Ihedefence.

On 9 March Ceneralfddmarschal Erwin Rom·mel left Africa. He Aew to Rome, and then on toGermany 10 beg for an organisro evacuation ofGerman forces in Tunisia. Hider refused. andordered him to take his long.postponed sick leave.He never returned 10 the desert.

Under the command ofvon Arnim the Germanforces in Tunisia, strengthened only with various'scratch' formations of variable quality andstarved of equipment, fought all against im·possible odds until 12 May. all that day vonArnim surrendered; on the 13th the last unit tolay dowll its arms, the 164th Light Division,ceased fire.

PANZERARMEE AFRIKA ORDEROF BATTLE 15 A C ST '942

Dtll.JscluJ IlJ,i}.a-Ko,ps GcnrrnllcUlnanl Walther :"\eh·ring).15 Pa1l{"-D,nsioR GCllcrnllculllanl Gu~ta\' \"OnVaer$I'I}anzer-Rcgimcnt 8. Inr."lntcric-RcgimcIII 11101 I , 5.Artillerie.Rcgiment mot 33. Panzerj;iger-Abldl­ung (mOl) 33. AufklarulIgs.AhleilulIg mot 33. plusdivisional unilS.21 Pan~".Didsion (Gencralmajor Georg von Bis­marck)Panzer-Regiment 5, I nfamcric-Regiment (mot) 104.ArtiJlcric-Regimcnt (mot) 155, Panzcrjligcr-Ableil­ung (mot) 39, Aulldarungs.Abteilung (mal) 3, plusdivisional unilS.90 {t;cllte Afn'ka-Dit-ision (Gcneralmajor Ulrich KI~­

man)Infanlttic-Rcgirnenl (mot) 155, Infantcrie-Regi­ment (11101) 200, Infanlcric-Rcgimcnl Afrika (mot361, Panzcrgrenadier-Regimenl (mot) Afrika-, Ar­liJIcric.Rcgiment Cmol 190, Panzerjager-Ableilung(mOl) 19o, Aufldarungs·Ableilung (mot) .)80. plusdivisional units.,6., fnchJt AfriAtl-Diuision (Oberst Carl-Hans Lunger­hau~ll)

Panzugrenadicr.Rcgiment (mol) 125, Panzergren-

22

adicr-Regiment (mol) 382, Pallzergrcnadier-Regi­menl (mot) 433, Anillcric-Regiment (mol) 220,flak-Ableilung (mOl) Gog, schwer$tc Infanteri;­gcschOu-Kompanien 707 and 708. Auillarungs­Abtcilung (mOl 220, plus divisional uniu.Falucll",,,jig"-Brigadt Rome*' (Genernlmajor Bern­hard Ramckeo)FaJbchirmja.ger-Bataillon Krah, fall.schirmjiger­Sataillon von der He)'dte, FaJhchirmjager-BataillonHubner, Fallschirmjager-Lc:hrbataillon Burkhardl.Falbchirm-.\rtillerie-Abteilung. Fall.sc:hirm-Panzer­jilRer-Kompanie.

X Itoliall Corps Lieutenanl General Eduardo NchbiaJllfallJry Divisio" Bltuio (Major Gent:ral Brunelli I

19th and 20th Infanlry Regimenl!i. lSt MOloriscdArtillery Rl-gimenl.Infantry Dilluion Pavia (Brigadier General Scattaglia)27th and 28th Inf;mtry Regiments. 261h ArtilleryRegimcl1t.

XX Italian Molo,i.ftd Corps (Lieutenant Gencral Giu­seppe de Stefanis)AmlO.m:J DiD;s-ion Aritle (BrigadierGcncml Arena)Annourl-d Croup Anele (52nd Tank Battalion, plus3rd Nizza Armoured Group comprising annouredBersaglieri battalion wilh AA and AT batterics·.13::md Tank Regiment (8Ih, 9th and loth TankBattalions, 81h Bcrsaglitti Regimenl f2nd Motor­cycle Battalion, 51h and 12th MOlorised Battalions '.1]211d ArnlOurcd ArLiJlery Regimelll I I and 2nd75/27 Groups, 3rd IOS'28 Group, 55151 anti 5S2nd75,18 Armoured Groups:. 41h Granalieri di Sard­eglla Anti-Tank Ballalion, plus di\'1gonal units.Armorntd DiroioR J~lto,i(J Brigadier General May­ncr; ,3rd L"lIleicri di ;'\o\'ara Annoured Cavalr} Group.133rd Tank Regiment (41h, 121h and 51 t TankB:ltlaliOllsl, 121h 8crsaglieri Regimenl (2 lSI MOlOr·cycle Baltalion, 23rd and 36th MOloriscd B.-It­lalions), 133rd Armoured J\rtiltery Regiment (1stalld 2nd 75/27 Groups, 5561h and 5571h 75/18Armoured Croups), part of 3rd Armoured ArtilleryRegiment, plus divisional units. (Nil: many of theabove unils had suffered heavy casualties and thisofficial CSlablishment docs not refieci the trueslrength of lhe di\·ision.)Moloru,d Infantry Dirision TriI.su (Brigadier GeneralLa Feria11th Tank Ballalion, 65th and 66lh InfanlryRegiments, 91h Bersaglieri Regimenl (30th. 32ndand 381h MOlorised Ballalioll!). 21St ArtilleryRegiment 1St and 2nd 100/17 Croups, 3rd and 4th

• F'onnorrt) Sonden'a"band '188. consmi"l of IWO baltalionll ~C'thnic: Gf'I'1T\&Illi from Africa and thC' .\lrdilnnneon llfO• .and OIJC'baltalion ofloeal Anta.

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e

Italian braoch cap badges rep ted aD officers'black houlder-boanls: (a) l.n.fantry (b) Ina or­• ed iDIi try (c) Bersag.lieri (d) colonial infantry(e) tanb (I) divisional artillery (g) motori eel(armoured) a.rtillery' (b) ppu (i) para­trooper .

Typica1divi iODaJarrn- hields- irt"", 'Tr"'nto'and '23 Marzo. Sre conunrnlari aD colourplat A2 and Bit for deta.Us.

21 Pall~er-Diuision( b rst Hans- eorg Hild bl" ndt)Pam r-Regim >l1l5, Panzer rcnadi r-R im nt 104

till 'ric-R gim Ol (mOl) 155, 2./Flak- btcilung25 ufldarun - blcilung 580 plus divi i nalunils.

10 Plm;:.u-DivifioTl ( '0 ralmaj r Fritz Fr ill rr v nEmi h)Panz'r-Re im nl 7 (n ballali n), Panz r r n­adi('r-R gim nL !) (n ballaIion) Panz rgr n­adier-R 'gim 'nl 8 (n baltali n), pan rtill ri '­R gim nl (moL) go. Panz rjagr- bt iJung (m I)9 rad hlitz n-Btl 10 pJu divi ional unil"

75/27 roup', Ih 75/5 r up) plus divisi nunits,PIlTachule DiuisioTl Folgor (Major n ral F'rauini)1R51h 186th and 187th Para hUl Infanll. Regi­ments, plu di i i nal unil of un crlain Ir n~th.

XXlllnlian Corp (Lieul nant ol'ral· n a tlvarini)H%n'sfd Infanl~)' Dim ion Trrnlo [Brig-adier eneralfasina)

6r land 62nd Infanl Re imcnl , 7lh B ' li'riR· 'm nL (b. tl. lion un rtain al Ihi ,lage).16Ih

nil!' , Regimenl ( quipm nL un enain al thi'lage). plu clivi ional unil ,Irifatll1J' DilJi.lion Bologl/a ( aj r G n'ral loria)

Ih , nd 40lh Infanlry R ~~imcnl., 2 51h till ryR gim nl ( quipm 'Ill un erlain al lhi .le g ,pludivi i n (unil .

MA 0R H J. 43

I, 17

ankroup,

roup

Djvi,~io1l lJon On

alit um·!)'aIls hirmja er-R gim nt B r nlhin. F Id- bt'il­

un T3 ar ch- bl ilung 3 I I rtilJ ri ­R 'm nl (m I) 2 Fall chirmjager-Pioni 'I' Bat­lali n (m l) r I llali n r th B r agli ri R gim nl(2 th 34lh and 3rd Ballali n) plu min rclivi. i nal unit..

33·/ ftifaillen'r-Dillisioll ( -neralm.i r Fri nri hrenadi r-R 'gim nl754,ren di'r-R gim nl 756

334, hn·1I bt ilung 33

d in­am­

urtil

II ri

Iud d orpani s but:nclud d:

23

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· t-

Mo t Italian infantry units wore collar patcheof one of th' e three de ign ; a few - e.g. meLiguria Brigade - wore patch hal eel alongtheir length. Rep enta've designs WOni byunit which ervecl in North Africa are asfollow:Cirene Division, Liguria Brigade (157 & 158Rgt. .) - halYed orange oyer blue8me Di • Ancona Brig., (fig & 70 Rgts.) - bbck,

thr yellow stripvOna Div., aVOo.a Brig. (15 & 16 R .)­whit one black strip

Sabratha Diy. Vero a Brig., (85 & 86 Rgts.) ­blue, two yellow trip

Superga Diy., Ba llicata Brig., (91 & 901 Rgts.) ­crim on, one white stripe

Br scia Diy. Bre cia Brig., (19 & 010 Rgt .) ­crimson, ODe bl ck tripe

Pavia Diy. Pavia Brig., (27 & 28 Rgu.) - green,ouered trip

Trento Div.· Sicilia Brig. (61 & 62 Rgts.) ­cadet, two gr en stripe ,blue patch

Trie te DiY.,· Valtellina Brig., (65 & 66 Rgts.)­black, three white tripe blue patch

Bologna Diy. Bologna. Brig., (39 & 40 Rgt .) ­white, one red stripe

Pi toi.. Div., Pisl:oia Bri. (35" J6 R .)­orao e, one black stripe.

< rn d and th dj i i n \m f th \'ari

~fri tlJZ cSer~ iCl ofqerJJZan 'Divi iOIl

and urr nd rfinv I 'ment

5 leichtc Division was lhe title h s n for the 'blockingfor c nl 10 ITi a in arl I 41. 1 t of i urU'" ere in fact drawn from 3 Panz r- ivi ion. Til unilarri ed in Tripoli from I F bruary 194' om ard , thearmour di embarking on 20 ebruar '. rter continu­ous active service as the. p arhead of the D K I hedi ision wa rcdc ignated on I ctob r 1 4' a 21

Panz'I'-Divi ion ( .(' bdow).

10 Pall rr-Dim iorl w rc vet ran of P land, Franc.and u ia. and afler a p ri d in III ulh fFranw r hipp d t Tuni. ia in lat . ov mb T , 42,being imm dial I rnmitt d t balll in Lh bridg­h>ad. th [r h I and best- quipp d divi i na ailabl it w. u cd on'lantl)' t b th nd r thebrid h 'ad, until it Wal' fI I' d t . urr nd r in the hill.Ilorth fBiz rta n 9 fa ,

/5 POfl.<er-Division \ a born n 1 0 emb r I 40,

wb n il was re-form d a a Panzer formati n afterin I'rance a th 33 lnfanreri -Divi ion.

rn In in frica fr m late April to mid-Jun I,p.am of ir:s clem n \ er ru. hed imm dialc1 to the

front Lin oul ide Tobruk and took parI in alta k. nIII port on pri!. Rcavil 'engaged in th 'Battleaxe'baul ,and th rcafter n land in act1 n a. part fD. rm ured pcarh ad paru ipating in allm j r ngag menl. until ay I 4 wh n il ur­rend red in lh n nh rn Tuni. ian po kel.

form d fr m 5 I i III Di i i nod lh r aft r er d \ ilO 15

• ommentary n nlour plate I for d mils fmOlon 'd infantry insi nino

w r

1.9tll olld 20th Flak-Dit,j ;ionsitb lhr Flak-Regim nts nd LIm: d lachecl

gr up"

24

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IICfilJoFL ROFH

2

3

1 Sergent Libico, mrd Libyan Battalion 1940

2 Vice Capo quadra, M.V.S.N.• t Division23 Marzo', '940

3 Bersagliere Motor-cyclist, 1941

A

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B

, Private, Liguria Brigade 63rd 'Ciren.e'Infantry Divi ion '941

2 Caporale, Ancona Brigade, 61St 'Sirte'Infantry ])jvisioD '94'

3 Tenente ColonelJo Motori ed Arri1lery, '94'

3

11CHAfl Ror f

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, Tenentt< Sicilia Brigade .02:lld 'Trento'otori ed Infantry Divi ion '942

" Sergente Maggiore 'Fol or 'ParachuteDivision '942

3 Private Giovani Fa ci ti Division t94

HA l RO FE

3"

c

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o

1 GCDer-dle eli Brigata, 194 1-43

2 General der Panzertruppc Erwin Ronunel1942

3 Major, Panzer DivisioD Staff 194'-42

2

3

to"rCHMl R

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...11CHAH ROFI f

, Ob rg.,£rcit r Aulkliirung -Abt iling (MoL)3, '94'

2 Si aJ mechanic, Transport Work hop, '94-2

3 F ·ldwebel, Feld - endarmerie '942

E

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F

3

nleroflizier panzergrenadiere 1942

2 G freiler Infanrerie 1943

3 chune, lnfanlerie. 1942~"3

, CHII o f

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HCHAEL ROFFE

2

• Oberleutnant Artillerie 1941-43

2 Panzer chiitz 1941 3

:l Tenente, Italian tank regim.ent , '941-43

G

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H

ot roffizi"r Luftwaffe Flak-artill ri'94 1-4-2

2 Haupl.rnann, Luftwaffe Flak-artiJJerie,194-2-43

3 Of roffizi"r, Luftwaffe Ramcke ParachuteBri ade, '94-2-43

3

MICHAEL A FFf

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Italian collar patche and 'BaIne ': lop Ie/I, tank troop - redHames on blue patch; top right, motorind artillery - black8ame outlined yellow on blue patch' centTe kfl, divisionalartillery - black Bame outlined yellow on green-aver-yellowpatch; centre righI, example of motori ed infantry - balfbrigade patch on blue hacking patcb; boltom left, Bersaglieri- crimson Hames; bottom right, MVSN - gold fasci. on black8ames. All stars white.

Officers' shouJd~boa.rds,in black cloth for wear on tropicaluniform. {aJ In.fa.ntry colone1- red outer piping, gold innerbraid, gold branch badge and raDk star . (b) Tank lieutenant- blue outer piping, DO inner braid, gold branch badge andstars. In ign.ia of various ranks are described in the colourplate com.rnentaries. Majors' and second lieutenants' Ring etar were placed centrally below the branch badge j triple

star oC captains and coloneb were arranged in a triangle,with OD.e centralJy inboard of a rOw oC two. Photos howbranch badges ometirne witb a grey backing patch.

Paratroopers' 'collar' patch of 1942 - silver star and wordblade, gold hilt and wing, on blue patch.

DiviriOTl VOII Broich/VOrl Monletdlel \ a an ad Iwc formati [l

form d from all unil in lh Biz rta bridg -h d n 18v mb r '942, fi hting in n rth rn Tunisia und r

Pz. K 5 and b ming Divi i n on anI uffel on7 ebruar 194-3 wh D Oberst von Broich wa trans­fliT d to 10 Pz-Di . In luding Luftwaffi para­troop r Italian Bel' agli iand G rman rm Idi I' ,

it was IinaU for d to surrcnd I' on ay.

ntually surround d bb twe'n at ur and

was 'Loll top Hill . It w'

Briti h fore in th hillT bourba.

999 fe-icltle Ifi ikfl-Divisioll w f thp('n lat in 1942 ( riginall urt-martiall d erman oldi r oAi I' d and I d at NI vel b hand-picked p rsonne!. R d si~at d a

i i. i n in ar h I 43 it snt two regiment to Tunisin ar hI pril - Afrik, - hlitz n-R gim nt (mot)9 I and 9 2. Ita h d to ri u omb t groups,th $e regim n fought with elisliD in' join d byom eli i i nal unit Jat rin pril, the er alIa h d

I AK at tJ,e tim r th final urr nd r.

Div£ ion Hermann CiiTing w tllIi Id divisi n. EJ m nt weI'bridg -h ad rr m ovem b I' I 42 onwardaHa hed 1 command~ whi h m st ne dcci th m. Byarly Mar h m t of the divi i n had arri d and this

a sembI r unjts was I rmed Kampfgrupp chmidVorkommand Divisi n H and fought witJl d I r­mination on Lh south rn perimeterofth bridg -h ad.On 12 a all but a vcr fc surviv r. surrcndl'red,

Pz-Di ision as th(' vital armourd striking-fore' ofRomm J's arm. [t was ommitl d to 'vcr maj I'

series of engagcm n fj'om th . ru ad I' ballJ s ofo ember '94-1 I th la't 'urr nder in Tunisia n

13 Ma '943.

90 leichle lfrika-Divinon TV d in Ih de n as AJriko­Division z.b . . ('z.b.. = for p ial duties) fr m

ugu I 19 ,until v mb I' wh n it b'cam' 9J i ht Di i ion; it was fanned fT m various in­el pend nt uni already in fri a plu rinG rc m 'nlSwhi h arrived pi c m a1. It fought al T bruk in

mber 194"in th azala and Bir akeim bat Isof spring I 2 (having r eiv d Ih d finiliv v rsionofitstit.l in March) b fir th lam inlin inJuly,at lam I HaIfa and lam in, a a I' ar-guard inTuni ia and finally urI' nder d on t May I 43 nearEnfida ilJc.

/64 leic/ue AJrika-Division f fm d in 0

164 hr-Infant rie-Divi'ion, fou ht ilsummer '94' served a garrison lTOOpS inlime, and arriv d in frica early in Jul '942. Itrec ived i final tiLle short! afterwards first se inaction in a raid on u tralian positions before Alamein.Jt was heavily en aged at AJam in r fitt d and motor­is db Januar t 43 and fought at areth and adi

karit b for surr nd ring on '3 a.

33-1 bifolllerie-Division fi rmed in autumn 1942 inerman ; t.h di i i n arriv d in Afri a fr rn lat

De emb I' nward and was assign d I Pz. 5 inTunisia. II fought c ntinuaJly until in' i~abl ur-rcnd r n 8 a and among the po ilion it clef! nd d

25

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r

in unit

I / Dili, ion

mior Maj r,mll/ll01ll' - .aplainapo \lonipo{()-Lieul nant

apo quadra - rgcan t

f la apo, quadra -rp ral

amicin ' TO ulta­('niar pnval

amicU) ,/\'"a(Black hin')Pri at

nt

f. r.

of th tro( p w r till inin Tuni ia n labl inr Lip' Lind r I t It lian

ivi i n - onaBrigad - truppoR giment - Lrgiol/

atlalion - .uur/(', rnpany - mlllnn

PIal n - \lallipololi n - qundra

Logolllmlttnlral - 1aj r­Of/ olt 11'1/(1'01(­

Brigadier,Uf/ olr - 01 nd

f

apti n d

on ript d fr m D m-

b nward fr m th Fa i t uthrgani ali n. ft r pa ing [r m til i vani

fa i ti 1 lh m mb r hip orth Part prop r t

Ighting- a ain

'T'he 'Plot

unit

AIIn I

26

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Examples oftbe famou: ttopical6eld cap oItbeGerlDaD forces in Africa and the Mediterranean;the colour varied from olive-green through aUhades of bl'own to pale and yellow and 08'­

white. Many were deliberately blea.ched.. Theturn-up was permaneudy ewo in place, beingimply a doubled thickness of material; note

the two ventilation holes On each ide of the cap.The lining was carlet. (A) i a Panzergrenadierofficer's cap, tamped 1941, in tan brown withsilver piping; the eagle i silver on brown, thecockade a rai ed. black- iJver-red pattern, andthe outacbe gras green. (B) is an Other Ranks'cap without WaH'enfarbe soutache, olive drab incolour' the ea Ie i blue-grey on tan, and the Batblack-white-red cockade is woven On a tandiamond. (C) and (D) are two view of a paleandy drill Other RankjJ' cap with blue-grey on

tan eagle and black-white-red cockade On a tandiamond. The outsche i pale green, indicatinga Gebirgsjiiger. It is known that Gebirgsjager­Regiment 756 fought in Tunisia in January­February J 943, and photo enst which bow thitype of cap being worn complete with theEdelweiss badge ofthi branch On the left ide ofthe band. (AU Biwandi Collection)

D

I' Sp tivel, in plac of the black and gold of therm hi orporal ha two thin r d h vron

and ne thi k· r an war one thi k 0 er allthin. iJv r, and enior prj ates on thi k er onethin I' d. Ab til ch r n on th I ft armappal's th pinn d- n m tal divisional badg inbla k and gal I. The e w r not gen rally w rn inth rant line. he ba i din i impl anadaptation or th rm quival nt; th e rorma-tion badg app ar d in ariou v rion in m taland c1 th alik and·th r s ms to hay b 11 no

. firm regulation as t th ir us . Drawing of thb dg a compan the text. Th da ger w rn nthe left fron t f th bell was a feature of M. . .and Young Fa ci t unit· it e m t have be 0

r tain d even wh n full ombal ham s was w rn.immediat I b twe n th bayon t abbard andth ammunition pou h .

h _ Marzo omprised the I02nd and 23Srd

th a frw nry-on a y uth wh did n tJ 1I1

th army that ear mit d into thM. ... rn 1939 th If.. . L gion wasmad up of tw battaJi n ; on f y ung Bla k-hircs ag d bet n twent - nand thirt -six

th th r of T rritorial up t fifty-fi rage. a legions and an arLiller r gimentform d a Bla kshirt ivi ion. II units tend d tob und I' strength but a era e pea clime tab­Jisbmenr was 650 rank and file and twenoffi er p r battalion. ix divisions w r rai ed forth by inian campai n. and ther for the

pani h Ci il ar but b th outbreak of theeond orld ar only three remained in bein :

the 1st (23 arzo). the 2nd (28 Ottobr ) and the4th (3 Gennaio). (Like lh azi Party and likr volutionary oup t thi da, th Fa ci t

commemorated in their unit litl days of gr ati nifican e in lh ir offi ial hi t r - or p rhap .

m lh log would be the mar a ural t rm.) Alllhr e w I' ba ed in Lib a in lal 19 . th 23

arz er d und I' 11 . ral' I tri hisk rBel' onzoli XXIII orps in th ltalian 5th

I'm . It wa th fir t unil inl idi Barrani n 16pt mber 194 , but wa nnihilaled al the ap­

lure of Bardia b the 6th u tralian Divi ion on3-s]anuar J T.

niIi rmiry of dr s as n t n tic able in anof th d S rt armi and th I tali n \ ere nox p60n. hi 19ure b dial' lyon a Deljudie pIal displa s on major departure from

th tandard rmy tropical dress wlli h wa theregulation for Black hin unit. Th tropical tuniha been replac d by a ahariana a popular formofbu h-jack t wh.ich was us d b all ranks of thTtalian fore in frica with a urprising degree offre dam' it wa par 'cularl fav ured b offi r'and b all rank of the a ci r rrulitia. It hara-tcristic are the iogle [aIlio ollar oft n wornpen at the ne k and th ap d .If, (on theh SL The M. . . . I ion in fri all war

thatorgani ation' p ciaJ ollar; adg. : a d ubihla k flame bearing a go.ld fa i in pIa th>

I'm tar. Th fa i in bras, abo a battaJjonor I gion number within a ir I ,wa h l'egula­ti a ap badg ,and was s m tim ppli d to th ''ull-h 1m t. The CO war ch vron of COIl­

v otionaJ Italian rm de ign on ach upper armbut in red and silv r for junior and s nior ranks

27

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pint d fal e uR!' it i orn 0 er an op non k dhin. h ollar flam of th whole B )" agli ri

branch in burgund r d with a ilv r tar arewn in the u ual plac h very pal lin n

tr us rs, 10 in llt and pal a -gr D a to

balm t off-\'(hite ar tu k d into high blackI a h r .gait rs with two- uckJe fast ning n thut id I w rn with can otional la ed ankle

b ts. he chara t ristic Itauan belt and harneunu ual in that iL has a be - trap loop d aroundlh n k rath r th n th - trap adopt db, rnooth r armi i in mid-gre leather and uppal'two ammunirion pouche on th front ntrc of theb It. he aluminium canteen i lung from theleft h uld r. bayon l abbard i worn; thw ap n is th fi Idin -ba on l arbine v ion ofthe .9(/ 8 6"SffiJT1. riii. rvi e dre s h adgearfth Ber agLi ri wa red fi zwiLh a hang.in blue

ta 1- e 3 for hap .

63"d Ci7't!1le InfantryB t PrivateDivision

,

Front and ide view of Luftwaft'e tropical idecap dift'ering from Anny model in having amooth, UDSCOOped edge to the turn-up. Note

Luftwatre eagle in white or very faded blue­grey OD tan triangle, and raised black-while-redcock.ade. The e caps were Dot lined scarlet, un­like Army pattern. {Auth.or's and BiwandiCoUecno }

ions and 1h 20 I st rtill ry' the 28 Quobreth 231 t and 2 2nd L ion and L11 '2 2nd

rtill ry' and !.he 4 nnai!.h 270th and 4 111gion and the 204111 till ry.

Side and Croot views oftropical idec:ap ofAnnypattern - oote scooped froot to turn-up. PaleslUldy drilJ, regulation badges, pink PanzerWaffeofarbe outache. (Biwandi CoUection)

A3 Bersaglicre falor-cyclist, [94 [h fam u light troop weI' a parat bran hf Lh infantT and w r attach d nly r

arm ured mOlori d and I r . di isioo . inthe later ta of th amp ign aut nom ub ttalion r also draft d t i a. Th fir tr 1m n w r th 8Lh and th B a-gli ri with th ri Land Tri t Oi i ionr pecti ely, Each in luded a bat alion of motor-

I r onnai an e tro p and thi 19ur it k n from a I Giudi plate aid nem d. nof the photo raph in thi bo k in Iud a r ar\ 'ew fon f he tr op r.

hun-helm t icon nLiolJal but th B rsa-!j traditional plum of r dark r n 0 k

Gath r ha b en add d t th ri ht id . thiplum wa worn on all h adgear ilJ luding tbet I h 1m 1. Th branch badg i w rn on th

fr ot of th sun-h Ime in bra . un go gl s ha eb n push d to th sid in th u uat fa hion. Thedrab khaki tuni is of imiJar ut t Lh u uaJand-coloured tropicaJ ISSU , apart from he

28

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usual Slar at lhe fool. The grey lealher belt andharness support two ammunilion pouches and thebayonet for the Mannlicher·Carcano M.91/38riAe, a 6·smm. weapon which had a stormy binhin the late 1930$. Until that timc the standardweapon of the infantry was the long 1891Mannlichcr·Carcano of similar calibre. Thisobsolete weapon was to be replaced by a shorterde\'elopment of Ihe basic - and sound - design,rc-chambered to 7'350101. for new and moreefficient ammunition. When the rc·equipmentprogramme was already under way it was dis­covered that somcone had blundered: industrialcapacity was quitc unequal to producing enoughof the new ammunition in time, and the new riAewas completed to the old 6'50101. calibre! It thusrepresented little advance over the elderly M.91.Jt was loaded with a six·round clip, the entirecharger being inserted into the fixed magazine;when all six rounds had been fired the clip fellOUI through the large hole in the oottom of themagazine. 1t has been reliably reponed that thishole also provided a most convenient path for thepass."l.ge of sand, gravel, and venturesome desertbeasts into the working parlS oflhe rifle.

The aluminium canteen is standard lIalianissue; the canvas gas-mask bag is here used as aconvenient musette or havcrs.:'l.ck - a widespreadpractice.

82 Caporalt, Ancona Brigade, 61St Sirtr InfantryDiuision, /941

Photographs show that in cold wcalher (not un­known in Nonh Africa) the standard I lalian Armyservice uniform ofgrey-green was widely worn byall ranks. This figure, partly based on a DelGiudice plale, but with certain additions, iIlus­lrates a typical infanlryman in regulation dress.The flapped sidecap is worn square on the head,and bears the branch badge in black Ihread orwire embroidery on the upper frOnl- here, that ofthe infantry. These service quality badges were insilhouette only, Jacking the detail of me full-dressgold version. The tunic is worn over a shirt andtie; it has an integral cloth belt fastened withbuttons rather than a buckle. The wearing of thebayonet in the manner shown seems to have beennormal with service dress. The shoulder straps areplain. The black chevrons ofcorporal's rank - one

Ihick ovt'r one thin - arc worn on both arms.Corporal.majors wore one thick black chevronabove IWO thin: sergea.nts, one thick above onethin gold; scrgcant.majors, one tllick above twothin gold. The diyisional badge, in yellow em·broidery on red cloth, is worn on the left arm.This does not seem to have been a very widespreadpractice, certainly not in the fighting areas.Originally infantry unjts wore blue shields, andred was reserved for armoured and motoriseddivisions; bUI the classification was widened 10

include nine divisions which were theoretically'autotransponable', and the picture thus becomesextremely complicated. Sine is known to haveworn a red shield, and Brescia, for instance, ablue one.

The collar patches demand some explanation.In 1815 the infantry regimentsoftheold SardinjanArmy were brigaded in twos under the same title,and the two-regiment named brigade remainedthe basis of infimtfy organisation ever since. In1935 divisions were created by adding a fieldartillery regiment to a brigade of infantry, Ur

gether with service units. The infantry of eachdivision all wore lhe same collar patch, whichidentified Ihe brigade. From about 1940 onwardsIhe artillery and service unit.s of a division sewedtheir own collar insignia - in the form of'f1amcs',distinguishing the branch but not the unit - on tothe division's infantry brigade POlICh, halfofwhichremained visible at the top or rear of the com·bined insignia; thus any divisional troops can beexactly identified by their collar insignia. A rep­resentative listing of coll~n pOlIch colours worn bydivisions which fought in Nonh Africa will befound elsewhere II1lhis bookj that arSirte was theblack with three yellow stripes of its Ancona In­fan try Brigade, made up of the 691h and 70thRegiments. The 43rd Artillery eompleled thedivision. The star was always worn at lhe bottomor front of the patch. These patches were worn byall ranks of the infantry brigade, officers included.

Sirte was wiped out on '21 January 1941 atTobruk; the division 'went into the bag' after thesuccessful assault by 6th Australian Division sup­ported by elements of 7th Armoured Division.

B3 Tmrntr Colonello, Motoristd Artillu.1. /941The mOlorised artillery regiments were pan of the

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establishment of the Italian armoured divisions;they provided the suPPOrt of fast towed and,eventually, armoured self-propelled guns (Sl77I0­

vet/ti) for the hard·pressed Italian tanks. Theselatter were first used to any effect in Rommel'spush at the El Agheila 'ine in January 1942; theywere to become one of the most uscfultools in hisarsenal, far superior in cffectiveness to the ob­solesccnt 'baltic tanks'. The Ariete Oivision l thecrack armoured fonnatjon, numbered lhe 132ndMotorised Artillery Regimellt among its units,and the 133rd served with the Littorio Division.

This impeccable senior officer is dressed in theItalian Army's standard tropical service uniformfor commissioned ranks, which differs in smalldetails of tunic cut frOIll that of the olher ranks,and of course in quality. The shape of the collaris noticeably diflcrcnl. The uniform is worn withriding breeches, brown top boots l and a SamBrowne belt supporting thc small holster for theBeretta MI934 automatic. The sand-colouredtropical wcight sidecap bears the motorisedartillery branch badge on thc front flap, in goldembroidery on black; this flap can be turneddown to make a peak. Bctwecn the flap and thebutton·over earpiece is an 'open box' ofgold braidcontaining two gold stars - this is a rank insi nia.Thesequence wasas follows: 2nd licutenanl, singlestar; lieutenant, two stars; 1St lieutenant, twostan; over a bar; captain, three stars; 1st captain,three stars over a bar; major, onc star in a box;lieutenant·colonel, t\\lO stars in a box; colonel,threcstars in a box. The ranksof 1st lieutenant and1st captain were granled automatically if anofficer reached twenty years' service from hiscommission \\Ihile still a lieutcnant or captain, ortwelve years' service in one of those ranks.

The collar insignia of the motorised artillerybranch, a single black 'flame' piped all round inyellow with a silver star, is sewn on to a backing ofthe blue branch colour of the armoured divisions,which shows at the top or rcar of the whole in­signia. The shoulder boards, dctails of which arcillustrated elsewhere in this book, were blackwhen worn with the tropical uniform. These we'·ethe only indications of rank 011 the tunic - thesleeve badges of the European service dress were(usually) omitted. They arc piped a1l round theedge in branch colour - here, thc yellow of the

30

artillery - and in this case have the inner edging ofgold braid worn by majors and upwards. Thebranch badge appears in the celllre in gold, andthe two stars of this rank at the bUll end. Medalribbons include the blue with a silver star of theSilver Medal of Military Valour, the five blackslripes on blue of the Ethiopian campaign medal,the red and white of the France 1940 campaignmedal, and the black.white.red.white.green ver­tical stripes of the Axis Africa medal.

CI Tmentt, Sicilia Brigade, I02nd Trmto MotoriStiIhr!anlry Divisio1l, 1942This junior officer. in commst to the precedingfigure, wears a lypical officer's combat uniform.The breeches and tOp boots seem lO ha ve becndiscarded in place of trousers and puttees likethose of the men in most cases. The sand-paimedsteel helmet bears on lhe front a black slencilledsilhouetle of the branch badge - a practice ob­served among officers and rankers alike - and theonly other insignia worn arc the collar patches andshoulder boards. Note the pointed fabe cuffs oflhetunic. The tie has been replaced by a sweat·rag.The Sam Browne belt is worn, with a canvasthree·section pouch for the shon twenty·rollndmagazines of the Beretta gmm. M 1938A sub­machine gun - considered by many to be one ofthe finest weapons in its class in the world, and thebest of all Italian Army small arms. Magazines of10, 20, 30 and 40 rounds c.tpacity were manu­raclurcd.

As Trento and Trieste were motorised forma­tions, the shoulder boards arc edged in the bluepiping of the armoured and motorised corps. Thisjunior officer docs not have the strip of gold braidaround lhe inner edge of the black board, incontrasl to the preceding figure. He wears thegold badge of the motorised infantry in the middleof the board, with the two gold stars of his rank atthe outer end. Captains wore tJ,ree stars, two in arow and the third above the gap belween them.immediately below the branch badge. The SiciliaBrigade collar patch was scarlet wilh two lightgreen stripes; it is worn here sewn on to a bluebacking, and CUt down in size, to indicate themotorised function, with the usual silvcr star. TheTrieste infantry component was the ValteltinaBrigade, whose black patch with three white

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lDtf!restiBl Luftwaffe IIroup in the desert. Left ...d «Dt~5!u,"" wear Itali.aD riaoa j.eke..., popular witlo Germ.aJllpersoD..Oel; left we E..~ i ....., blu~rey OtherRaaktI' ,id., cap, aDd ,ee,al..... bas Hm., kitld of priV1lt.,ly.cqui.....l ......b.,l.m.,t wilb • p"uar-. H., al... wean ..Oth.,r RaUl' b.....11 "Sl., lliU Oa it. friaDplu' facto..,.bado:in!. (imperial War M.....um)

stripes was displayed in the same way. TheSicilia comprised the 6'st and 62nd, the Valtellinathe 65th and 66th Infantry Rcgiments. Bothmotorised divisions fought throughout '941-42and at £1 Alamein.

C2 Sergt11ft Maggiort, Fo/gore Pararhute Division,/942

Major-General Frattini's Folgore (Lightning)Parachutc Division comprised the /85th, ,86thand 187th Parachute Infantry Regimcnts. It wasformed in the wintcr of 1941-42, and served inNorth Africa - purely as infantry, rather than inits nominal role - from the spring of ,g42 untilNovember of that year. It was virtually anni­hilated at EI Alamein. This figure is taken from aDel Giudice plate, with the addition of thecamouAaged helmet and smock and the automaticrifle.

Thesand-coloured bush·jacket echoes lhcshapeof the European uniform of Ihe paratroopers ofthis and the Nembo Division; the caped chestrecalls the sah",iaua, and the shirt collar is wornoutside the collarless neck of the jacket. The beretwas peculiar to this branch of the army; note thesmall loop of tape at the top centre. The loosetrousers arc gathcred at thc ankle over ankle­boots. The paratroopers' branch badge - a silverRoman sword beneath a gold crown betweengold wings - is WOI'll ccnlrally; lhe practice ofwearing a set ofchevrons on the beret is thought tohave been peculiar to scnior NCOs of the airbornecorps. The blue collar patches, illustrated in de­tail elsewhere in lhis book, bear a silver star at thebottom, beneath a silver sword with a gold hilt ona gold wing. A gold parachutc-wings badge isworn on the left breast, the wings supporting aparachute in white and blue beneath a gold crownpicked out with rcd. The rank chevrons. two thingold chevrons beneath one thick, are worn on botharms. The Del Giudice platc docs nOt show thearm badge of the branch, sometimes but not in-

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variably worn on the len upper armj it consistcdofa gold deployed parachutc, its shrouds unitingin an open gold ring at the bouom, sometimes on ablue background overall.

The parachute helmet, with its more extensiveleather harness, echoed the shape of the infantryhelmet very closely. Itwas oncn worn wi th a clothcamouflage covcr in a serpentine pauern ofchestnut and forest green, and a smock in thesame pattern was also issued. This thigh-lengthgarment, with a single falling collar and a flyfront, bore a cloth star in white on both sides ofmecollar. The fighting knifc seems to have been acharacteristic of the airborne branch. The weaponillustrated is the semi-automatic Berelta M 1935rille, a 6'50101. calibre weapon of sound designwhich was issued only in small numbers tospecialist troops. (Its illustration in the hands ofaparatrooper is pure speculation on the author'span, but seems feasible.)

C3 Private, G;ovall; Fascist; Diuision, '942-43Asmall division oftwo or three infantry battalions,this unit was held in army reserve at EI Alamein.It had been intended to build an armoureddivision around them, but this nevcr took place.They werc still present, under the same title, inthe fighting for Tunisia the following year, but bythat time tile two remaining battalions werefleshed out with Bcrsaglicri and anillcry units toproduce an ad hoc formation owing only the mostnominal allegiance to the Pany yOUlh organisa­tion from which it took its namc. Thc 'YoungFascists' were boys of between scventeen andlwenty-one years of agc, who in this instance weredrafted straight into the fighting forces throughlack of alternative manpower.

The service dress headgear was a small fez wornall thc back of the head, in black with a blacktassel. The sahariana was favoured by these unitsand was very widely worn. This young soldierwears the collar insignia of the Rome GGFFbattalion - a double scarlet 'flame' outlined inyellow; the organisation was territorial in basis.Thc equipment is conventional, and the weapon isthe M.gI/38 rifle. The figure is a composite of twoplates from Del Giudice and Mollo. Note theParty dagger worn on the belt between pouchesand bayonet frog.

32

Df Gtntrale di Brigata, f94f-43This Italian general wears a typical front-lineservice uniform; considering the laxity ofuniformregulations, however, it should not be taken as in'any way definitive. The tropical sidecap/ficldcapis worn with the front nap down. On the front' ofthc crown is the cap badge of the general officercorps - an ornate silver eagle on a red backing.with a silver cross on a central red lozenge on theeagle's chest. The rank is indicated b)' the singlegold star of Brigadier on a red backing, sewn to astrip of patlerned silver braid with red backing.The sahariana bears silver national star insigniaon the collar, and rank insignia on attachedshoulder-straps. These comprise the generals'silver-on-red cagle and the single star of rank.Mcdal ribbons include First and Second WorldWar campaign and gallantry decorations, to­gether with Fascist and Spanish awards.

D2 Gnural der Panz~rtruppe Erwin Rommel, f942Rommel, promoted full general on I July 194'and holding the rank until his promotion toGeneralobersl on I February 1942, wore avariety of uniforms in the field, but all werecharacterised by an unfussy and practical appear­ance. This figure is taken from a colour photo­graph of the 'desert fox' dating from early 1942.The tunic and breeches are of the usual light­weight material worn by Cerman officers in thetropics; colours varied from a distinctly greenshade of olive, through every shade of brown, toalmost off-white sand-yellow. Most photographsof Rommel in the summcr and autumn of 1942show him in a uniform of similar cut to this onc,but much paler - a very washed-out sand-yellowdrill. It also appears to have genuine turned-backcuffs, white this tunic has false cuffs. The straightpocket flaps are llnusual - three-pointed flapswere more common in the Deutsches AfrikaKorps. The tunic is worn over a soft-collarcdshirt; the cavalry-cut breeches arc confined by thenormal black topboots ofa Cerman officer.

When photographcd in this, and in the paleruniform worn in later months, Rommel seemsalways to wear a minimum of insignia. He wasentitled to wear the Knight's Cross with Oaklcavesand Swords and his First World War POllr l~ Miriuat the throat, and these seem 10 have been in

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evidence on most occasions; but his Iron Cross 1StClass, his Panzer Assauh Badge and his WoundBadge seem to have been packed away except forvcr)' formal occasions, as were the substantial rowof medal ribbons above the left breast pocket. Heusually wore only his cpauletlcs and collar patchesof rank. and the national cagle breast insignia.The eagle is in gold bullion embroidery on a blackbacking, the regulation colours for a Panzergeneral. (Generals of other branches often woretheir silver bullion on dark green breast eagles onthe tropical uniform.) The collar patches arc ingold on bright red, and are the normal insignia ofthis rank. The epaulellcs are on a red underlay;for a general lhey .....ere made of interlaced triplelace, a silver double thickness between two gold,with two silver 'pips' equally spaced on the longdimension.

The service cap is the normal field greymodel of the European uniform - no special&hirmmiit<t was produced for tropical wear. It hasa black peak, a dark green velvet band, and - forgenerals - gold piping round the crown seam andthe (OP and bottom of the band. Prior to January1943 the eagle and swastika upper insignia andthe wreath of the lower insignia were worn insilver; the national cockade in the wreath is ofthe usual sequence - black/silver/red readinginwards. For generals the double cap cords wereof gold lace, secured with gold bUllons. Rommelhabitually wore a pair ofcheap British cellophanesand goggles, which he surprisingly found moreconvenient and effective than anyone of theseveral efficient and carefully designed models ofDAK issue goggles.

Note that Rommel seldom wore a belt with thisuniform. Over his hands he holds a tropical modelgreatco.'\t in drab khaki-brown, double-breasted,with two rows of four gold bUllons. This coatlacked the coloured collar and facings of theEuropean generals' model. The only insignia arethe epauleltes of rank. He was also frequentlyphotographed wearing a black leather greatcoatof similar cut. His famous brown tweed scarf isalso illustrated here. Note the absence of redgenerals' Stripes on the breeches - some Germangenerals in Africa wore this distinction, othersomilted it.

<lfenna.n.a Meyer' tropical fidd cap of Laftwa.ffe combattll'OClpSl He col.... r plate commPOcary H). or saJldy drillwitll~~, tile cap .....baU_ .1tCk..s.p 6nU1& oyertile .tnp boott-. ..d _e~ ee.tn.I b.ut-. aD brow-.pJ.q:dc: Hre bot HmetUn" I"Y ...etaL Flat _ ....hitebadR;e. aDd blacll·....lUt~~ cod.ade _ pale IM"tcloa,~h.e .tnp _ .c._mm" brow-.. nu. .lyle of cap ___ meUm" ....0 ... by all ......Ju, ..d ill oecui--.lly ot.-rvedwith officers' cap-c:ordll fin~ eitMr .over or rnatt white.(DIutid R...e CoUectioa)

D3 Major, Panztr DjrJision Siaff, '94'-42Thi staff officer, perhaps the Divisional Ib orlIa of 15th or ~Ist Panzer Division, wears thestandard tropical uniform, and tile tropical side­cap with officer's distinctions. The cap is not veryfrequently seen in pholographs and seems to havebeen almost entirely confined to Panzer per­sonnel, who might find the peaked field c.'\pawkward in the confines of the vehicles. It was ofthill olive drab material, lined scarlet, with asingle metal ventilation hole immediatcly abovcthe point of the 'turn-up'. The upper section isslightly dinerent in shapc to the usual Europeanversion, being flatter and shallower. For all ranksit bore the eagle and swastika and the nationalcockade insignia. Officers might or might notwear the prescribed silver-an-tan version of theformer and the raised black/silver/red officers'quality l.ockade; other ranks' insignia were some­times worn, in blue-grey on tan, and in flat black/while/red weaving on a tan diamond patch reospectively. The silver piping around the crownand in lhe fronl cutaway of the tum-up were the

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distinctiOns of commissioned rank.The uniform was similar in cut for officers and

men, and although the colour varied from olivedrab, through brown, to pale sand, there is noparticular significance in this; different manu­f.1cturers' batches werc ofslightly differing shades,and weathering took care of the rest. It is wornhere over a shirt and tic of similar colour. Someof the man)' variations of upper and lowcrgarments and footwear are illustrated in theseplates; herc,the major wears Iighlweight breechesand the high-laced canvas and leather desertboots. Breeches were not confmed to officers inNorth Africa, bcing frequcntly seen in thc ranks incombination with the high boot. The webbingbelt is worn here with the prescribed officers'buckle; many officers rctained the standard brownleather service dress belt with double-claw buckle.The map-<:ase was not issued in a special tropicalversion, but the black leather was often paintedover with a tan shade.

The epaulcttcs of major's rank. in a double­thickness twisted pattern ofdullsilvercord \\;thoul'pips', arc worn on the underlay panel of branchcolour WoJfttlfarbt: here, the pink of armouredtroops. The gold Cothic 'D' identifies a divisionalstaffofficer. All commissioned nlnks below generalrank wore the same collar-patch desi~n with thesole distinction of nnrrow lines of lace in theappropriatc \\'afrenfarbe down the centre of eachof the two silver bars, which were mounted on adark green backing. Panzer personnel of all rankswore pinned to the lower lapel of thc tropicaljacket the small silver skull badges from theirEuropcan uniform collar-patches. Many officersdid nOI bothcr to rcplace the othcl" ranks' caglebrcast badgc with the silVl'r badgcs from theil"European uniform, and continucd to wear - ashcrc- the bluc-grey cagle on its tan backing. Thisofficer wears the I ron Cross 2nd Class ribbon in hisbuttonhole, the Iron Cross 1st Class pinned to hisleft breast pocket, and a Panzer Assault badgebelow it, indicating that he had seen combat intank actions on i.H least three separate occasions.Above his pocket arc the ribbons of a LongService medaJ and the Italian·Cerman Africacampaign medal, issued by the I lalians earlyin 194-2.

34

£1 Obergifreiler, Aujkliirullgs.Ahleilung (,'o'/ot.) 3,

'94'The standard tropical uniform of rank and file ofthe OAK, as it would have been worn im­mediately on arrival in Africa and before Ihepracticalities ofdesert warfare forced its modifica­tion by individuals. This corporal is dressed andequipped as he would have been for one of theparades and inspections in Tripoli in mid­February '941, and his insignia agree with thoseofone of the first units of5 leithte Dicision to arrive- the motorised reconnaissance battalion.

The sun-helmet wa an issue item. but did notenjo) much popularity, although it is still seen inphotographs of the late stages of the desert war.Jt bore two mctal pin-on badges on the side ill theform of shields of similar design to the decalsapplied to the steel helmel - a silver eagle andswastika on black on the left, and a nationaltricolour shield on the right. The jacket, exactlyas in D3 as regards cut, bc..1rs the usual grey-on­tan breast eagle. The collar ban. worn by allnon-commissionecl ranks. arc of dull grey withdull khaki-oc:hre details; Ihey were sewn direct tothe material ofthc collar without a backing patch.The shoulder straps of ldnks below UnteroJli-!.iuwere plain apart from the edges, piped in thebranch's Walrenfarbe: for motoriscd reconnais­sance units, copper brown. The black WoundIL"ldgc worn on Ihe pocket signifies that thewearer has bcen wounded in action oncc. Thedouble chevrons of Obergifreilers rank, in dullkhaki-ochre on olive. arc sewn to the left upperarm only. The webbing belt, with olive-paillledmetal buckle af thc standard Cerman Armydesign, is fittcd with the minimum of equipmentfar pnradc purposes. Two SCIS af three blackleathcr pouches arc fittcd one on cach side of thebucklc; thcse European issue items were some­times pnintcd over "'ith a tan shade at a laterstage. The Mauser 84/g8 bayonet, with woodengrips and a blued melal sheath. is attached to lhebelt on the left hip by a webbing frog with aretaining strap. Breeches and high laced bootsarc \\'orn. The rifle is the standard IVLhrma(hJweapon, the MausergBK of7·92mm. calibre.

£2 Signals methanic, Transport Workshop, 1942The famous tropical field cap, which appeared in

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Four views of a panzergrenadier Obergefreiter' tropicaltunic in faded olive-greenfkhaki drillmatcriaJ. Gras greenpiping on houlder traps' dull ochre on olive drab rankchevrons; olive-painted buttons; grey.blue on tan brea teagle; General Assault badge on left brean. The belt andwebbing Y."trap are of dull khaki with steel and brownleather fittiD s and the backle i painted green. The faintPG on the back bows that the wearer was once a prisoner inthe hands of Fr ch troop : PrisonDi de Guerre. (BiwandiCoUection)

Officer's pattern tropical belt - dull brown metalbuckle On khaki webbing. Many om er retainedtheir normal brown leather ervice belt with adouble-claw frame buckle. (Biwandi Collection)

m an.This figur r pre ot lh

able and Gruffy appearan

a' . Th ja k l i w rn h rm

lhan

rsLd

er

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widely worn in Africa -as, indeed, were Europeanrank chevrons, etc.

Below the trade badge is sewn the famous cuff·title authorised on 28 July '941 for all GermanArmy personnel, of whatever rank or branch,who had served in the theatre of operations for atleast tWO months. The single word AFRIKA­KORPSin silver block capitaJs was embroideredOn a dark green band with 301m. silver edges,with light brown ouler edges.

/:..3 Fddwtbtl, Ftldgmdamltrie, /942The Feldgendarmeric or military police per­formed the usual disciplinary and traffic duties inAfrica as in other theatres; each division had atroop, and further detachments served underArmy Headquarters. The NCO illustrated isdressed for a lQwn patrol in the rear areas. Hewears the sun·hc1met with conventional insignia,with shorts and shirtsleeve order. The tropicalissue shirt was of light sand·coloured drill,strongly made and finished. It was of pullovertype, with four bUllons on the front and twOpleated patch pocket's, and buttons and loops onthe shoulder for attachment of straps. The strapsshown here are of the usual olive tropical type,piped in the orange of the branch, and with aninner border of gmm.-wide Tresse, or lace, in adull khaki.ochre. This replaced the silver laceworn by NCOs on European uniform. The rankis identified by the exact design; here, the Trcsselines all three edges of the strap, and a singlewhite metal pip is worn centrally. The Feldgen­darmerie gorget was always worn when on duty;of dull white metal, suspended by a chain withflat masked links, it bears an cagle and swastika inyellowish luminous paint. Below this is a scrollwith the word 'Feldgendarmerie' picked out inlhe same colour, on a grey background. Thebosses at each upper corner were also painted.Note that it \~as forbidden to apply the breastcagle to the tropical shirt, and that the usualorange military police eagle and swastika armbadge is also omitted.

Fr Unttrq/fiv'tf, PaTl~trgrmaditft, 1942The OAK's tanks and artillery were supportedby Motorised Infantry regiments until mid-1942,which saw the arFival of lhe 164 leichte Afrika-

36

Division and its three regiments of Panze.r­grenadiere - Nos. 125, 382 and 433. While thesewere still motorised units, without many halftrack armoured personnel carriers for infantryusc, the troops were distinguished by the grass­green Waffenfarhe of the armoured infantrybranch - seen herc around the shoulder strap.The strap also bears the dull ochre Tresse aroundthe long edges and the rounded end (inside theWaffenrarbc piping) which identifies the rank ofUnteroffizier, or sergeant. (There are no exactBritish equivalents of the rather large number ofGerman NCO ranks.) All ranks from Unteroffizierlip wore the Trcsse around lhe upper part of thecollar, as illustrated, but the design of the collarpatches themselves did nOt alter. This squadleader wears the I nfantry Assault Badge in silveron the left breast, the ribbon of the Iron Cross 2ndClass in his buuonhole, and the usual breastcagle.

Belt and double shoulder braces are of olive­khaki webbing. On the belt are worn the triplemagazine pouches for the excellent MP. 38/40series gmm. sllb·machi!1e gun, long adopted asthe Wehnnacht's standard light automatic forjunior leaders. (The universal but erroneous uscof the popular name 'Schmeisser' for this weapondocs a serious injustice LO the actual designers, theErma factory.) The outside left pouch has a smallpocket at the bOllom for the magazine loadingtool. Sets of these pouches in both black leatherand webbing were used in Africa. Most of theassault pack equipment is obscured in this view,but is illustrated in the next pain(ing.

The standard Wehrmacht steel helmet wascamouflaged for desert usc by the individualsoldier, using the sand·yellow paint issued forvehicles. Sometimes the finish was matted bymixing in sand with the paint; sometimes thepaint covered the decals, sometimes not; andsometimes it was applied in an incomplete'splotch' pattern over the original field grey sur­face. Here the right hand decal, the nationaltri­colour shield in black, white and red, is exposed.Sun·and·sand goggles, of some half a dozen dif­ferent designs, were widely used by troops of aUranks and all branches in North Africa.

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F2 Gifrtiltr, InfOllltrit, '943An infantry lance-corporal in the standard assaultequipment of the Cerman soldier in Africa. Hishelmel is covered in hessian from a sand-bag. Hewears Ihe usual jacket, and field trousers blousedal Ihe ankle over brown leather bools. The beltsupports an enlrenching tool hanging reversed ina webbing case on the left hip, with the webbing·frogged bayonet scabbard tucked into its straps.Behind the right hip is the 'bread-bag', containingrations, washing kit, eating utensils, field cap.and small personal kit. Above it is the canteen,here the European model with an oval cup and abrown fell cover; this shade has 110 significance toIhe theatre of opcratiomi, as manufacturers sup·plied them with brown, grey, or greenish coversindiscriminately. Another Iype which saw servicehad a smaller, round cup of black plastic. and yeta third had a brown, smooth finish owing to acoal of plastic.impregnated wood over the alu·minium. The capacity was a quart. The last·mentioned type had a cruciform web cradle, asopposed to the single vertical strap shown here.

The gasmask canister is of metal, painted tan,and slung round the body on a web strap. The

"'u~rKtiDlIJrOup olCe........ pri_e... clisplay QI.lUlIy dec::aihof aaiform IUId kil; Dote pop....rily of ... lUte~ IUIdpUe field eaptJ. (Imperial War MII_m)

canvas assault frame clips to the O-rings on theY·straps behind the shoulder, and is held at thebottom corners by clips at the ends of the packstraps which pass over the shoulder and roundand back under the arms. Behind the top of theframe was strapped the mess-tin, with belo"' it thecamouflaged shelter quarter, and (obscured here)a canvas bag holding rope and pegs for making atent out ofsheltcr quarters; a sweater; and ironrations.

Thc ~errycan', thaI excellent and versatilecontainer SO eagerly captured and liner copied bythe British and Americans, was marked with awhite cross when it contained water. NOle thesilver-on-brown 'AFRIKA wilh palms' curf titleon the left forearm, which rcplac<:d - officially ­the earlier style worn on the right arm. II wasissued to personnel who had served for six monthsin the theatre; who were wounded in combat inthe theatre; or who had been evacuated becauseof disease afler serving at least three months.Winners of major gallantry awards received ilirrespective of service duration. Like the carHer

37

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pattern, it was also worn on the greatcoat sleeve.It was instituted by order of the Fuhrer on 15January 1943.

F3 Sclu'il<.t, bfanlerie, 194'-43This infantry private is the squad machine·gunner, and carries the superb MC.34, the quick·firing 7·92mm. light machine gun which wasstandard issue to the '<\'ehrmacht until the ap·pearanee in 194-3 of the cheaper and equallyefficient MC42. The MC.34 had a cyclic rate ofbetween 800 and 900 rounds per minute; itmeasured 48 inches long, weighed just over 251b,and was fed either by a 250-round belt or a 50­round drum. A sling \o,'as clipped to the bollom ofthe pistol-grip and to an attachment halfway upthe barrel, but it is usually seen carried in thismanner. A metal case for twO spare barrels isslung on the gunner's back, and he also carries anammunition box. Machine-gunners were notissued with riAes, for obvious reasons, and so did1I0t wear ammunition pouches. Instead they car­ried a leather case of MG.34 stripping and clean­ing tools, and an anti-aircraft sight, 011 the rightfrOllt of the belt; and a P.oS or P.38 pist.ol in aholster on the left side, for personal defence.Here, the holsler is obscured as the gunner haslooped the Slrap of his sand-paintcd stecl helmctover it. Note the silvcr-eagle-on·a-black·shielddecal, the normal decoration of the left sidc of thishelmet.

The field cap bears the usual badges, and aninvened Vee of white Waffenfarbc piping, indi­cating infantry. The same piping edges the shoul­der straps of the tropical issuc khaki-drab great­coat, cut exactly as the field grey Europeanmodel.

GI Oher/eufnollf, Arfi/lerie, '941-43This officer is a Ritlerkreuztrager; the Knight'sCross was a highly honoured decoration forgallantry and would be worn at all times. It wasworn on a ribbon (cemral red stripe with outerwhite stripes and black edges) under the shirtcollar, and the shirt was thus buttoned 10 the neckto allow the medal to be displayed. It was onlyawarded to officers and men who already heldboth classes of the Iron Cross; thus this officerwears the ribbon of the 2nd Class in his button-

38

hole, and the medal of the 1st Class pinned to hisIcft breast pocket. Beneath the latter are the blackWound Badgc, and the General Assault Badge, towhich the artillery were cntitled; it rcatures aneagle and swastika abovc a crossed grenade andbayonet. The AFRI KAKORPS cuff Litle is wornon the right arm.

The uniform is entirely conventional. The palefield cap has officers' silver piping at the crownand in the rront scoop of the turn-up seam. Thesilver-on-tan officers' cagle badge is worn on thefront of the crown, and a red artillery Waffen·farbe soutache encloses the national cockade. Someofficers worc this in the rank and rile version, inflat weaving on a brown diamond; others worethc black-silver.rcd raised version or their rank.without a backing patch. The breast cagle is theregulation European model for offieers, silver ondark green. The standard officers' collar patchhas "cd distinctions. and the epaulcttes have a rcdunderlay. They arc the junior officers' model. ofribbed silver braid, with the single gold 'pip' of anOber!eutnanl; Leutnal1le wore no pips, andHauptmanne worc two. The long field trousersare bloused at 'the ankle over desert sneakers. Aleather shouldcr strap and cradle suppOrt thecanteen (for officers and other personnel who didnot normally wear the standard assault equip­ment) and a map case is slung on the brownleather field service belt with a double·dawbuckle.

G2 Pa"t.erschiilt.f, '94'-43The true appearance or the Afrika Korps oldsweat, up the desert! The tank crewman illu­strated hcre during a halt is wearing the blackPanzcr rankers' sidecap, which was quite oftenretained in North Africa. It has the regulationpale grey·on·black eagle and swastika badgeabovc a national cockade cnclosed in a Vee ofpink f1/tljJe1ifarbe. The shirt is worn with rolledsleeves - note the dog-tag, and the desert goggle1iallowed to hang at the throat. The shorts afCrolled high. Regulations insisted Ihat to proteclthe legs from the ever-present desen sores, flies,ctc., only the high-lacing desen boots should beworn when shorts were used; photos prove thatthis sensible order was more often honoured in thebreach than the execution. The ankle-length

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desert sncakers, in esscncc simply cut..cJown vcr·siam of the descrt boot. were vcry widely wornby all personnel. Thissoldier is carrying mess· tins,thcir handles looped togcther, and reading thelatest issue of the Afrika Korps newspaper, DitOim. The only insignia worn arc the pink-pipedolive drab shoulder straps. and even these werevery often omitted. All clothing is faded and worn,and shorts and shirt were often bleached deliber·atel)' in the same way as the cap.

Gj Tenentt, Itolion tonk rtgimrnts, 1941-43The padded leather protective helmet with at·tached neck-flap and the threc·quarter.lengthleather coat were issued to all Italian armouredcrews. The rank was sometimes indicated on thl'left breast, in the same style as on the side cap.although junior officers seem sometimes to havepinned the stars of their rank dircctl)' to theleather. The collar insignia of the ~I-tank

regiments was as illustrated - a double scarlet'flame' with the usual silver star. sewn to a backingp'ltch in blue -the branch colour of the armouredand motorised troops. The epauletlcs would havebeen piped in blue, when worn with the tropicalservice dress; the)' were not applied to the leathercoat. This figure is taken from Mollo. with someadditional insignia.

II I Untmljji<.irr, LuftwajJt F{ok·l1rtillrrit, 1941 42Rommel's deadly 88mm. dual-purpose guns,designed as anti·aircraft weapons but used withdevastating crfect as anti-tank and medium fieldguns. were largely manned by the Flak.anillerie.the Luftwaffe's anti-aircraft branch. l\lany unitsof this branch serv('d in thc desert wnr. from theearlit."St intervention of the German forces up 10the final collapse in Tunisia. By the lime or El.'\lamein the importance of this branch wasrecognised b)' nssembling two regiments theJ02nd and 135th into the 19th Flak Division.Further details will be found in this author'sprevious tiLle in the Men·al •.'\rms series, LuftwaffiAirhornt' and Fitfd Unils.

Early in the campaign the Luftwaffe officersand men seem to have worn army tropical uni­forms with partial addition of Luftwaffe insignia;photos exist showing this uniform worn with Flakshoulder straps and collar patches, and retainingthe army breast cagle (sec illustration FI, Lufi·

Itatia.ot. pri....~ puttias their dOC1l.lD....u: La tIoar earn (orWpeca_i UOfe seaenoJ 1_ oul1iae o( u..uoruu, &DelICOUar ....d .Iee..., iasipia. (Imperia! War MIlft1UQ)

ll·a.fft Airbornt ond Fitlti Units.) Later they receiveda distinct tropical uniform of their own (sec nextillustration.) This sergeant, who is helping out asan ammunition-number in an emergency. wearsthe usual arm) field cap with the insignia fromEuropean headgear a white cagle and swastikaof the unique Luftwaffe shape on a dark bluebackground, lIbove a raised national cockade. Hisbreast cagle is also from a European uniform, asare his shoulder straps - Luftwaffe blue. with lhesilver Tresse of his rank. and the red piping of theFlak·artillerie. His n:d collar patches bear a singlestylised 'wing' ofwhitc metal, nnd arc framed bya short L·shapcd section ofsilver NCO Tresse, thewhole being sewn 10 the tropical uniform, whichlacks the usual dull ochre tropical TressI:.'. (Wehavc tnken this combination of insignia from awartime photogrnph of a Flak NCO in thedesert.) The Flak bndgc on thc left breast is thecCjuivalent ill this branch ofall Assault badge, andsignifies meritorious service at the fronl. It is indull silvcr, and fcature!> an anti·aircraft gun bc­neath a Luftwall'e caglc. the whole within, andbreaking the edge of, an oval wreath. The rest ofthe uniform is conventional. The basket is thethrec·round ammunition container used for88mm. ammunition; the sergeant carries a roundofarmour-piercing.

112 Hauptman", Luftwa.fft Flak·artillmt, 19P--43This figure illustrates the Luftwaffe tropical uni.form. identical in cut for officers and men, which\,'as issued in 1942. While officers had wom theircollar patches of rank and branch on the army

39

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tunic, this practice was not followed with the newtunic, and epauleucs became the only means ofidentification. This officer wears the usual ribbedsilver braid epauleltes of a German juniorofficer, with his branch's red Waffenfarbe under­lay and the two gold pips of his rank. His breasteagle is an other ranks' white-on-blue model ­officers seem very frequently to have worn thisinsignia rather than the silver-on-blue style ofcommissioned rank. The Luftwaffe Ground Com­bat badge in whjte metal is pinned to his leftbreast pocket and the rron Cross 2nd Class ribbonis worn through the bUtlonhole. He wears theusual plain leather bell with double-claw buckleof a German officer's field service dress, with aholstered Walther P.38 as a personal weapon. Theloose trousers of this uniform, bloused over ordin­ary soldiers' boots, have a large left thigh pocket.The Luftwaffe officer's whitc-topped summer andtropical peaked cap is worn, with conventionalbadges, the upper insignia being ofsilver on whitebacking. With the appcaranceofthis uniform alsocame a sand-coloured sidccap of similar shape tothe Luftwaffe's European side cap, and a blue­grey or white eagle and swastika cap insignia on atan triangular background patch, which wasapplied to the peaked field cap and the side cap,above the raised black-white-red cockade used onEuropean headgear. Photographs accompany thetexl.

Ifj Unterqjizier, Luftwaffi Ramcke Parae/lUteBrigade, 1942-43

(We have illustrated an NCO in order toshow therank insignia worn on the smock, but in fact thisrank would almostcertainly have been armed withthe MP-4o.) The famous FaUschirm-Brigade Rameke,led by Generalmajor Bernhard Ramcke, arrivedin Africa to bolstcr Rommcl's forces before £1Alamein in July and August 1942; it comprisedthree rifle battal,ions with small supportingelemellls, but had no vehicles. The brigade fouglllfiercely on the southern sector of the Axis line inthe battle of 23 October-3 November, and made

40

an epic retreat to the Fuka line, capturing Britishtransport, fuel and rations 011 lhe way. After aperiod in the rear, this unit was again committedto action in Tunisia, where its survivors werecaptured.

The paratroopers were issued the standardLuftwaffe tropical uniform (see H2 above) overwhich they wore their distinctive, generously-cutjump-smock. All three patterns are known to havebeen used in Africa: that illustrated, with asplinter pattern; the later 'water pattern' with asofter mingling of colours; and the tan type pre­pared for the invasion of Malta. The only insigniaworn were the stylised rank 'wings' on clothpatches sewn to the arm, by NCOs from Unter­offizierupwardsand by officers ;and the character­istic Luftwaffe breast eagle. Jump-boots, ordinarybrown leather service boots, and desert sneakerswere all used. The leather equipment - belt, y.straps, pO\lches, etc. - was observed in black andbrown, and some olive webbing was also issued.The paratroopers' extra ammunition bandolier,slung round the neck, was used in camouflagedand plain tan patterns, and probably in blue-greyas well. Thc distinctive paratroopers' helmct waspaintcd tan. This NCO has the standard Mauserrifle, and canvas grenade-bags - each holdingthree stick-grenades - slung round his body likewater-wings; a web strap passed behind the neckjoining the top centre of each bag, and twO othersweill across the back under the arms, joining thecentre of the inner edges of the bags.

The odd-looking c10lh peaked cap, with bUI·lOned-on neck flap, was known as the HermannMeyer, a joking reference to Goring. I t was usedin Africa and other Mediterranean areas, fromApril '942 onwards, by some parachute units andby clements of tile Hermann Goring Division. Theinsignia was in white, flat-woven on a sand·coloured backing, and followed the usual Lufl­waAe design. \o\lhile photos exist of this cap beingworn, the light sand-coloured tropical sidecap wasmore common. The Meyer was sometimes fittedwith cap-cords by officers.

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