ROMMEL AND STAFF (5 FIGURES)

Afrika Korps (full German name: Deutsches Afrikakorps, abbreviated as DAK) is colloquially understood as the collective name of German land units fighting in North Africa in 1941-1943. The Afrika Korps was formed in February 1941, as a result of the painful defeats suffered by the Italian army during the battles with the British in Africa at the turn of 1940/1941. His main task was to come to the aid of the Italian ally and stop the advance of British troops in Libya. The commander of the unit was a general, and later a field marshal, Erwin Rommel. Initially, the DAK consisted of only the 5th Light Division (later transformed into the 21st Armored Division), in May 1941 it was joined by the 15th Armored Division, and at the end of 1941 - the 90th Light Division. It is worth adding that already in the middle of 1941 the Panzergruppe Afrika was founded, headed by Erwin Rommel, and it was joined by Afrika Korps. Despite the defensive tasks, the DAK (or more broadly the Panzergruppe Afrika) very quickly after landing - on the initiative of its commander - went into strictly offensive operations, inflicting a series of defeats in the desert on the British in 1941-1942. However, it was then that its commander was nicknamed the Desert Fox. At the same time, however, from the very beginning, DAK was troubled by supply problems, which had a negative impact on its ability to conduct offensive actions. He suffered a significant defeat during the Second Battle of El Alamein (October-November 1942), which forced the DAK to retreat as far as Tunisia, in which he fought until May 1943.Erwin Rommel (full name: Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel) was born in 1891 and died probably by forced suicide in 1944. He was one of the most famous German generals of the Second World War - he was nicknamed the Fox of the Desert. Erwin Rommel gained his war experience from the first weeks of the First World War. In its course, as an infantry officer, he was active in Argons in France, Italy and Romania. In the course of this conflict, he often showed personal courage and skillfully led his troops into battle. For his achievements on the Italian front, he was awarded the highest order of imperial Germany - Pour Le Merite. After 1918, he remained in Reichswer. During this period, he also wrote a great and still up-to-date book "Piechota attacks!" (in German "Infanterie greif an!"). At the beginning of World War II, in recognition of his merits, he was the head of Adolf Hitler's Headquarters in Poland. However, already in the summer of 1940, he commanded the German 7th Armored Division with great success during the French campaign. However, in the years 1941-1943 he led the Afrika Korps during his fights in North Africa, often at that time presenting an unconventional, courageous, extremely offensive action, sometimes not taking into account the conditions of logistics. Ultimately, due to the numerical superiority of the Allied forces and its own problems with supplies - the campaign in North Africa was lost by the Axis countries. In the period 1943-1944 he held high command positions in France. Due to the still unclear role of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in the attack on Hitler of July 20, 1944, he was most likely forced to commit suicide in October 1944.