The Afrika Korps or German Africa Corps (German: Deutsches Afrikakorps, DAK) was the German expeditionary force in Africa during the North African Campaign of World War II. First sent as a holding force to shore up the Italian defense of their African colonies, the formation fought on in Africa, under various appellations, from March 1941 until its surrender in May 1943. The unit's best known commander was Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. When Rommel was promoted to the newly formed Panzerarmee Afrika, his command included a number of Italian units, including four infantry divisions. Two Italian armoured divisions, Ariete and Trieste, initially remained under Italian control as the Italian XX Motorized Corps under the command of General Gastone Gambara.
The Afrika Korps was restructured and renamed in August 1941. "Afrikakorps" was the official name of the force for less than six months but the officers and men used it for the duration. The Afrika Korps was the major German component of Panzerarmee Afrika, which was later renamed the Deutsch-Italienische Panzerarmee and finally renamed Heeresgruppe Afrika (Army Group Africa) during the 27 months of the Desert campaign. The Afrika Korps formed on 11 January 1941 and one of Germany's favourite generals, Erwin Rommel, was designated as commander on 11 February. Originally Hans von Funck was to have commanded it, but Hitler loathed von Funck, as he had been a personal staff officer of Werner von Fritsch until von Fritsch was dismissed in 1938. The German Armed Forces High Command (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, OKW) had decided to send a "blocking force" to Libya to support the Italian army. The Italian army group had been routed by the British Commonwealth Western Desert Force in Operation Compass (9 December 1940 – 9 February 1941). The German blocking force, commanded by Rommel, at first consisted of a force based only on Panzer Regiment 5, which was put together from the second regiment of the 3rd Panzer Division. These elements were organized into the 5th Light Division when they arrived in Africa from 10 February – 12 March 1941. In late April and into May, the 5th Light Division was joined by elements of 15th Panzer Division, transferred from Italy. At this time, the Afrika Korps consisted of the two divisions, and was subordinated to the Italian chain of command in Africa. On 15 August 1941, the German 5th Light Division was redesignated 21st Panzer Division, the higher formation of which was still the Afrika Korps. During the summer of 1941, the OKW increased the presence in Africa and created a new headquarters called Panzer Group Africa. On 15 August, the Panzer Group was activated with Rommel in command, and command of the Afrika Korps was turned over to Ludwig Crüwell. The Panzer Group comprised the Afrika Korps, with some additional German units now in North Africa, plus two corps of Italian units. The Panzer Group was, in turn, redesignated as Panzer Army Africa on 30 January 1942.
After the German defeat in the Second Battle of El Alamein and the Allied landings in Morocco and Algeria (Operation Torch), the OKW once more upgraded the presence in Africa by adding first the XC Army Corps, under Nehring, in Tunisia on 19 November 1942, then an additional 5th Panzer Army on 8 December, under the command of Colonel-General Hans-Jürgen von Arnim.
On 23 February 1943, the original Panzer Army Africa, which had since been re-styled as the German-Italian Panzer Army, was now redesignated as the Italian 1st Army and put under the command of Italian general Giovanni Messe. Rommel, meanwhile, was placed in command of a new Army Group Africa, created to control both the Italian 1st Army and the 5th Panzer Army. The remnants of the Afrika Korps and surviving units of the 1st Italian Army retreated into Tunisia. Command of the Army Group was turned over to Arnim in March. On 13 May, the Afrika Korps surrendered, along with all other remaining Axis forces in North Africa.
Most Afrika Korps POWs were transported to the United States and held in Camp Shelby in Mississippi, Camp Hearne in Texas and other POW camps until the end of the war. When Rommel was promoted to the newly formed Panzerarmee Afrika, his command included a number of Italian units, including four infantry divisions. Two Italian armoured divisions, Ariete and Trieste, initially remained under Italian control as the Italian XX Motorized Corps under the command of General Gastone Gambara. The Afrika Korps was restructured and renamed in August 1941. "Afrikakorps" was the official name of the force for less than six months but the officers and men used it for the duration. The Afrika Korps was the major German component of Panzerarmee Afrika, which was later renamed the Deutsch-Italienische Panzerarmee and finally renamed Heeresgruppe Afrika (Army Group Africa) during the 27 months of the Desert campaign.
The Sonderverband 288 was formed on 24 July 1941 in Potsdam. It was transferred to North Africa and fought together with 90. Leichte Afrika-Division.
It was redesignated Panzergrenadier-Regiment Afrika on 31 October 1942 and made part of the 90. Leichte Afrika-Division. The Special Group Bergmann or the Bergmann Battalion (German: Sonderverband Bergmann) was a military unit of the German Abwehr during World War II, composed of five German-officered companies of the Caucasian volunteers.
The Bergmann battalion was formed of the émigrés and Soviet POWs from the Caucasian republics at Neuhammer in October 1941. Subordinated to the German commando battalion Bau-Lehr-Bataillons z.b.V. 800 and placed under the command of Oberleutnant Theodor Oberländer, the unit received training at Neuhammer and Mittenwald. Later a special 130-men-strong Georgian contingent of Abwehr codenamed "Tamara-II" was incorporated into Bergmann. By March 1942, there were five companies of some 300 Germans and 900 Caucasians:
- Georgian and German cadre personnel
- North Caucasians
- Azerbaijanis
- Georgians and Armenians
- Staff company, composed of 130 Georgian émigrés
In August 1942, Bergmann went to the Eastern Front, where it saw its first action in the North Caucasus campaign in August 1942. The unit engaged in anti-partisan actions in the Mozdok-Nalchik-Mineralnye Vody area and conducted reconnaissance and subversion in the Grozny area. At the end of 1942, Bergmann conducted a successful sortie through the Soviet lines, bringing with them some 300 Red Army defectors, and covered the German retreat from the Caucasus. Bergmann went through a series of hard-fought engagements with the Soviet partisans and regular forces in the Crimea in February 1943. After the formation of separate battalions, several of these were dispatched to Greece. The Azeri II. Battalion covered the retreat from Russia and was deployed to Warsaw after the onset of the Uprising 1944 to fight with the Dirlewanger unit. There and in subsequent engagements with the Red Army, it suffered heavy casualties, and surviving soldiers of II./Bergmann, together with Azeri from another Wehrmacht unit (I./111), formed the III. Battalion of the new Grenadier-Regiment 1607 (27 March 1945). They saw the end of the war at the West coast of Denmark. The Bergmann group used as insignia a traditional Caucasian dagger (kinzhal) with curving blade, worn on the left side of the cap. Made of yellow metal, it was 7 cm long.
Commander
Oberst Otto Menton
Order of battle
Stab
Sonderkompanie (from Lehr-Regiment z.b.V. 800)
Gebirgsjäger-Kompanie
Schützen-Kompanie
MG-Kompanie
Panzerjäger-Kompanie
- Sturmgeschütz-Zug
Flak-Kompanie
Pionier-Kompanie
Nachrichten-Kompanie
Insignia
The unit had a special insignia showing a palm tree, a rising sun and a cross.
Source used:Roger James Bender & Richard D. Law - Uniforms, organization and history of the Afrika Korps
Gregory Douglas - Sonderverband 287 & 288 (in The Military Advisor, Vol 4, No 3)
Andrea Molinari - Desert Raiders: Axis and Allied Special Forces 1940-43
Antonio J. Munoz - Lions of the desert
Antonio J. Munoz - The East came West: Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist Volunteers in the German Armed Forces 1941-1945
George F. Nafziger - The Afrika Korps: An organizational history 1941-1943
Schlicht & John R Angolia - Die Deutsche Wehrmacht: Uniformierung und Ausrüstung 1933-1945, Band 1 Das Heer
Georg Tessin - Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht 1933-1945
Gordon Williamson - Afrikakorps 1941-43.
