Rommel's plan was for the 90th Light Infantry Division and the two Afrika Korps armoured divisions — 15th and 21st Panzer — to penetrate the Eighth Army lines between the Alamein box and Deir el Abyad ( which he believed was defended ).

The 90th Light was then to veer north to cut the coastal road and trap the defenders of the Alamein box ( which Rommel thought was occupied by the remains of 50th Infantry Division ) and the Afrika Korps would veer right to attack the rear of XIII Corps.

Italian XX Corps was to follow the Afrika Korps and deal with the Qattara box while the Italian Littorio Armoured Division and German reconnaissance units would protect the right flank.

The 15th and 21st Panzer Divisions of the Afrika Korps were delayed by a sandstorm and then a heavy air attack.

By the end of the day's fighting, the Afrika Korps had 37 tanks left out of its initial complement of 55.

Once again, 90th Light failed to make progress so Rommel called the Afrika Korps to abandon its planned sweep southward and instead join the effort to break through to the coast road by attacking east toward Ruweisat Ridge.

The next day, 3 July, Rommel ordered the Afrika Korps to resume its attack on the Ruweisat ridge with the Italian XX Motorised Corps on its southern flank.

By this stage the Afrika Korps had only 26 operational tanks.

The day ended once again with the Afrika Korps and Ariete coming off second best to the superior numbers of the British 22nd Armoured and 4th Armoured Brigades, frustrating Rommel's attempts to resume his advance.

He was found at age 17 smoking cannabis and partaking in under-age drinking with his friends, would clash physically with paparazzi outside nightclubs, and was photographed at Highgrove House at a " Colonial and Native " themed costume party wearing a Nazi German Afrika Korps uniform with a swastika armband.

* 1943 – World War II: German Afrika Korps and Italian troops in North Africa surrender to Allied forces.

** Battle of the Kasserine Pass: German General Erwin Rommel and his Afrika Korps launch an offensive against Allied defenses in Tunisia ; it is the United States ' first major battle defeat of the war.

* May 13 – WWII: German Afrika Korps and Italian troops in North Africa surrender to Allied forces.

Lieutenant-General Erwin Rommel is appointed commander of Afrika Korps.

In 1943, following the defeat of the U. S. II Corps ( then part of British 1st Army ) by the German Afrika Korps, first at the Battle of Sidi Bou Zid and again at the Battle of the Kasserine Pass, General Dwight D. Eisenhower sent Major General Ernest Harmon to assess the II Corps.

" Referring to the escape of the Afrika Korps Panzerarmee after the battle of El Alamein, General Fritz Bayerlein opined that " I do not think that General Patton would let us get away so easily.

No large army units entered the Depression although German Afrika Korps patrols and the British Long Range Desert Group did operate in the area as these small units had considerable experience in desert travel.

In 1942, the Egyptian Prime Minister, Ali Maher, was suspected of having pro-Axis sympathies at the time when Erwin Rommel was leading the Afrika Korps into Egypt.

From this base, the battalion conducted combined operations with various French forces against the German Afrika Korps in Tunisia.

In November 1942, the Allies landed in French North Africa, and the 10th Panzer Division occupied Vichy France ( Case Anton ) before being transferred to the Tunisian Campaign, as part of the Afrika Korps.

The car was designed to be as simple as possible mechanically, so that there was less to go wrong ; the aircooled motors proved especially effective in actions of the German Afrika Korps in Africa's desert heat.

Other well-regarded games published were simulations of actual battles and campaigns, such as Midway, Afrika Korps, and The Battle of the Bulge.

Nevertheless, the Weygand General Delegation ( 4th Office ) collaborated with Germany by delivering to Rommel's Afrika Korps 1200 French trucks and other French army vehicles ( Dankworth contract of 1941 ), as well as heavy artillery pieces accompanied with 1000 shells per gun.

When Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini found out what Admiral Darlan intended to do, that is, cooperate with the Allies, they immediately ordered the occupation of Vichy France and reinforced the Afrika Korps.

Many of the prisoners were members of the Afrika Korps.

The Axis forces involved, led by Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, were primarily from the Afrika Korps Assault Group, elements of the Italian Centauro Armoured Division and two Panzer divisions detached from the 5th Panzer Army.

Seeing the success at Sidi Bou Zid, Rommel ordered the Afrika Korps Assault Group to attack Gafsa on 15 February.

In the early hours of 19 February, Rommel ordered the Afrika Korps Assault Group from Feriana to attack the Kasserine Pass.

Frustrated by the lack of progress Rommel decided to commit his units from 10th Panzer to the Kasserine Pass the next morning in a co-ordinated attack with the Afrika Korps Assault Group which was to be joined by elements of the Italian 131st Armored Division Centauro.

The British Army's Long Range Desert Group was based here, but Rommel's Afrika Korps also took possession three times.

18th Army Group was faced by two German Armies, Panzer Army Afrika under Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel and 5th Panzer Army under Generaloberst Hans-Jürgen von Arnim.

In early 1943, von Manteuffel was sent to Africa, where on 5 February he became the commander of the Division von Broich / von Manteuffel, serving in Hans-Jürgen von Arnim's 5th Panzer Army of Erwin Rommel's Army Group Afrika.

On the far right of the attacking formation the German 90th Light Afrika Division Battle Group was to advance to El Adem, south of Tobruk to interfere with the lines of supply to the Gazala position and pin potential reinforcements to the Tobruk area by simulating a strong armoured force through the use of dust machines ( aero engines and propellers mounted on trucks ).

Following this, von Mellenthin was posted to North Africa, where from June 1941 to September 1942 he served as the Third General Staff Officer ( Ic-Intelligence ) at Generaloberst Erwin Rommel's HQ of the Afrikakorps ( which later became Panzer Group / Panzer Army Afrika ).

* 15 August: German Panzer Group Afrika activated with Rommel in Command

* Panzer Group Africa, ( Panzergruppe Afrika, Gruppo Carro Armato Africa ) August 1941-January 1942 ; German-Italian force

* Army Group Africa, ( Heeresgruppe Afrika, Gruppo d ' Armate Africa ) February-May 1943

In the middle of 1941 the German Armed Forces High Command ( German acronym OKW ) created a larger command structure in Africa, forming a new headquarters called Panzer Group Africa ( Panzergruppe Afrika, Gruppo Carro Armato Africa ).

The Panzer Group controlled the Afrika Korps plus some additional units that were sent to Africa ( notably the 90th Light Infantry Division ), as well as two Italian corps, X and XX.

Panzer Group Africa was redesignated as Panzer Army Africa ( Panzerarmee Afrika, Armata Carro Armato Africa ) on 30 January 1942.

In February 1943, the headquarters was upgraded to Army Group Africa ( Heeresgruppe Afrika, Gruppo d ' Armate Africa ) to manage the defense of Tunisia during the final stages of the North African Campaign, its combat units — including the Afrika Korps — were turned over to the Italian 1st Army.

The army fought alongside the Italian First Army as a part of Army Group Afrika.

Rommel was promoted to the command of the new Army Group Africa ( Heeresgruppe Afrika ).