Panzer Army Africa

As the number of German armed forces committed to the North Africa Campaign of World War II grew from the initial commitment of a small corps the Germans developed a more elaborate command structure and placed the now larger Afrika Korps, with Italian units under this new German command structure, a succession of different German commands were created to manage the Axis assets in Africa: {| class="toc" id="toc"
 * Panzer Group Africa, (Panzergruppe Afrika, Gruppo Carro Armato Africa) August 1941-January 1942; German-Italian force
 * Panzer Army Africa, (Panzerarmee Afrika, Armata Carro Armato Africa) January-October 1942
 * German-Italian Panzer Army, (Deutsch-Italienische Panzerarmee, Armata Carro Armato Italiano-Tedesco) October 1942-February 1943
 * Army Group Africa, (Heeresgruppe Afrika, Gruppo d'Armate Africa) February-May 1943

Contents
[hide] *1 Panzer Group Africa
 * 2 Panzer Army Africa
 * 3 German-Italian Panzer Army
 * 4 Army Group Africa
 * 5 Order of battle
 * 5.1 Order of battle of Panzer Group Africa
 * 5.2 Order of battle of Panzer Army Africa
 * 5.3 Order of battle of the German-Italian Panzer Army
 * 5.4 Order of battle of Army Group Africa
 * 6 See also
 * 7 References
 * 8 Footnotes
 * }

[edit] Panzer Group Africa
When the Afrika Korps was formed on 11 January 1941 it was officially subordinated to the Italian chain of command in Africa. 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). On 15 August 1941, Panzer Group Africa was activated with newly promoted Lieutenant-General (General der Panzertruppe) Erwin Rommel in command. 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.

[edit] Panzer Army Africa
Panzer Group Africa was redesignated as Panzer Army Africa (Panzerarmee Afrika, Armata Carro Armato Africa) on 30 January 1942.[1]

[edit] German-Italian Panzer Army
Panzer Army Africa was redesignated as German-Italian Panzer Army (Deutsch-Italienische Panzerarmee, Armata Carro Armato Italiano-Tedesco) in October 1942 during the long retreat after the defeat at the Second Battle of El Alamein during the Western Desert Campaign.

[edit] Army Group Africa
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. Command of the Army Group was turned over to Hans-Jürgen von Arnim in March. Army Group Africa included the German Fifth Panzer Army (5. Panzerarmee) in addition to the Italian 1st Army. von Arnim surrendered the Army Group on 13 May 1943, ending the Axis presence in Africa.

[edit] Order of battle
Throughout its existence, this headquarters controlled the well-known Afrika Korps, and for most of its life it controlled a number of other German and Italian units as well.[2] The following overview of its assets is taken from lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de, with dates corrected (see references).

[edit] Order of battle of Panzer Group Africa
Panzer Group Africa (Rommel)
 * As of September 1941: (during Rommel's first push into the Western Desert)
 * German Afrika Korps
 * Italian X Corps
 * Italian XX Corps
 * Italian  Savona Infantry Division 

[edit] Order of battle of Panzer Army Africa
Panzer Army Africa (Rommel)
 * As of January 1942: (during Rommel's second push into the Western Desert)
 * Afrika Korps
 * Italian X Corps
 * Italian XXI Corps
 * Italian Corpo d'Armata di Manovra (Maneuver Corps)
 * German 90th Light Africa Division
 * Italian 55th Division Savona
 * As of April 1942: (before and during the Gazala battles and the Siege of Tobruk)
 * Afrika Korps
 * Italian X Corps
 * Italian XX Motorised Corps
 * Italian XXI Corps
 * German 90th Light Afrika Division
 * As of August 1942: (in the lead up to the Battle of Alam el Halfa)[3]


 * Afrika Korps
 * Italian X Corps
 * Italian XX Motorized Corps
 * Italian XXI Corps
 * Italian 133rd Armored Division Littorio

[edit] Order of battle of the German-Italian Panzer Army
German-Italian Panzer Army (Rommel)
 * As of November 1942: (during the withdrawal from the Western Desert)
 * Afrika Korps
 * Italian X Corps
 * Italian XX Motorized Corps
 * Italian XXI Corps
 * German 90th Light Afrika Division
 * Italian 136th Motorized Infantry Division Giovani Fascisti
 * Italian 17th Infantry Division Pavia
 * As of February 1943: (defending southern Tunisia)
 * Afrika Korps
 * Italian XX Motorized Corps
 * Italian XXI Corps
 * German 164th Light Afrika Division
 * German Ramcke Parachute Brigade

[edit] Order of battle of Army Group Africa
From February 1943:
 * German Fifth Panzer Army (5. Panzerarmee) (northern Tunisia)
 * Italian 1st Army (southern Tunisia)