Afrika Korps
아프리카 군단
The German expeditionary force in Africa during the North African campaign of the Second World War. Sent to Libya in early 1941 to shore up the collapsing Italian defence, it was commanded by Erwin Rommel and fought on under various higher formations until its surrender in Tunisia in May 1943.
In depth
The Afrika Korps was formed on 11 January 1941, and on 11 February Hitler named Rommel its commander. The Wehrmacht high command decided to send a "blocking force" to Libya, where the Italian 10th Army had collapsed in Operation Compass; at first it comprised two divisions, the 5th Light Division (later the 21st Panzer Division) and the 15th Panzer Division, under the Italian chain of command. With the creation of Panzer Group Africa in August 1941 and Panzer Army Africa in January 1942, Rommel came to command the combined German-Italian force, and command of the corps passed to Crüwell and others.
The name was official for less than six months, but officers and men used it for the duration, and in the English-speaking world it became a generic term for German forces in North Africa. It surrendered with the other Axis forces in North Africa on 13 May 1943, and most of its prisoners were sent to POW camps in the United States. Together with Rommel's fame as the "Desert Fox", the image of the corps stood at the centre of the "clean war" narrative, which is now read critically.