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Panzer-Armee "AFRIKA" Kommandeurs
The Main Commanders of Panzer-Armee "AFRIKA" During the Campaign in North Africa
(February 1941-January 1943) (Under Construction to expand to May 1943 and add photographs of each Kommandeur) "NACHT"
From February 1941 to January 1943, 37 generals (or colonels) held major commands in Libya and Egypt (Panzer-Armee "AFRIKA", Deutsche Afrika Korps and the divisions of those two formations). This very high number is quite typical of a campaign that went through large numbers of commanders, especially division commanders. In the space of two years, 5./leichte "AFRIKA" Regiment to Division (later 21./Panzer-Division) and 15./Panzer-Division saw a succession of no less than eight different commanders, 90. Leichte Division, nine different commanders (from July 1941 to January 1943), 164./leichte "AFRIKA" Division six different commanders (from August 1942 to January 1943). These endless changes were caused by exhaustion, illness or injury (Rommel drove his commanding officers on at a fearful pace), illness (living conditions were very trying in the desert), and most of all the fact that a great many were taken out of the battle by wounds or injury (being obliged, owing to the nature of the terrain and the type of operations, to be present in the combat zone all the time). Out of the 37 generals (or colonels) who took over a major command during the course of the campaign, four (von Randow, von Prittwitz und Gaffron, Neumann-Silkow and Summermann) were killed in action - five if we include Rommel's replacement in command of the Panzer-Armee, Stumme, who died of a heart attack during a bombing raid - with another six wounded (Nehring, Fehn, von Liebenstein, von Bismarck, von Esebeck and Kleeman) and three taken prisoner (Crüwell, von Thoma and von Ravenstein). Altogether 14 of DAK generals were put out of action during the operations after being killed, wounded or captured, accounting for nearly 38% of the total in service in North Africa! In this regard, the beginning of the campaign saw a veritable bloodbath. During the first twelve months of fighting (March 1941-March 1942), Rommel lost no less than 6 commanders: von Prittwitz, commander of 15./PD was killed in April 1941; Neumann-Silkow and Summermann, commanders of 15./PD and 90./ le. "AFRIKA" Div. , suffered a similar fate in December 1941 ; von Ravenstein, commander of 21./PD, was captured in November 1941, Crüwell in March 1942; von Esebeck, commander of 15./PD, was wounded in July 1941. These very high figures again indicate the intensity of the battle in Libya and Egypt and the very difficult living conditions in which the men had to live, faced daily with a immensely testing climate and very poor food or nutritional supplies. They also reflect Rommel's style of command where, whatever his level of responsibility, the commander had at all times to be as close to the front line as possible in order properly to direct his troops. In this regard, Rommel himself led from the front and it is something of a miracle that the Panzer-Armee commander was not killed, wounded or captured. On the other hand, he did fall ill, and it was a physically (and morally) broken man who commanded Panzer-Armee "AFRIKA" during the final months of the campaign...
AFRIKAKORPS - Panzer Army Africa - Panzerarmee Afrika - German-Italian Panzer Army - Deutsch-Italienische Panzerarmee - Army Group Africa - Heeresgruppe Afrika
Panzergruppe later Panzer-Armee "Afrika" : Erwin Rommel (15 August 1941-9 March 1942) Generalleutnant Ludwig Crüwell (9-19 March 1942) Generaloberst later Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel (19 March 22-September 1942) General der Kavallerie Georg Stumme (22 September-24 October 1942, accidentally killed by heart attack during bombing raid) Generalleutnant Wilhelm Ritter von Thoma (24-25 October 1942) Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel (25 October 1942-23 February 1943)
- Deutsche Afrikakorps (DAK) :
(later General der Panzertruppe) Erwin Rommel (19 February-15 August 1941) Generalleutnant Ludwig Crüwell (15 August 1941-8 March 1942, captured) Generalleutnant (later General der Panzertruppe) Walter Nehring (9 March-31-August 1942, wounded) Oberst i.G. Fritz Bayerlein (31 August 1942) Generalmajor Gustav von Vaerst (31 August-17 September 1942) General der Panzertruppe Wilhelm Ritter von Thoma (17 September-4 November 1942, captured) Oberst i.G. Fritz Bayerlein (4-19 November 1942) General der Panzertruppe Gustav Fehn (19 November 1942-16 January 1943, wounded) Generalmajor Kurt Frhr von Liebenstein (16 January-17 February 1943, wounded)
5./Leichte "AFRIKA" (Regiment) Division later 21. Panzer-Division:
Johannes Streich (20 February-22 July 1941) Generalmajor Johann von Ravenstein (23 July-29 November 1941, captured) Generalleutnant Karl Bottcher (30 November 1941-30 January 1942) Generalmajor Georg von Bismarck (30 January-17 July 1942, wounded) Oberst Alfred Bruer (21 July-beginning of August 1942) Generalmajor Georg von Bismarck (beginning of August-31 August 1942)Generalmajor Hans von Lungerhausen (31 August 17-September 1942) Generalmajor Heinz von Randow (18 September21-December 1942, killed in action) Oberst later Generalmajor Georg Hildebrandt (1 January-25 April 1943)
15./ Panzer-Division
Generalmajor Heinrich von Prittwitz und Gaffron (22 March-10 April 1941, killed in action) Oberst later Generalmajor Hans-Karl Frhr von Esebeck (15 April-25 July 1941, wounded) Generalmajor Oberst Generalleutnant Oberst Generalleutnant Generalmajor Heinz von Randow (1-17 September 1942) Generalleutnant Gustav Oberst Generalleutnant Oberst Willibald Borowietz (12 December 1942-13 May 1943)
90./ Leichte "AFRIKA" Division
Max Sommermann (17 July-10 December 1941, killed in action) Oberst Johann Mickl (11-27 December 1941)Generalmajor Richard Veith (28 December 1941-28 April 1942) Generalmajor Ulrich Kleemann (29 April-14 June 1942)Oberst Werner Marcks (14-18 June 1942). Oberst Erwin Menny (18-19 June 1942) Oberst Werner Marcks (19-21 June 1942) Generalmajor Ulrich Kleemann (21 June-8 September 1942, wounded) Generalmajor Bernhard Ramcke (8-17 September 1942) Oberst Hermann Schulte-Heuthaus (17-22 September 1942) Generalleutnant Theodor Graf Sponeck (22 September 1941-12 May 1943)
164./Leichte "AFRIKA" Division
later Generalmajor Karl Hans Lungerhausen (end of August 1942) Oberst Hans-Hermann Hecker (31 August-18 September 1942) Generalmajor Karl Hans Lungerhausen (18 September- end of November 1942) Oberst Siegfried Westphal (6-30 December 1942) Generalmajor Kurt Frhr von Liebenstein (1-16 January 1943) Oberst Becker (16 January-17 February 1943)
Bibliography
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