The Panzerarmee Afrika was formed on 30 January 1942 by the redesignation of Panzergruppe Afrika. It took part in the Battle of Gazala, which led to the capture of Tobruk, and later fought at the First Battle of El Alamein. It was redesignated the Deutsch-Italienische Panzerarmee on 1 October 1942.

Commanders

Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel (30 Jan 1942 - 9 Mar 1942)
General der Panzertruppen Ludwig Crüwell (9 Mar 1942 - 19 Mar 1942)
Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel (19 Mar 1942 - 22 Sep 1942) (1)
General der Kavallerie Georg Stumme (22 Sep 1942 - 1 Oct 1942)

Chiefs of Staff

Generalmajor Alfred Gause (30 Jan 1942 - 1 Oct 1942)

Operations Officers (Ia)

Oberst Siegfried Westphal (30 Jan 1942 - 1 Oct 1942)

Order of battle (15 Aug 1942)

Stab der Armee
Deutsches Afrika Korps
- 15. Panzer-Division
- 21. Panzer-Division
90. Leichte-Division
164. Infanterie-Division
Fallschirmjäger-Brigade Ramcke
X. Korps (Italian)
- Infanterie-Division Brescia (Italian)
- Infanterie-Division Pavia (Italian)
XX. Korps (mot) (Italian)
- Panzer-Division Ariete (Italian)
- Panzer-Division Littorio (Italian)
- Motorisierte Division Trieste (Italian)
- Fallschirmjäger-Division Folgore (Italian)
XXI. Korps (Italian)
- Infanterie-Division Trento (Italian)
- Infanterie-Division Bologna (Italian)
Brigade Stab zbv (mot) 15
Kampfstaffel (mot)
Armee-Kartenstelle (mot) 575
Stab Kommandeur der Luftwaffe Libyen
Sonderverband (mot) 288
Aufkl.Staffel 2 / 14. Panzer DIvision
Panzerjäger Abteilung (mot) 605
Artilleriekommando 104
- Stab Artillerie-Regiment 221
- Stab Schwereste Artillerie-Abteilung 408
-- 2. u. 3. Batterie
-- 5. / Artillerie-Regiment 115
-- Artillerie-Abteilung 364
- Stab Schwereste Artillerie-Abteilung 528
-- 2. u. 3 Batterie
- Artillerie-Batterie 362
- Artillerie-Batterie 533
- Artillerie-Batterie 902
- Stab I./Artillerie-Regiment 115
-- 4. / Artillerie-Regiment 115
-- 6. / Artillerie-Regiment 115
-- 4. / Artillerie-Küstenartillerie-Batterie 149
Artillerie-Vermessungs-Trupp (mot) 721-730
Beobachtungs-Abteilung (mot) 11
- Stabs-Batterie
- Schallmess-Batterie
- Lichtmess-Batterie
Flak-Abteilung (mot) 606
Flak-Abteilung (mot) 612
Flak-Abteilung (mot) 617
Flak-Regiment (mot) 135 (Luftwaffe)
Heeres-Bau-Dieststelle (mot) 73
Bau-Bataillon 85
1. / Landesschützen-Bataillon 278
Nachrichten-Regiment (mot) 10
Kurierstaffel (Luftwaffe)
V. Heeres-Funkstelle
VI. Heeres-Funkstelle
XIII. Heeres-Funkstelle
Heeres-Funkstelle Tripolis
Funk-Trupp zbV Afrika
Nachrichten-Zug 937
Nachschub-Regiment 585
Stab Nachschub-Bataillon (mot) 619
Entlade-Stab zbv (mot) 681
Stab Nachschub-Bataillon zbV (mot) 792
Stab Nachschub-Bataillon zbV (mot) 798
Nachschub.Bataillon (mot) 148 (Italian)
Nachschub.Bataillon (mot) 149 (Italian)
Nachschub.Bataillon (mot) 529
Nachschub.Bataillon (mot) 532
Nachschub.Bataillon (mot) 533
Nachschub.Bataillon (mot) 902
Nachschub.Bataillon (mot) 909
Kraftfahrzeuginstandsetzungs-Abteilung (mot) 548
- Panzer-Berge-Zug (mot)
- Reifenstaffel (mot) 13
- Reifen- und Ersatzteillager (mot) 548
- Reifeninstandsetzungsstaffel (mot) 573
- Kraftwagenwerkstatt-Zug (mot) 434
- Volkswagen Kraftwagenwerkstatt-Zug (mot)
- Bosch-Kraftwagenwerkstatt-Zug (mot)
Munitionsverwaltungs-Zug (mot) 542-547
Betriesstoffuntersuchungs-Trupp (mot) 12
Heeres-Betriebsstoffverwaltungs-Zug (mot) 5
Betriebsstoffverwalungs-Zug (mot) 979-981
Geräte-Verwaltungsdienste (mot)
Heeres-Kraftfahr-Park 560
Heeres-Kraftfahr-Park 566
Feldzeugdienst-Zug (mot) 1-3
1. / Bäckerei-Kompanie (mot) 554
Schlächterei-Komapnie (mot) 445
Verpflegungsamt (mot) 317
Verpflegungsamt (mot) 445
Verpflegungsamt Afrika (mot)
Stab Kdt V.A. 556
2. / Sanitätskompanie (mot) 592
1. / Krakentransport-Kompanie (mot) 705
Tripolis Kriegslazarett (mot)
5. / Kriegslazarett (mot) 542
Kriegslazarett (mot) 667
Leichtkrankenkriegslazarett (mot)
Sanitätspark (mot) 531
Geheime Feldpolizei (mot)
Haupt-Streifendienst (mot)
Feldgendarmerie-Trupp (mot)
Wach-Bataillon Afrika
Ortskommandant Misurata 615
Ortskommandant Barce 619
Ortskommandant Tripolis 958
Ortskommandant Benghazi 959
Ortskommandant Derna
Tripolis-Lager Kdr
Kriegsgefangenen-Durchgangslager 782
13. / Lehr-Regiment Brangenburg
Feldpostamt zbV (mot) 659
Feldpostamt zbV (mot) 792
Feldpostamt zbV für die Luftwaffe (mot)
Feldpostamt zbV anstelle Armee-Briefstelle (mot)

Notable members

Alfred-Ingemar Berndt (SS-Brigadeführer and Ministerialdirektor, KIA 21 Mar 1945 in Hungary with division Wiking)
Erwin Rommel ("The Desert Fox", forced to committ suicide to avoid trial for involvement in the resistance against Hitler, the Bundeswehr barracks Generalfeldmarschall Rommel-Kaserne in Augustdorf was named in his honour 1961 and the Rommel-Kaserne in Dornstadt/Ulm in 1965 as was the Bundesmarine destroyer D187 Rommel)

In fiction

For easy reference the appearance of the German "African" Corps or higher units in fictional works are collected on the Deutsches Afrikakorps page.

Generaloberst Erwin Rommel is awarded the Colonial Order of the Star of Italy (Ordine coloniale della Stella d'Italia) by General Ettore Bastico on 28 April 1942 as commander of Panzerarmee Afrika

(Courtesy of Bundesarchiv/Wikimedia, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 Germany)

Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel at El Alamein on 18 June 1942

(Courtesy of Bundesarchiv/Wikimedia, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 Germany)

Footnotes

1. Erwin Rommel was the youngest to be promoted to Generalfeldmarschall, he was promoted on 22 June 1942 at the age of 50 years.

Sources used

François de Lannoy & Josef Charita - Panzertruppen: German armored troops 1935-1945
Jack Greene & Alessandro Massignani - Rommel’s North Africa Campaign: September 1940-November 1942 (Da Capo Press, Inc., U.S.A., 1994, 1999 edition)
Samuel W. Mitcham Jr - The Panzer Legions: A guide to the German Army Tank Divisions of WWII and Their Commanders
Georg Tessin - Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht 1933-1945

Reference material on this unit

For easy reference all known reference books on the German "African" Corps or higher units are collected on the Deutsches Afrikakorps page.