GERMAN AFRIKA KORPS
Comprising of 42 figures, including Command and Zug (Section) troops, Motorcycle and Side car combination, Kubelwagens, and Opel Blitz truck. Our range of 28mm figures represents those troops; with a mix of helmets, sun hats and soft caps, as well as shorts and trousers. Equipped fairly lightly the figures are armed with rifles, MP40’s, and the Maschinengewehr 34 (MG34) in LMG and Sustained Fire role. All vehicles are scaled at 1/56 th to complement the figures.
A SHORT HISTORY
The Deutsches Afrika Korps fought under the leadership of, amongst others, General Erwin Rommel the "Desert Fox". Alongside Germany’s Italian Allies the German forces comprised of tanks, artillery, and infantry, supported by units of the Luftwaffe, based in North Africa.
Originally sent as a holding force to beef up the Italian units defending Italy’s African colonies, the formation fought on in Africa from March 1941 until its surrender in May 1943. The key units in the early deployment were the 5th Light Division and elements of 15th Panzer Division, transferred from Italy. At this time, the Afrika Korps consisted of these two divisions. Later the 5th Light Division was re-designated 21st Panzer Division.
The units sent to North Africa, were equipped with a range of clothing suitable for desert conditions, often being clad in shorts, sun hats and wearing the ubiquitous sunglasses and goggles against the dust and glare of the desert. After the German defeat in the Second Battle of El Alamein and the Allied landings in Morocco and Algeria (Operation Torch), the German High Command strengthened its presence in Africa by adding the XC Army Corps, then an additional Panzer Army, under the command of General Hans-Jürgen von Arnim. On 13 May, 1943, the Afrika Korps surrendered, along with all other remaining Axis forces in North Africa.
