Without a doubt, one of Germany's most brilliant military strategists of WWII was Erwin Rommel. Brought in to save the Italian debacle in North Africa during 1941, Rommel quickly turned things around and started chasing the British 8th Army back towards Egypt. 

Over the next two years, the fortunes of the Afrika Korps waxed and waned, mostly due to supplies, or lack thereof. In a fast moving campaign such as was fought in North Africa, it was logistics that determined the outcome of battle as much as the tactics of the commander, the ability of the troops and the quality of the equipment.

Arguably, the Germans had all three of those in advantage over British forces, yet it was the inability of his supply chain to provide fresh troops, replacement equipment and most of all, fuel that eventually doomed the German advance to the east. Had he been properly equipped up to the levels needed, the outcome at El Alamein would have been much different.

The author does a superlative job of giving us this overview into the operation and tactics of the Afrika Korps during its most successful period of time. The book covers doctrine and training, unit organization and tactics. This latter subject is further enhanced by looking at several major engagements during 1941 and 1942.

The book also covers the weapons and equipment used. It was surprising to me that most of the non-combat equipment used by the Germans was not prepared for desert use and that the Afrika Korps used considerable captured British material.

The book then concludes with command, control and communications, on-going unit status during the campaign and finally the lessons learned by all this. Throughout the book there are outstanding unit organizational charts, maps of various battles and superb period photographs.

In all, another great book in Osprey's quite popular Battle Orders series and one that I can highly recommend.

November 2006

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