Nafziger, George F. The Afrika Korps: An Organizational History. Pisgah, OH: Nafziger, 1997.

No ISBN
128 pages

Forward (sic); Terminology & Abbreviations; Introduction; Bibliography; Index.

George Nafziger is known for his series of self-published order of battle booklets and his extensive OB document collection. Previously published OB compilations include 7 volumes on the German army, 3 on the Italian army, 11 on the Soviets (written by Charles Sharp), and single volumes each on the French, Rumanian, and Bulgarian OBs.

This new title focuses on German ground forces in North Africa from February 1941 (when 5th Light Division arrived in Tripoli) through May 1943 (when the Axis perimeter in Tunisia collapsed). The bulk of the text comprises an impressive sequence of detailed OBs (in some cases including such oft-overlooked units as telephone construction companies), with many of the OB entries containing quantities and types of weapons on hand. Sandwiched between OBs are occasional paragraphs of brief commentary by Nafziger clarifying various points.

The first chapter discusses each of the German divisions deployed across the Med: 5th Light, 10th Panzer, 15th Panzer, 21st Panzer, General Goering, etc. This chapter also includes German brigades (Afrika and Ramcke) in the desert. The material includes breakdowns of each division and its subordinate formations, down to battalion, company, and sometimes even platoon level. Here's an example of a part of the lengthy section on 21st Panzer Division:

On 17 January 1942 the 1/104th Schutzen Regiment was captured and replaced on 1 April 1942 by the 8th Machine Gun Battalion. At the same time the 15th Motorcycle Battalion became the 3/104th Schutzen Regiment. In 1943 the 305th Army Flak Battalion, formerly the 609th Flak Battalion, became the 4/155th Artillery Regiment. On 25 May 1942 the organization of the 5th Panzer Regiment was organized as follows:

1/,2/5th Panzer Regiment
   1 Regimental Staff Signals Platoon
   1 Regimental Staff Light Panzer Platoon
   Each Battalion had:
      1 Panzer Staff Company
      1 Medium Panzer Company
      3 Light Panzer Companies

On that date the regimental tank inventory was 29 Pz II, 107 Pz III (50kz), 15 Pz III (50 lg), 19 Pz IV (kz), and 4 command tanks.

Chapter II presents over twenty pages of unadulterated orders of battle for the overall Axis forces in Africa from 3 September 1941 through March 1943. Each of the fourteen OBs is a snapshot of the structure of the entire command on one of fourteen different dates. These OBs place the divisions and their components from Chapter I within the context of the overall panzer group/army/army group structure and also include non-division formations such as flak units and coastal defense batteries. These listings also include equally detailed data for Italian forces.

Chapter III delves into "the OKH records of what the Afrika Korps was intended to contain." As Nafziger explains, these hypothetical TOEs seldom bore more than a passing resemblance to the actual forces fighting at the front due to casualties, sinkings en route to Africa, field expedients, etc.

The final chapter of the book provides a sequence of tables with equipment and manpower returns. These tend to be very detailed -- for example, often showing daily tank availability by model and unit -- but are by no means comprehensive, covering only selected dates and units. The data in the chapter is very useful, but also very tantalizing for what it doesn't contain.

In the final analysis, if there is a criticism of this book, that's what it is. For all the terrific material presented here (and there's absolutely no doubt that wargamers, for example, will find all this very much to their liking) there's a certain impression that much of the book is comprised of whatever happened to be available and could use rather more connective text. In that sense The Afrika Korps should be considered as it was intended -- a presentation of OB material rather than an exhaustive evaluation of OBs -- and no points should be deducted for the fact that certain records seem not to have survived the war (or the post-war storage process).

Nafziger has obviously done his homework with National Archives microfilms of captured German documents (as well as additional sources such as some of the volumes of the Italian official history, Tessin, and so on). Indeed, here's his wry commentary on the pitfalls of microfilm research:

Also, please note this listing is of what was "assigned" to the army, not what made it to North Africa. The source document was color coded to indicate if it was in Italy, Africa or Germany. Unfortunately, the microfilm used did not display colors, making location impossible.

Available from mail order booksellers, local bookshops, or directly from Nafziger.

Thanks to George Nafziger for providing this review copy.