Hallo, gentlemen! I am very interested in knowing the Order of Battle of the Axis forces in Lybia in the first half of 1941 under general Italo Gariboldi. Generalleutnant Erwin Rommel arrived to Tripoli on February 14th 1941 with only one division: 5. Leichtedivision, just 80 tanks. And he operated against the British with this tiny force until 15. Panzerdivision reached Africa in April. Do you know about other German divisions then and all the Italian forces (the 80% of the forces in Lybia)?
Resuming....after final destruction of Italian 10th army at Beda Fomm, italian 5th Army could afford only on four infantry divisions: "Brescia", "Bologna", "Pavia" and "Savona". Those were largely without vehicles and artillery cause they had been as a reinforce to 10th army. In february 1941, were sent two new divisions: German 5th light division and Italian armored division "Ariete". Those two units were employed by rommel in his first counteroffensive of March 1941. In April-May, were sent two other divisions: german 15th panzerdivision and italian motorized division "Trento". Those forces faced british attcks in June and passed summer in Tobruk siege. In fall 1941, were sent a new italian division ("Trieste" motorized) and sufficent german forces to promote 5th Light Division to 21st Panzer division and creating a new unit, the 90th Light division bye Lupo
Thanks, Lupo! I already knew about the German forces and the divisions "Brescia" and "Ariete", but I did not know about the others. Thanks.
Thanks for the help, and Belasar, did you heard about Alexandra Dadario? Way more interesting to dream about!
I've been trying to find it for some time now but couldn't locate the forum until I tried your link. Thanks.