Tropical DAK Panzer Artillery Collar Tabs – Red Piped WWII German

Tropical DAK Armored Panzer- und Panzerjägertruppen Panzer Collar Tabs (Litzen). The Red piping with Totenkopf on the panzer collar tabs denote the wearer as a crew member of the Sturmgeschützen, the assault guns. The Sturmgeschützen operated the armored assault guns of the Wehrmacht, such as the StuG III.

The German Africa Corps (Deutsches Afrikakorps, DAK), commonly known as Afrika Korps, was the German expeditionary force in Africa during the North African campaign of World War II. First sent as a holding force to shore up the Italian defense of its African colonies, the formation fought on in Africa, under various appellations, from March 1941 until its surrender in May 1943. The unit’s best known commander was Field Marshal Erwin Rommel.

The Afrika Korps formed on 11 January 1941 and one of Adolf Hitler’s favorite generals, Erwin Rommel, was designated as commander on 11 February. Originally Hans von Funck was to have commanded it, but Hitler loathed von Funck, as he had been a personal staff officer of Werner von Fritsch until von Fritsch was dismissed in 1938.

The German Armed Forces High Command (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, OKW) had decided to send a “blocking force” to Italian Libya to support the Italian army. The Italian 10th Army had been routed by the British Commonwealth Western Desert Force in Operation Compass (9 December 1940 – 9 February 1941) and captured at the Battle of Beda Fomm. The German blocking force, commanded by Rommel, at first consisted of a force based only on Panzer Regiment 5, which was put together from the second regiment of the 3rd Panzer Division. These elements were organized into the 5th Light Division when they arrived in Africa from 10 February – 12 March 1941. In late April and into May, the 5th Light Division was joined by elements of 15th Panzer Division, transferred from Italy. At this time, the Afrika Korps consisted of the two divisions, and was subordinated to the Italian chain of command in Africa.

On 15 August 1941, the German 5th Light Division was redesignated 21st Panzer Division, the higher formation of which was still the Afrika Korps. During the summer of 1941, the OKW increased the presence in Africa and created a new headquarters called Panzer Group Africa. On 15 August, the Panzer Group was activated with Rommel in command, and command of the Afrika Korps was turned over to Ludwig Crüwell. The Panzer Group comprised the Afrika Korps, with some additional German units now in North Africa, plus two corps of Italian units. The Panzer Group was, in turn, redesignated as Panzer Army Africa on 30 January 1942.

After the German and Italian defeat in the Second Battle of El Alamein and the Allied landings in Morocco and Algeria (Operation Torch), the OKW once more upgraded the presence in Africa by adding first the XC Army Corps, under Walter Nehring, in Tunisia on 19 November 1942, then an additional 5th Panzer Army on 8 December, under the command of Colonel-General Hans-Jürgen von Arnim.

On 23 February 1943, the original Panzer Army Africa, which had since been re-styled as the German-Italian Panzer Army, was now redesignated as the Italian 1st Army and put under the command of Italian general Giovanni Messe. Rommel, meanwhile, was placed in command of a new Army Group Africa, created to control both the Italian 1st Army and the 5th Panzer Army. The remnants of the Afrika Korps and surviving units of the 1st Italian Army retreated into Tunisia. Command of the Army Group was turned over to Arnim in March. On 13 May, the Afrika Korps surrendered, along with all other remaining Axis forces in North Africa.

A Panzer division was one of the armored (tank) divisions in the army of Nazi Germany during World War II. Panzer divisions were the key element of German success in the blitzkrieg operations of the early years of World War II. Later the Waffen-SS formed its own panzer divisions, and the Luftwaffe fielded an elite panzer division: the Hermann Göring Division.

A panzer division was a combined arms formation, having both tanks (Panzerkampfwagen, armored fighting vehicle, usually shortened to “Panzer”), mechanized and motorized infantry, along with artillery, anti-aircraft and other integrated support elements. At the start of the war, panzer divisions were more effective than the equivalent Allied armored divisions due to their combined arms doctrine, even though they had fewer and generally less technically advanced tanks. By mid-war, though German tanks had often become technically superior to Allied tanks, Allied armored warfare and combined arms doctrines generally caught up with the Germans, and shortages reduced the combat readiness of panzer divisions. The proportions of the components of panzer divisions changed over time.

The World War II German equivalent of a mechanized infantry division is Panzergrenadierdivision (‘armored infantry division’). This is similar to a panzer division, but with a higher proportion of infantry and assault guns and fewer tanks.

These first panzer divisions (1st through 5th) were composed of two tank regiments, one motorized infantry regiment of two battalions each, and supporting troops. After the invasion of Poland in 1939, the old divisions were partially reorganized (adding a third battalion to some infantry regiments or alternatively adding a second regiment of two battalions). Around this time, the newly organized divisions (6th through 10th) diverged in organization, each on average with one tank regiment, one separate tank battalion, one or two infantry regiments (three to four battalions per division).

By the start of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, the 21 panzer divisions had undergone further reorganization to now consist of one tank regiment (of two or three battalions) and two motorized regiments (of two battalions each). Until the winter of 1941/42, the organic component of these divisions consisted of a motorized artillery regiment (of one heavy and two light battalions) and the following battalions: reconnaissance, motorcycle, anti-tank, pioneer, field replacement, and communications. The number of tanks in the 1941-style divisions was relatively small, compared to their predecessors’ composition. All other units in these formations were fully motorized (trucks, half-tracks, specialized combat vehicles) to match the speed of the tanks.

During the winter of 1941/42, the divisions underwent another reorganization, with a tank regiment comprising from one to three battalions, depending on location (generally three for Army Group South, one for Army Group Centre, other commands usually two battalions). Throughout 1942, the reconnaissance battalions were merged into the motorcycle battalions.

By the summer of 1943, the Luftwaffe and Waffen-SS also had panzer divisions. A renewed standardization of the tank regiments was attempted. Each was now supposed to consist of two battalions, one with Panzer IV and one with Panther (Panzer V). In reality, the organization continued to vary from division to division. The first infantry battalion of the first infantry regiment of each panzer division was now supposed to be fully mechanized (mounted on armored half-tracks (Sd.Kfz. 251). The first battalion of the artillery regiment replaced its former towed light howitzers with a mix of heavy and light self-propelled artillery (the Hummel with a 15 cm sFH 18/1 L/30 gun and the standard 105mm howitzer-equipped Wespe). The anti-tank battalion now included assault guns, tank destroyers (Panzerjaeger/Jadgpanzer), and towed anti-tank guns. Generally, the mechanization of these divisions increased compared to their previous organization.

Since the Heer and the SS used their own ordinal systems, there were duplicate numbers (there was both a 9th Panzer division and a 9th SS-Panzer division).

Waffen SS-Panzergrenadier divisions

1st Liebstandarte SS Adolf Hitler

2nd ‘Das Reich’

3rd ‘Totenkopf’

5th ‘Wiking’.

Heer Numbered Divisions

1st Panzer Division
2nd Panzer Division
3rd Panzer Division
4th Panzer Division
5th Panzer Division
6th Panzer Division (previously 1st Light Division)
7th Panzer Division (previously 2nd Light Division)
8th Panzer Division (previously 3rd Light Division)
9th Panzer Division (previously 4th Light Division)
10th Panzer Division
11th Panzer Division
12th Panzer Division
13th Panzer Division (previously 13th Infantry Division, 13th Motorized Infantry Division; later Panzer Division Feldherrnhalle 2)
14th Panzer Division (previously 4th Infantry Division)
15th Panzer Division (previously 33rd Infantry Division; later 15th Panzergrenadier Division)
16th Panzer Division (previously 16th Infantry Division)
17th Panzer Division (previously 27th Infantry Division)
18th Panzer Division (later 18th Artillery Division)
19th Panzer Division (previously 19th Infantry Division)
20th Panzer Division
21st Panzer Division (previously 5th Light Division)
22nd Panzer Division
23rd Panzer Division
24th Panzer Division (previously 1st Cavalry Division)
25th Panzer Division (previously armored division “Norway”.[5] 26th Panzer Division (formerly 23rd Infantry Division)
27th Panzer Division
116th Panzer Division Windhund (previously 16th Infantry Division, 16th Motorized Infantry Division, and 16th Panzergrenadier Division)
155th Reserve Panzer Division (previously Division Nr. 155, Division Nr. 155 (motorized), Panzer Division Nr. 155)
Panzer Division Nr. 178 (previously Division Nr. 178)
179th Reserve Panzer Division (previously Division Nr. 179, Division Nr. 179 (mot.), and Panzer Division Nr. 179)
232nd Panzer Division (previously Panzer Division Tatra, Panzer Training Division Tatra)
233rd Reserve Panzer Division (previously Division Nr. 233 (mot.), Panzergrenadier Division Nr. 233, and Panzer Division Nr. 233; later Panzer Division Clausewitz)
273rd Reserve Panzer Division

Panzer Division Clausewitz (previously Division Nr. 233 (motorized), Panzergrenadier Division Nr. 233, and Panzer Division Nr. 233, Reserve Panzer Division 233)
Döberitz, Schlesien, and Holstein are approximately synonymous with Clausewitz.
Panzer Division Feldherrnhalle 1 (previously 60th Infantry Division, 60th Motorized Infantry Division, and Panzergrenadier Division Feldherrnhalle)
Panzer Division Feldherrnhalle 2 (previously 13th Infantry Division, 13th Motorized Infantry Division, and 13th Panzer Division)
Fallschirm-Panzer Division 1 Hermann Göring
Panzer Division Jüterbog
Panzer Division Kempf (part Heer, part Waffen-SS)
Panzer Division Kurmark
Panzer Lehr Division (sometimes identified as 130th Panzer-Lehr-Division)
Panzer Division Müncheberg
Panzer Division Tatra (later Panzer Training Division Tatra, 232nd Panzer Division)