Day: March 13, 2016

D.A.K. war diary 12 March 1941
by

D.A.K. war diary 12 March 1941

12 March 1941

The Commander flies back to Tripoli during the morning. At 17.00 hours a parade and passing is held at the Castle in Tripoli by II./PR5, those elements of I./PR5[1] already in Tripoli and a tank battalion of Div. Ariete[2]. II./PR5 afterwards moves to Sirt in four night marches; during the march the battalion remains directly subordinate to the Afrikakorps.

Nordafrika, Truppenparade in Tripolis

Italian medium tanks M13/40 parading in Tripoli on 12 March 1941. Picture from Wikipedia’s Bundesarchiv project

Under command of Major Schräpler (IIa)[3] a preparatory command drives to Sirt in the early morning hours, to prepare the new Corps HQ for the command staff.

Notes

[1]Second and first battalions of the armoured regiment of 5.lei.Div., respectively.

[2]These were the tanks of 7th Battalion 32nd Armoured Regiment, which had arrived the day before. See this older link.

[3]The Afrika-Korps Chief Personnel Officer. A nice example of how staff officers were expected to fulfill multiple roles.