Background

Annual reports are well known from the corporate world.  Until I went through my files tonight I did not know that German divisions also had them.  They were a bit different though, no foreword by the Chief Exec, no glossy pictures, or endless business prose about the competitive position of the company.  In their case, a single page sufficed. 

Panzer III and II of Panzerregiment 5 passing through the Arco den Fileni at Nofilia, Tripolitania, likely March 1941. Bundesarchiv Bildarchiv.

The report

Below I give the info contained in the Appendices to the War Diary of the division. It covers the time of fighting in North Africa from entering the theatre in February to 31 December 1941.

The whole list would be too long to reproduce here, so I just restrict myself to two units of the division:

Unit: Machinegun Battalion 8

Tanks and armoured vehicles

• Destroyed: 16
• Captured: 0

Motor Vehicles

• Destroyed: 60
• Captured: 45

Artillery pieces

• Destroyed: 0
• Captured: 0

POW: 200

Unit: Reconnaissance Battalion 3

Tanks and armoured vehicles

• Destroyed: 29
• Captured: 17

Motor Vehicles

• Destroyed: 125
• Captured: 0

Artillery pieces

• Destroyed: 5
• Captured: 7

POW: 500