CYRENAICA 1941
Libya 1940: the British army recaptured the stronghold of Tobruk from the Italians, who were in control at the time, but found themselves trapped. Italy called on Germany for help, and the latter appointed Rommel - "The Desert Fox" - who arrived with several armored divisions, including the 15 Pz Div. - and an infantry division, the 90 Leichte Div. He will also have five Italian divisions under his command, plus an artillery group.
It should be noted that the reinforced 5 Leichte Division only became the 21st Panzer Division on August 1, 1941. The reorganization of the 15th and 21st Panzer Divisions led the Heeres oberkommando to set up a Panzergruppe "Africa", which was naturally entrusted to Rommel, while on August 15 - its German component - the Deutsches Afrika Korps - was placed under the command of Generalleutnant Ferdinand Schaal (replaced by Crüwell at the end of September) under the name Panzer-Korps "Afrika", which reverted to its former name on August 21.
Despite a major difference in material resources - 477 armored vehicles for the 8th Army and 390 for the Axis forces - Rommel was to achieve great feats, as he was more instinctive and had more powerful vehicles at his disposal, in the face of the rigidity of the British.
On June 20, 1942, after a first attempt, the Deutsche Africa Korps (D.A.K.) recaptured Tobruk from the British and seized a large quantity of vehicles and fuel reserves, enabling it to continue on to Egypt to "finish off" the fleeing 8th Army before it could reconstitute itself... but that's another story...
THE DIORAMA: on the morning of November 21, 1941, the 15th & 21 Pz. Div. of the Africakorps hit the isolated 7th Armoured Brigade and its group at Sidi Rezegh, well ahead of the British forces...
The scale is 1/35 and includes models of various makes: ITALERI - TAMIYA - AIRFIX - and more or less modified figurines. Some vehicle parts have also been revised for greater realism.
A German Sdkfz 223 self-propelled gun & a BMW sidecar make a stop in the desert. Scale 1/35.
