The situations for Italians in Africa became very critical, so in February 6 of 1941 Adolf Hitler calls General Erwin Rommel, and gives him the order to go to North Africa with an expedition force the DAK (Deutsches Afrika Korps). To be precise, the D.A.K. did not include only the German forces in North Africa, but it was composed of German and Italian units, there were also other German units fighting in North Africa but they did not belong to the D.A.K. Even if now it is a common habit to call refer to all German forces in North Africa as Afrika Korps.The original DAK was simply the 5th Light Division, but was doubled when a full panzer division arrived. Rommel arrived in Tripoli on February 12, 1941. "Something had to be done to bring the British offensive to a halt," he wrote. By now the British had moved as far as El Ageila, 400 miles from Tripoli. To deceive British spies, he had his troops parade in Tripoli. But, he had them march around the same block over and over, as well as with both real and dummy tanks, thus making his forces appear larger. The first action of the Afrika Korps takes place at March the 13st of 1941 against the British Forces in the Aghelia Straight coming to a halt just inside Egypt with Tobruk under siege. The British Crusader offensive in November 1941 pushed the Axis forces back to El Aghelia. On January 21, 1942 Rommel advanced 250 miles inside Egypt halting at El Alamein and taking Tobruk. The main Battle of El Alamein October 23 1942 pushed the Axis forces back into Libya and then back to Tunisia. On May 12, 1943 the remnants of the DAK and Italians surrender.
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