The Afrika Korps or German Africa Corps 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 their African colonies, the formation fought on in Africa, under various appellations, from March 1941 until its surrender in May 1943. The term "Afrika Korps" is actually pseudo-German, deriving from an incomplete German title, which was in any case written as a single word. The German term referred solely to the initial formation, the Deutsches Afrikakorps (DAK), which formed part of the Axis command of the German and Italian forces in North Africa. However, the name stuck, with both news media and Allied soldiers, as the name for all subsequent German units in North Africa. The reputation of the Afrika Korps is closely associated with that of its original commander, Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel.
