This book explores the experiences of the German Afrika Korps soldier during the North Africa campaign of World War II (1939-1945), from the Korps' arrival in the North African theater in February 1941 to its eventual surrender in Tunisia in May 1943, with a particular focus on the intense period of warfare in the Western Desert between 1941 and 1942. Under the leadership of one of the war's most famous commanders, Erwin Rommel, the Afrika Korps grew to include a broad range of armor, infantry, artillery, anti-tank, engineer, communication, supply, medical and service elements. The soldiers of the Afrika Korps considered themselves as part of an elite, a highly select group that had no equal, not only in the German Army, but in the rest of the world.