maximilian von herff commanded the german afrika korps and was known as the desert fox.
maximilian von herff commanded the german afrika korps and was known as the desert fox.
who commanded the german afrika korps and was known as the desert fox?
maximilian von herff
near alexandria, egypt, the german general erwin rommel, lacking supplies and reinforcements, in november 1942 lost the decisive battle of al-alamein to the newly replenished forces of british general bernard montgomery. the fighting ending november 4, 1942. then came the tunisia campaign. on november 7, the allies under american general dwight eisenhower began landing forces in morocco (operation torch). meanwhile, the german afrika korps with the italian army retreated from egypt westward to tunisia and set up defensive positions at the mareth line south of gabès. the british followed on its heels. with reinforcements the afrika korps had some success against the "green" american and free french advancing from the west. that enabled operations against the british at the mareth line, which ultimately failed perhaps due to ultra intercepts. the allies broke through the axis lines and an intensive allied air campaign forced the afrika korps to surrender in may 11, 1943. the italian army of general messe fought a desperate last battle in cape bon and enfidaville and surrendered two days later. tunisia became a staging area for the invasion of sicily later that year. general eisenhower subsequently wrote of the occupation of tunisia (evidently following an anti-colonial policy, yet one compromised) "far from governing a conquered country, we were attempting only to force a gradual widening of the base of government, with the final objective of turning all internal affairs over to popular control."
history of tunisia under french rule
on february 19, 1941 "turbine" along with "saetta" and departed from naples to tripoli escorting the third german afrika korps convoy consisting of ships , , and and successfully reached tripoli on february 21.









































on march 8, 1941 "turbine" together with destroyers and sailed from naples for tripoli escorting another german afrika korps convoy consisting of steamers , , and carrying among other supplies the first tanks for the german 5th light division. the convoy successfully arrived in tripoli on march 12 without any incidents.
italian destroyer turbine (1927)