A complete and exhaustive analysis of the actual composition and organisation of the German Afrika Korps and of the Panzer Armee Afrika between the time of the first arrival of German troops in Libya in February 1941 to the battle of El Alamein in October 1942. Commands, subordinated units and the divisions that fought in the Western Desert campaign are described in detail to provide for each one of them the basic organisation, the changes intervened in the unit structure and in the divisional composition down to battalion and company level. Details are provided for special units like the Sonderverband 288 and the Kampfgruppe Burkhardt, the Sonderkommando Dora and other units like the Kampfgruppe Hecker. For each division details and changes in organisation are accompanied by chapters on status, Kampfgruppe formed and unit commanders. The appendices include a complete order of battle for the German forces in Africa in May 1942 and a complete and exhaustive list of all the Knight's Cross winners in North Africa between 1941 and 1943. A must for any researcher interested in the German Army and in the North African campaign.