P. A. Spayd

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Private afrikakorps photograph collection of rommels chief-of staff general

Now, for the first time, the private Afrikakorps photograph collection of Rommel's second in command, Generalleutnant Fritz Bayerlein, is presented in this landmark publication. Over 200 photographs, showing personalities, battle scenes, behind the front line rest periods, and non-battle scenery such as a tour of ancient ruins with Rommel are featured. Brought to life here are the famous Afrikakorps personalities such as Rommel, Nehring, Cruwell, and von Thoma. The Afrikakorps commanders, their fighting men, the awards for bravery, the graves, and even mundane military life in the heat of the Libyan desert, Bayerlein's array of photographs depict the war in the Western Desert as he saw it. From his arrival in the Western Desert in October 1941, through his final, and bitter departure in May 1943, Bayerlein took hundreds of photographs. This gallery of images unfolds Bayerlein's rise in rank, from an Oberstleutnant under General Cruwell to Generalleutnant under his friend and mentor, Erwin Rommel. Fritz Dittmar-Bayerlein, the General's nephew and co-author, has generously opened his uncle's photograph collection which had been in storage for over thirty years. Retrace Bayerlein's steps and the campaigns across the desert sands - an undiscovered perspective on the legacy of the vaunted Afrikakorps.