Rommel arrives in Africa
12th February 1941: The dynamic Wehrmacht General arrives in Italian Libya and immediately decides that he must take the initiative
Hitler had now decided that he had to provide his main ally, Mussolini, with military support, before there were political repercussions in Italy itself. The Italian army had suffered a series of reverses. It had been pushed out of Greece after its invasion from Albania on 28th October, and was now under pressure from Greek forces in Albania itself. And it had just been comprehensively routed in Egypt and pursued back into Libya by much smaller British forces in Operation Compass. Hitler had no particular strategic interest in North Africa, but he could not bear to see Mussolini humiliated.
Morale was as low as it could be in all military circles in Tripoli.
Rommel had been briefed by Hitler on the 6th February. His intention was to send German troops to assist the Italians and bolster their resolve. Rommel would be subordinate to the Italian commander in Libya. Rommel wasted no time in travelling first to Rome and then to the Libyan capital, Tripoli. The British had seized control of the region of Cyrenaica and now threatened the region of Tripolitania and aimed to take all of Libya.
Rommel1 arrived in Tripoli on the 12th and immediately decided he would have to take the initiative himself:
Heggenreiner2 briefly put me in the picture concerning the set-up of the Italian forces in Africa and described some very unpleasant incidents which had occurred during the retreat, or rather the rout which it had become. Italian troops had thrown away their weapons and ammunition and clambered on to overloaded vehicles in a wild attempt to get away to the west. This had led to some ugly scenes, and even to shooting. Morale was as low as it could be in all military circles in Tripoli. Most of the Italian officers had already packed their bags and were hoping for a quick return trip to Italy.
