Ok. to be exact, let me explain why I believed that 90. Leichte-divison was not really attached to DAK at the beginning of Crusader :Jon G. wrote: No, the Afrika Division was part of the DAK along with the Savona Division. Just to set the ball rolling again the Afrika Division z.b.V at the time had
361st Afrika Regt. with two battalions (ex-foreign legionnaires)
155th Infantry Regt. with three battalions
300th Oasis Battalion (another special unit with Germans who had lived in Africa)
900th Engineer Battalion z.b.V.
2nd Celere artillery Regt. (Italian) with three batteries of 100 mm guns and four batteries of 75 mm guns.
Finally, the division had the following infantry battalions attached:
2nd Battalion of the 255th Infantry Regt. (from the 110th Infantry Division)
3rd Battalion of the 347th IR (from the 197th ID)
2nd Battalion of the 115th Motorized Infantry Regt.
All data lifted directly from Greene & Massignani.
The DAK headquarter was in charge of the coordination of the siege and assault of Tobruk, with :
- the 15. Pz-Div
- the 90. Leichte Afrika-division (former Division-Kommando z.b. V. Afrika)
- the four italian division : Bologna, Pavia, Trento and Brescia.
But the attack from Egypt force Rommel to change this theorical organisation, so in fact The DAK didn't really have the 90.Leichte-division under its operationnal control till the end of november for a short period.
The Savona Division was part of the border area, which was not under DAK headquarter. The border organisation had the Oasis battalions, and the 2nd Celere and others Batteries (Gruppo Pardi, Kampfgruppe Bach...).
The 90. Leichte Afrika-division had at the beginning of Crusader :
- Schutzen-regt (mot) 155
- Afrika-regt (mot) 361 (with the former german spoken french Foreign legion)
- aufklarung-Kompanie 580
- Artillerie-Abt (mot) 361
- Pionier-Bat 900
- Nachrichten-Kompanie 190.
the Schuzen-regt 115 was part of the 15. Panzer-division, not of the 90. Leichte-division.
The Kampfgruppe Wechmar was first under 21. Panzer-division control.
When Rommel realised that a major Allies offensive was occuring (after several asks from Crüwell and the 21. Panzer-division HQ), he diverted all motorised formations from Tobruk, especially 15. Panzer-division, the 19th of november at midday.
Then all former organisation will disappear, and all divisions will be engaged in several Kampfgruppen, changing from time to time.
After the Totensontag, all german units were assembled in the Sidi Rezegh area. Rommel decided to threw the DAK (15 and 21. Panzer-divisions) to the border to destroy all Allies division attacking Sollum-Bardia positions.
He let only the 90. Leichte afrika-division and Kampfgruppe Böttcher (the Arko 104 with all heavy artillery) to clean the battlefield and to keep Tobruk cut from the NZ division avancing from the East.
After the defeat of the DAK during the confused border operations, an important meeting with Rommel and Crüwell the 28th of november at 19h00 (sorry 7h00 pm) change the organisation and put the 90.Leichte-division under operational control of the DAK HQ.
It will be the first time that operations let 90. Leichte-division being engaged under the DAK HQ (for the 28th and 29th of november operations against the Cauldron of Sidi Rezegh and the Ed Duda hill at the beginning of december).
This organisation ended at the 3rd of december when the DAK was engaged in new operations against the East and after during the second battle of Bir el Gobi.
During this time, the 90. Leichte-division remained near Tobruk, recovering of the losses undergone during the heavy fights of the last days. The main retreat of this division, with the Arko 104 began the 8th of december to Ain el Gazala. As soon as the 10th of december, the 90.Leichte-division was sent to Agedabia to protect the rear of the Panzergruppe Afrika against the "E" Force.
My source ? Well a lot of documents.. studied in my book , here :
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=126361
Hope this will help you,
CM