Afrika Korps

The Afrika Korps is presented as an enemy force in the costly fighting around Longstop. Its clearest recorded action is the use of mortar fire against soldiers exposed after a convoy vehicle struck a mine, making the bombardment part of the immediate danger of the encounter.

Role at Longstop

The account describes a 15-cwt lorry losing its way in a convoy, leaving the road, and striking a mine. German engineers had planted smaller mines around larger ones; when soldiers jumped down, the smaller devices sprang into the air and exploded. As dawn came, the Afrika Korps brought mortar fire among the resulting confusion, adding a further threat to troops already caught in the minefield.

The Wider Battle

The fighting around Longstop is described as the most costly of the campaign. The nearby heights held German positions, and mortar fire searched the slopes as the battle continued through the day. The account does not detail the Afrika Korps’ wider structure, aims, or actions beyond this combat setting; its significance here lies in how its bombardment intensified the dangers of the Longstop fighting.