Afrika Korps (full German name: Deutsches Afrikakorps, abbreviated as DAK) is colloquially understood as the collective name of German land units fighting in North Africa in 1941-1943. The Afrika Korps was formed in February 1941, as a result of the painful defeats suffered by the Italian army during the battles with the British in Africa at the turn of 1940/1941. His main task was to come to the aid of the Italian ally and stop the advance of British troops in Libya. The commander of the unit was a general, and later a field marshal, Erwin Rommel. Initially, the DAK consisted of only the 5th Light Division (later transformed into the 21st Armored Division), in May 1941 it was joined by the 15th Armored Division, and at the end of 1941 - the 90th Light Division. It is worth adding that already in the middle of 1941 the Panzergruppe Afrika was founded, headed by Erwin Rommel, and it was joined by Afrika Korps. Despite the defensive tasks, the DAK (or more broadly the Panzergruppe Afrika) very quickly after landing - on the initiative of its commander - went into strictly offensive operations, inflicting a series of defeats in the desert on the British in 1941-1942. However, it was then that its commander was nicknamed the Desert Fox. At the same time, however, from the very beginning, DAK was troubled by supply problems, which had a negative impact on its ability to conduct offensive actions. He suffered a significant defeat during the Second Battle of El Alamein (October-November 1942), which forced the DAK to retreat as far as Tunisia, in which he fought until May 1943.
Fallschirmjäger is the collective term for German airborne units from the interwar period and World War II. The first parachute unit was organized in Nazi Germany in 1936 - perhaps as a result of observations made during the Soviet maneuvers of the previous year. The first paratroopers squad was created on the initiative of Herman Göring and was assigned to the Luftwaffe. A year later (1937), the first unit of this type was subordinated to the Wehrmacht, and more precisely to the land forces. In 1938, these units were combined and expanded to form the 7th Aviation Division under the command of General Kurt Student. It consisted of parachute infantry, troops trained to transport gliders and infantry transported to the battlefield by airplanes. In the course of World War II, more Fallschirmjäger units were created, incl. in 1943, on the basis of the 7th Aviation Division, the 1st and 2nd Parachute Divisions were established. In the period 1939-1941, the German Fallschirmjäger was used for its intended purpose (e.g. during the fighting in Western Europe in 1940), but after the heavy losses suffered in the course of the fighting in Crete in 1941, the German parachute troops began to be used primarily as elite infantry units, in which role they proved to be very successful, earning the nickname "Green Devils" among the Allies.