Knocked-Out Pz.Kpfw. III Tank of the German Afrika Korps, North Africa 1942

June 27, 2025 - Reading time: 3 minutes

Destroyed German Pz.Kpfw. III tank of Rommel’s Afrika Korps, likely from the 15th or 21st Panzer Division, knocked out during fighting in the North African campaign.

North Africa, 1942.
The unforgiving desert sun beats down on twisted metal. Here lies a German Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf. L, its journey ended in the sands of Libya or Egypt. Once part of Rommel’s Afrika Korps, this tank now stands as a silent witness to the brutal and often underappreciated campaign for control over North Africa.

Equipped with a 50mm KwK 39 L/60 gun, this Ausführung L variant of the Panzer III was meant to counter increasingly better-armored Allied tanks. Though an upgrade over earlier models, it often found itself outmatched by British Crusaders, Matildas, and especially the American M4 Shermans introduced later in the campaign.

This tank likely belonged to either the 15th or 21st Panzer Division, two of the backbone formations under Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, the famed “Desert Fox.” The photo captures a moment after the storm — scorched armor, thrown track, and the quiet aftermath of an engagement that may have included British Eighth Army forces, or perhaps Commonwealth and Free French units.

The North African campaign was more than tanks and sand: it was a clash of strategy, logistics, and willpower, stretching from El Alamein to Tunis. For Germany, it was also the first major defeat of its armored forces in open battle.

This Pz.Kpfw. III — like so many others — found its limit here, where heat, dust, and Allied firepower made the desert a graveyard of ambition.

📷 Technical photo data:
📸 Photographer: Unknown war correspondent
📅 Date: 1942
📍 Location: North Africa