The British Eighth Army was formed in September 1941 in North Africa from forces stationed in Egypt. Until November of the same year, it was composed of two corps: XIII and XXX. It included, among others: the 2nd New Zealand Infantry Division, the 4th Indian Infantry Division, the 7th Panzer Division (the famous Desert Rats), and the 1st South African Infantry Division. At the end of 1942, there were about 220,000 people, formed into 10 divisions and several independent brigades. The Eighth Army underwent its baptism of fire during the Battle of Tobruk in November 1941. Later, in 1941–1943, she fought in North Africa, winning a very important victory in the Battle of El Alamein and later beating Axis forces in Libya and Tunisia. It is worth adding that its commander from August 1942 to December 1943 was Bernard Law Montgomery, one of the best British commanders of World War II. In the years 1943–1945, the Eighth Army fought in the area of Apennine by taking part in the landing in Sicily and in the landing in southern Italy. Its soldiers later broke through the Gothic Line and the Gustav Line, as well as fought at Monte Cassino in 1944. It was the 8th Army that included the 2nd Corps of the Polish Armed Forces, under the command of General Anders. In 1945, the Eighth Army fought in the Po Valley and later entered Austria, where it ended its combat route during World War II.
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 the 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, where he fought until May 1943.