Operation Sonnenblume - 5th Light Division

5th Light Division

The 5. leichte-Division's (mot) (5th Light Division) tank regiment—5. Panzer-Regiment—arrived in North Africa aboard two convoys between 8 and 10 March 1941. The regiment—155 tanks strong—consisted of 25 Panzer Is, 45 Panzer IIs, 61 Panzer IIIs, 17 Panzer IVs, three kleine Panzerbefehlswagens and four Panzerbefehlswagens.

While the tanks of the regiment were being loaded onto Italian cargo ships in the port of Naples, the cargo ship Leverkusen caught fire and sank, resulting in the loss of the 10 Panzer IIIs and three Panzer IVs on board. Ten replacement Panzer IIIs—a mixture of Ausf F and G models—were requisitioned from 6. Panzer-Regiment, and three newly-built Panzer IV Ausf Es were shipped to Libya between 10 and 14 April. However, they did not reach the regiment until 29 April.

A further 25 Panzer I Ausf A were shipped over to North Africa to reinforce the regiment arriving in Tripoli on 10 May.

The on paper peak strength of the 5th Light Division in North Africa was therefore:

• 50 Panzer Is
• 45 Panzer IIs
• 71 Panzer IIIs
• 20 Panzer IVs
• 3 kleine Panzerbefehlswagens
• 4 Panzerbefehlswagens

All the tanks in 5. Panzer-Regiment were still painted dark grey (RAL 7021 dunkelgrau) and carried the 3. Panzerdivision's divisional emblem (inverted Y with two strikes)