As the number of German troops committed to the North African Campaign of World War II grew from the initial commitment of a small corps, the Germans developed a more elaborate command structure and placed the enlarged Afrika Korps, with Italian units under this new Italian and German command and a succession of commands were created to manage Axis forces in Africa: Panzer Group Africa, August 1941 – January 1942; German-Italian force Panzer Army Africa, January–October 1942 German-Italian Panzer Army, October 1942 – February 1943 Army Group Africa, February–May 1943. Wikipedia