Meanwhile an armoured division had been despatched to North Africa under General Erwin Rommel, one of Hitler’s most enthusiastic supporters. He had taken command of all Axis mobile forces in Libya and on 31 March had begun a lightning offensive which drove the British back to the borders of Egypt inside a fortnight. In the early hours of 6 April German forces, including the Leibstandarte and SS-Division Das Reich had entered Greece and Yugoslavia,
