Rommel and Captured AEC "Max" and "Moritz" Armoured Command Vehicle

General der Panzertruppe Erwin Rommel (Kommandierender General Deutsches Afrikakorps) sitting in the rooftop of "Max", a captured AEC Armoured command vehicle captured from the British. With his is unknown Italian officer. Standing in waiting beside "Max" is Rommel's adjutant, Hauptmann Hans-Joachim Schraepler. The picture was possibly taken in the summer of 1941.

Shortly after his arrival in North Africa, Erwin Rommel had quick successes and by April 1941 its Afrikakorps capturing many British and allied vehicles along the way, especially trucks, which he sorely needed for his advance. Aufklärungs-Abteilung 3, for example, managed to captured at Mechili two British generals and three AEC Armoured Command Vehicles: Lieutenant-General Philip Neame (8th Army Cmmander) and his assistant commander, Lieutenant-General Richard O'Connor, plus Major-General Michael Gambier-Parry, commander of 2nd Armoured.Division. Although the capture was a formidable propaganda coup for the Germans, for Rommel, the capture of Both vehicle was welcome as they were spacious, comfortable, had good radios and were well tailored for off-roads conditions in North Africa. Former O'Connor's vehicle (L4426425) was named "Max", and "Moritz" was given to Generalleutnant Ludwig Crüwell's vehicle, Generalmajor Johannes Streich using a third one. Rommel's "Max" was disabled in September 1941 and abandoned, Rommel returning to his Opel Blitz Bus.

AEC Armoured Command Vehicle itself was a series of command vehicles built by the British Associated Equipment Company. During the Second World War, the United Kingdom was the only country to develop and widely employ purpose-built armoured command vehicles. Those were essentially armoured buses based on truck chassis.

The most common ACV of the British Army was the AEC 4x4 ACV. The vehicle, based on AEC Matador chassis, entered production in 1941. A total of about 415 units were built. The vehicle was used for the first time in the North African Campaign and remained in service until the end of the war. Big and comfortable, it was nicknamed Dorchester by the troops, after the luxury hotel in London. Three ACVs of this type were captured by the German Afrika Korps. Two of them, named "Max" and "Moritz", were employed by Rommel and his staff throughout the campaign.

Source :
Jim Haley photo collectio
https://www.o5m6.de/wehrmacht/wm_na_romcars.phpn
https://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/gb/AEC-4x4-ACV-Dorchester.php