 On 8 February, the 11th Hussars patrolled westwards without air cover to the area east of Sirte, lifting prisoners and equipment and finding no organised Italian defences.The first troops of the (DAK), landed in Tripolitania on 11 February, as part of "Unternehmen Sonnenblume" (Operation Sunflower).With the arrival of the DAK ("Generalleutnant" Erwin Rommel) the Axis rout ended and the British faced a better-equipped and led opponent, during a period of temporary weakness.