The 164th Infantry Division (german: 164. Infanterie-Division) was an

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

division of the

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Formed in November 1939, the division took part in the invasion of Greece in April 1941. In January 1942, consolidating the Axis seizure of the island during the

Battle of Crete The Battle of Crete (german: Luftlandeschlacht um Kreta, el, Μάχη της Κρήτης), codenamed Operation Mercury (german: Unternehmen Merkur), was a major Axis airborne and amphibious operation during World War II to capture the island ...

, the 164th was reorganized as Fortress Division Kreta (FDK). In mid-1942 the division was transferred to North Africa and re-designated as 164th Light Afrika Division (german: Leichte Afrika Division). It surrendered in May 1943 in Tunisia at the end of the North African Campaign.

Operational history

The 164th Infantry Division was formed on 27 November 1939 with ''Oberst'' Konrad Haase as its commander. Stationed at

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

Wehrkreis IV The military districts, also known in some English-language publications by their German name as Wehrkreise (singular: ''Wehrkreis''), were administrative territorial units in Nazi Germany before and during World War II. The task of military distr ...

, by January 1940, it included three infantry regiments and Haase had been promoted to ''

generalmajor is the Germanic variant of major general, used in a number of Central and Northern European countries. Austria Belgium Denmark is the second lowest general officer rank in the Royal Danish Army and Royal Danish Air Force. As a two-star ...

'' on 1 January 1940. It was held in reserve during the

Battle of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...

and was later involved in the invasion of Greece in April 1941. After the end of the campaign, it was stationed in Salonika on occupation duty. During this time, one of its infantry regiments was detached to serve on the Greek island of

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...

. In early 1942, the division was moved to the island of

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

and organised as Fortress Division Kreta. Reinforced with the experienced 125th Infantry Regiment, it remained here until mid-1942 at which time it was transferred to North Africa to serve with the '' Panzer Armee Afrika''. It was now designated as the 164th Light Afrika Division; each of its regiments only had two battalions. The division fought at

El Alamein El Alamein ( ar, العلمين, translit=al-ʿAlamayn, lit=the two flags, ) is a town in the northern Matrouh Governorate of Egypt. Located on the Arab's Gulf, Mediterranean Sea, it lies west of Alexandria and northwest of Cairo. , it had ...

and performed well. During the battle, one of its regiments was instrumental in preventing the capture of the headquarters of ''Panzer Armee Afrika'' by advancing Allied infantry. Along with the remainder of the Axis forces, the division gradually retreated into

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

. It spent the final stages of the campaign in Tunisia fighting against Free French troops as part of the

1st Italian Army The 1st Army ( it, 1ª Armata) was an Royal Italian Army field army, in World War I, facing Austro-Hungarian and German forces, and in World War II, fighting on the North African front. World War I During World War I, the 1st Army bore the re ...

. Liebenstein, the division's final commander, surrendered to Lieutenant General

Bernard Freyberg Lieutenant-General Bernard Cyril Freyberg, 1st Baron Freyberg, (21 March 1889 – 4 July 1963) was a British-born New Zealand soldier and Victoria Cross recipient, who served as the 7th Governor-General of New Zealand from 1946 to 1952. Freyb ...

, commander of the

2nd New Zealand Division The 2nd New Zealand Division, initially the New Zealand Division, was an infantry Division (military), division of the New Zealand Army, New Zealand Military Forces (New Zealand's army) during the World War II, Second World War. The division was ...

Commanding officers

The following officers commanded the 164th Infantry Division during the course of World War II: *''Generalmajor'' Konrad Haase, 1 December 1939 – 9 January 1940; *''Generalleutnant''

Josef Folttmann Josef may refer to *Josef (given name) *Josef (surname) * ''Josef'' (film), a 2011 Croatian war film *Musik Josef Musik Josef is a Japanese manufacturer of musical instruments. It was founded by Yukio Nakamura, and is the only company in Japan spe ...

, 10 January 1940 – 9 August 1942; *''Generalmajor'' Carl-Hans Lungershausen, 10 August – 30 November 1942; 30 December 1942 – 14 January 1943; *''Oberst''

Siegfried Westphal __NOTOC__ Siegfried Carl Theodor Westphal (18 March 1902 – 2 July 1982) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He served as operations officer under Rommel and chief of staff under Kesselring and Rundstedt. He was a recipi ...

, 1–29 December 1942; *''Generalmajor'' Kurt Freiherr von Liebenstein, 15 – 16 January 1943; 13 March – 12 May 1943; *''Oberst'' Becker, 16 January – 16 February 1943; *''Generalmajor'' Fritz Krause, 17 February – 12 March 1943.

Notes

;Footnotes ;Citations

References

* * * German units in Africa Military units and formations established in 1939 Crete in World War II Infantry divisions of Germany during World War II Military units and formations disestablished in 1943 1942 establishments in Germany {{Germany-WWII-stub

Operational history

Commanding officers

See also

Notes

References