The 999th Light Africa Division (''999. leichte Afrika-Division'') was a
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 ...
unit formed in
Tunisia in early 1943. The basis of the division was the 999th Africa Brigade (''999. Afrika-Brigade''), formed several months earlier, as a
penal military unit. While all members of Nazi punishment units were labeled "criminals", a significant proportion of the brigade's members had been transferred to it for holding, or being perceived to hold,
anti-Nazi ideas.
The division was not fully-formed when
Axis forces in North Africa began to collapse. Consequently, the elements of the division that fought in Tunisia generally did so as independent battalions or companies, which suffered high losses (in terms of casualties and captured) before being withdrawn. Fighting mostly against
US Army forces, many members of the division reportedly surrendered their positions to the Americans without a fight.
Afterwards, the severely depleted division was sent to
Greece for garrison duties and to conduct "''
Bandenbekämpfung
In German military history, ''Bandenbekämpfung'' (German; ), also Nazi security warfare (during World War II), refers to the concept and military doctrine of countering resistance or insurrection in the rear area during wartime through e ...
''";
a term which, in Nazi usage, was usually a euphemism for anti-partisan campaigns.
During the deployment to Greece, some members of the division commenced (or recommenced) a range of subversive and/or anti-Nazi activities. The most prominent of these was
Falk Harnack, who defected to the Greek resistance and, with other German defectors, formed the
''Antifaschistische Komitee Freies Deutschland'' (AKFD; "Anti-Fascist Committee Free Germany").
[Gottfried Hamacher, Andre Lohmar, Herbert Mayer and Günter Wehner]
''Gegen Hitler: Deutsche in der Resistance, in den Streitkräften der Antihitlerkoalition und der Bewegung "Freies Deutschland"''
Dietz, Berlin (March 2005), p. 76. Another notable member of the AKFD was
August Landmesser
August Landmesser (; 24 May 1910 – 17 October 1944) was a worker at the Blohm+Voss shipyard in Hamburg, Germany. He became known as the possible identity of a man appearing in a 1936 photograph, conspicuously refusing to perform the Nazi salut ...
, who reportedly refused to make the
Nazi salute during his military service and had been depicted in such a protest, in a famous photograph.
Commanders
Commanders were:
[George F. Nafziger – The Afrika Korps: An organizational history 1941–1943]
*
Oberst Heinz Karl von Rinkleff – October 1942 to 2 February 1943 (transferred to Russian front after the surrender at Stalingrad)
*
Generalleutnant – 2 February 1943 to 1 April 1943) (KIA 1 April 1943 when his plane was shot down by
Luftwaffe fighters en route to Tunis.)
*
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 ...
Ernst-Günther Baade – 2 April 1943 to 13 May 1943)
Organization
Order of battle of Afrika-Brigade 999
* Afrika-Schützen-Regiment (Infantry) 961
* Afrika-Schützen-Regiment 962
* Nachrichten-Kompanie (Communications) 999
Order of battle of 999 Afrika Division
* Stab
* Divisions-Kartenstelle (Maps) 999
* Afrika-Schützen-Regiment 961
* Afrika-Schützen-Regiment 962
* Afrika-Schützen-Regiment 963
*
Panzerjäger-Abteilung 999
* Artillerie-Regiment (Artillery) 999
* Pionier-Bataillon (Engineers) 999
* Aufklärungs-Abteilung (Reconnaissance) 999
* Astronomischer Messtrupp (Navigation) 999
* Werkstatt-Kompanie (Laboratory) 999
* Werkstatt-Kompanie 999
* Entgiftungs-Batterie (Detoxification) 999
* Nachschub-Bataillon (Supply) 999
* Schlächterei-Kompanie (Butchers) 999
* Bäckerei-Kompanie (Bakers) 999
* Divisions-Verpflegungsamt (Rations) 999
* Sanitäts-Kompanie (Medical) 999
* Krankenkraftwagen-Zug (Ambulance) 999
* Veterinär-Kompanie (Veterinary) 999
*
Feldgendarmerie
The ''Feldgendarmerie'' (, "field gendarmerie") were a type of military police units of the armies of the Kingdom of Saxony
The Kingdom of Saxony (german: Königreich Sachsen), lasting from 1806 to 1918, was an independent member of a number o ...
-Trupp (
Military police) 999
* Feldpostamt (Postal) 999
See also
*
*
Afrika Korps
*
Division (military)
A division is a large military unit or Formation (military), formation, usually consisting of between 6,000 and 25,000 soldiers.
In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades; in turn, several divisions typically mak ...
,
Military unit
Military organization or military organisation is the structuring of the armed forces of a state so as to offer such military capability as a national defense policy may require. In some countries paramilitary forces are included in a nation' ...
*
Fliegerführer Afrika
''Fliegerführer Afrika'' was part of ''Luftflotte 2'' (Air Fleet 2), one of the primary divisions of the German ''Luftwaffe'' in the Second World War. It operated in the Mediterranean and Libya from 1941–1942. The commanders were Generalmaj ...
*
North African Campaign
*
Panzer Army Africa
*
Strafbattalion
''Strafbataillon'' (English: "penal battalion") is the generic term for penal units that were created from prisoners during the Second World War in all branches of the ''Wehrmacht''. Soldiers, criminals and civilians sentenced to those units wer ...
- punishment units in the
Wehrmacht.
*
Wehrmacht divisions in World War II
References
* Klausch, Hans-Peter (1986)
Die 999er: von der Brigade "Z" zur Afrika-Division 999 : die Bewährungsbataillone und ihr Anteil am antifaschistischen Widerstand. Retrieved December 2, 2015.
*
External links
militaryhistorynow.com StrafbataillonCondemned Men – Meet Hitler’s Penal Battalions, 29 July, 2013
* ''Strafbataillon 999'', by Heinz G. Konsalik
Heinz G. Konsalik, pseudonym of Heinz Günther (28 May 1921 – 2 October 1999) was a German novelist. Konsalik was his mother's maiden name.
During the Second World War he was a war correspondent, which provided many experiences for his nov ...
, first published January 1, 1962
{{Authority control
999
Penal units
999
Military units and formations established in 1942
Military units and formations disestablished in 1943