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 mar ...

division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

of the German Army 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 opposing ...

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

Axis An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to: Mathematics * Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis * Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinat ...

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 ...

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'' on 1 January 1940. It was held in reserve during the Battle of France 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 S ...

. 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 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 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. Liebenstein, the division's final commander, surrendered to Lieutenant General Bernard Freyberg, commander of the 2nd New Zealand Division.

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, 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