999th Light Afrika Division

999th Light Afrika Division
The 999th Light Africa Division (999. leichte Afrika-Division) was a German Army 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as independent battalions or companies, which suffered high losses (in terms of casualties and captured) before being withdrawn.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 Axis-occupied Greece for garrison duties and to conduct "Bandenbekämpfung"; 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 Anti-Fascist Committee for a Free Germany (AKFD). Another notable member of the AKFD was August Landmesser, 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:
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 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-Trupp (Military police) 999
Feldpostamt (Postal) 999
See also
36th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS
Afrika Korps
Division (military), Military unit
Fliegerführer Afrika
North African Campaign
Panzer Army Africa
Strafbattalion - punishment units in the Wehrmacht.
Wehrmacht divisions in World War II
August Landmesser
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 Strafbataillon
Condemned Men – Meet Hitler’s Penal Battalions, 29 July, 2013
Strafbataillon 999, by Heinz G. Konsalik, first published January 1, 1962
999
Penal units
999
Military units and formations established in 1942
Military units and formations disestablished in 1943
German occupation of Greece during World War II