164th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)

German 164th Infantry Division 164. Infanterie-Division
Active	November 1939 – May 1945
Country	Nazi Germany
Branch	Army
Type	Infantry
Size	Division

The 164th Division was a unit of the Wehrmacht in World War II. It was initially created as the 164th Infantry Division in November 1939 and took part in the invasion of Greece in April 1941. In January 1942, consolidating Axis seizure of the island during the Battle of Crete, the 164th was reorganized as Fortress Division Kreta (FDK). In August 1942 the division was split to form the smaller Fortress Brigade Kreta and the 164th Light Afrika Division (German language: Leichte Afrika Division), with the former remaining in Crete and the latter sent to North Africa.

The 164th Light Afrika Division fought at El Alamein and took heavy casualties in the westward retreat. It was sent to Tripoli for rehabilitation, but the necessary resources were not available, so it was sent to Tunisia to build fortifications. It was almost entirely destroyed there, and the remnants were lost in general Axis surrender in May.

Commanding officers

164th infantry division

• Generalleutnant Konrad Haase, 1 December 1939 – 10 January 1940
• Generalleutnant Josef Folttmann, 10 January 1940 – 1 January 1942

164th light infantry division

• Generalleutnant Josef Folttmann, 18 July 1942 – 10 August 1942
• Generalleutnant Carl-Hans Lungershausen, 10 August 1942 – 15 January 1943
• Generalmajor Kurt Freiherr von Liebenstein, 15 January 1943 – 12 May 1943

See also

• Fortress Crete
• Western Desert Campaign, North African Campaign
• Division (military), Military unit
• Wehrmacht, List of German divisions in World War II

References

Note: The Web references may require you to follow links to cover the unit's entire history.

• Wendel, Marcus (2004). "164. Infanterie-Division". Retrieved April 4, 2005.
• "164. Leichte Afrika Division ". Retrieved March 10, 2011.
• "164. Infanterie-Division". German language article at www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de. Retrieved April 4, 2005.
• German language article on 164th Afrika division