999th Light Africa Division
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| This Division was formed originally from the 999 Afrika Brigade, a unit thatwas formed in 1942 of court-martialed Germans for whom combat duty had beenprescribed as a means of punishment and rehabilitation. All Officers andNCOs were regular German commanders without any sort of criminal record. The brigade was reformed into a division in March of 1943, and was named asthe 999.leicht Afrika-Division. In late March/April of 1943, two regimentsof the 999th were sent to North Africa and fought in Tunisia. While in route toNorth Africa, the divisional commander of the 999th, Kurt Thomas, was killed. Elements of the 999th fought in Tunisia within various Kampfgruppe, as withmany other German units in North Africa at the time. Pichon, Fondouk and”Longstop Hill” were three important places elements of the 999th fought whilein Tunisia. The 999th also took part in heavy defensive fighting for a numberof weeks before the final surrender of the Axis forces in North Africa tothe Allies in May, 1943. The remains of the 999th that were not sent to North Africa were formed intothe 999.Festung-Infanterie-Regiment, a fortress unit, and other portions weresent to Rhodos to become a part of the Sturm-Division “Rhodos” , an occuption unit based on the Axis held island of Rhodos in the Aegean Sea. | ||||
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