90th Light Infantry Division (Germany)
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The 90th Light Infantry Division was created in August 1941 as Division zbV Africa, from units already in Africa under the control of Divisions-Kommando z.b.V. Afrika. And through its five-year existence it was redesignated several times, although always known colloquially as the Africa Division. This is due to the fact that it was the only German combat division to have actually been raised in Africa itself. It fought for the remainder of the North African campaign, finally surrendering to the Allies in Tunisia in May 1943. It was regarded apparently by the 2nd New Zealand Division as their special foe, as the two formations faced each other on several occasions.
As with the other units of the Afrika Korps, replacement units were quickly raised from available troops stationed in Western Europe. As such, the Africa Division was reconstituted as the 90th Panzergrenadier Division in Sardinia during July 1943. Participating in the Sicily fighting before being evacuated to the Italian mainland in September of 1943, the division appeared opposite both the Americans and British as they pushed north. It was then very nearly wiped out in the bitter fighting with the 1st Canadian Infantry Division along the Moro River in late November of 1943. A short time later it was withdrawn into reserve at Frosinone and redesignated 90th Grenadier Division (Motorized). While still rebuilding, it was deployed piecemeal along the front in response to the Allies spring offensive in 1944 to serve as a rearguard while the balance of the German units in southern Italy fell back to the Winter Line. Shifted southeast from the Franco-Italian border in September of 1944, 90th Grenadier was finally listed as destroyed in the fighting south of Bologna. The remainder of its personnel surrendered to the Brazilian Expeditionary Force (FEB) in Italy capitulation in April of 1945.
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[edit] Lineage
- Division zbV Africa (August 1941 November 1941)
- 90th Light Infantry Division (November 1941-March 1942)
- 90th Light Africa Division (March 1942 May 1943)
- 90th Panzergrenadier Division (July 1943- November 1943)
- 90th Grenadier Division (mot.) (November 1943 May 1945)
[edit] Commanders
- Generalmajor "Max Sümmermann" (July 17, 1941 – December 10, 1941: KIA)
- Oberst "Johann Mickl" (December 11, 1941 – December 27, 1941)
- Generalmajor "Richard Veith" (December 28, 1941 – April 28, 1942)
- Generalmajor "Ulrich Kleemann" (April 29, 1942 – June 14, 1942)
- Oberst "Werner Marcks" (June 14, 1942 – June 18, 1942)
- Oberst "Erwin Menny" (June 18, 1942 – June 19, 1942)
- Oberst "Werner Marcks" (June 19, 1942 – June 21, 1942)
- Generalmajor "Ulrich Kleemann" (June 21, 1942 – September 8, 1942)
- Gerneralmajor "Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke" (September 8, 1942 – September 17, 1942)
- Oberst "Hermann Schulte-Hethaus" (September 17, 1942 – September 22, 1942)
- Generalleutnant "Theodor Graf von Sponek" (September 22, 1942 – May 12, 1943)
- Generalleutnant "Carl-Hans Lungershausen" (May 23, 1943 - December 20, 1943)
- Generalleutnat "Ernst-Günther Baade" (December, 1943 - December, 1944)
- General der Panzertruppe "Gerhard von Schwerin" (December, 1944 - ?)
[edit] See also
- Western Desert Campaign, North African Campaign
- Division (military), Military unit
- Wehrmacht, List of German divisions in WWII
[edit] References
- McMahon, Brad (2002). "Afrika Korps History". Retrieved April 4, 2005.
- Pipes, Jason. "90.Panzergrenadier-Division". Retrieved April 4, 2005.
- Wendel, Marcus (2004). "90. Leichte Afrika-Division". Retrieved April 4, 2005.
- Mehner, Kurt (1993). "Die Deutsche Wehrmacht 1939 - 1945". Militair-Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall. Norderstedt, Germany. (no ISBN)
