Published: 08 January 2012Last Updated: 05 May 2013
The Deutsche-Arabische Bataillon Nr 845 was formed in May 1943 at the Döllersheim training camp near Linz, Austria, and included men from the Deutsche-Arabische Lehr Abteilung that had not been sent to North Africa.
In November 1943 it was sent to the Pelopenesus region in Greece where it was attached to 41. Festungs-Division and was used against the Greece ELAS partisans with good results. In October 1944 it was withdrawn from Greece into Yugoslavia, early 1945 it was strengthened by the addition of Arabs from a battalion of Arab volunteers that was disbanded before it was fully formed.
It ended the war near Zagreb, attached to 104. Jäger-Division.
Arab soldier in Greece late 1943, note “Legion Freies Arabien” sleeve shield
(Courtesy of Bundesarchiv/Wikimedia, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 Germany)
Arab soldiers in Greece late 1943
(Courtesy of Bundesarchiv/Wikimedia, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 Germany)
Sources used
Christopher Ailsby – Hitler’s Renegades: Foreign nationals in the service of the Third Reich
Steve Kane – Waffen-SS Forces in the Balkans: A checklist (in World War II Journal, Vol 7)
Antonio J Munoz – Lions of the desert
Antonio J. Munoz – The East came West: Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist Volunteers in the German Armed Forces 1941-1945
Reference material on this unit
N. Hidayat – Brigade Arab Hitler (Jakarta: Nilia Pustaka, 2009)
Antonio J Munoz – Lions of the desert
Antonio J. Munoz – The East came West: Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist Volunteers in the German Armed Forces 1941-1945
