Published: 07 January 2012
Last Updated: 08 June 2013
The Deutsche-Arabische Lehr Abteilung was formed in July 1941 in Sonium, Greece, by Sonderstab F and was made up of Arab volunteers, mainly former POWs from the British and French armies.
The unit suffered from the power struggle between Hadji Muhammed Amin Al-Hussein, the Mufti of Jerusalem, and Rashid Ai Al-Gailani, ex-Prime Minister of Iraq, that was waged over the Arabs in the unit. It became part of Sonderverband 287 in 1942.
It was sent to the Caucasus region in September 1942 for the planned invasion of the Arab lands, there it saw action against the Red Army before being sent to Palermo, Italy, in November. It was sent to Tunisia, January 1943, where it was used to recruit Arabs for auxiliary units to be used either for guard duty or as construction troops. These units were equipped with Vichy French uniforms and rifles.
It was captured along with the rest of the Axis forces in Africa in May 1943.
The elements not sent to North Africa was used to form Deutsche-Arabische Bataillon Nr 845.
Sources used
Christopher Ailsby – Hitler’s Renegades: Foreign nationals in the service of the Third Reich
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
