The Free Arabian Legion (; ) was the collective name of several initially Italian and later German units formed from Arab volunteers from the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

, notably

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, and

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Operational history

Origins

At the beginning of April 1941, Iraqi politician Rashid Ali al-Gaylani, along with several more Iraqi officers who were part of the nationalist group

Golden Square Golden Square, in Soho, the City of Westminster, London, is a mainly hardscaped garden square planted with a few mature trees and raised borders in Central London flanked by classical office buildings. Its four approach ways are north and so ...

, overthrew the pro-British regime in the

Kingdom of Iraq The Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq was the Iraqi state located in the Middle East from 1932 to 1958. It was founded on 23 August 1921 as the Kingdom of Iraq, following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the Mesopotamian campaign of the First World W ...

. The new pro-Nazi government sought German and Italian support for an Iraqi revolt against

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

forces in the country. Contact was established with the

Axis powers The Axis powers, originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis and also Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis, was the military coalition which initiated World War II and fought against the Allies of World War II, Allies. Its principal members were Nazi Ge ...

with the help of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem

Amin al-Husseini Mohammed Amin al-Husseini (; 4 July 1974) was a Palestinian Arab nationalist and Muslim leader in Mandatory Palestine. was the scion of the family of Jerusalemite Arab nobles, who trace their origins to the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Hussein ...

, who had been living in Iraq since he had fled imprisonment from

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

shortly before the war. In May 1941, the

Anglo-Iraqi War The Anglo-Iraqi War was a British-led Allies of World War II, Allied military campaign during the Second World War against the Kingdom of Iraq, then ruled by Rashid Ali al-Gaylani who had seized power in the 1941 Iraqi coup d'état with assista ...

began with British forces entering Iraq.

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

had agreed to send

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

squadrons to support Iraq as well as '' Sonderstab F'', a special mission headed by Hellmuth Felmy that intended to support the revolt. By the end of May, the Iraqi forces had been beaten by the British, and al-Husseini and al-Gaylani fled to Iran and then Italy, and later Germany. After the defeat, a number of Arab sympathizers were shipped out of the Middle East through French Syria and ended up in Cape Sounion,

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Units

Hellmuth Felmy had by June been given command of ''Army Group Southern Greece'' and was to continue the raising of the German-Arab units through ''Sonderstab F'', which had now been expanded and "should be the central field office for all issues of the Arab world which affect the Wehrmacht." Consequently, the two units was created. Initially it was decided by Germany and Italy that the actual Free Arabian Legion would only be an Italian unit raised in Italy with the Germans handing over hundreds of Arabs who were in captivity after being captured from Allied military service, but Arab collaborators at the end of May 1942 requested it to be expanded into German service too. The term ''Free Arabian Legion'' became not just the name of any specific unit, but an all-encompassing name for all Arabic units in the German Army.Rolf Stoves: ''Die gepanzerten und motorisierten deutschen Großverbände.'' Podzun-Pallas-Verlag, Friedberg 1986. . Seiten 288–289.

Sonderverband 287

was formed on 4 August 1942, with much help from

and Rashid Ali al-Gaylani and consisted mostly of Iraqi and other Muslims, bolstered by former

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

and other volunteers.Roland Kaltenegger: ''Die deutsche Gebirgstruppe 1935–1945.'' Weltbild Verlag, Augsburg 2000, . The 3rd battalion of Sonderverband 287 was taken from the unit and sent as the ''Deutsche-Arabische Lehr-Abteilung'' to the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

in September 1942. It was part of the Axis offensive into the region and the German plan to seat the Iraqi

government-in-exile A government-in-exile (GiE) is a political group that claims to be the legitimate government of a sovereign state or semi-sovereign state, but is unable to exercise legal power and instead resides in a foreign country. Governments in exile usu ...

there. It was then to use the region as a springboard for conquering Iraq. The plan never came to be and the unit never saw action following heavy German setbacks in late 1942. The unit was sent to the battle in Tunisia via Italy in January 1943. There, the ''Deutsche-Arabische Lehr-Abteilung'' was placed on the southern flank of the Axis army and was used to recruit more local Arabs who formed a second battalion of auxiliaries, which were used for guard duty and as construction troops. At the end of the Tunisian campaign in May 1943, US intelligence and interrogations showed the Sonderverband 287 as containing three battalions: 1st battalion consisting of a tank battalion, 2nd Battalion consisting of French Legionnaires, and 3rd Battalion (in Tunisia) consisting of Arab volunteers. The 3rd battalion had three rifle companies in which only the NCO’s were German, and a “heavy” company which had German personnel only. The unit was in the process of remodeling and changes were being made by moving the Arabs into construction units and retaining only a few for carrying weapons, ammunition, etc. The whole unit was captured along with the rest of all Axis forces in Africa in May 1943. The remaining soldiers of the 3rd battalion, i.e. the ''Deutsche-Arabische Lehr-Abteilung'', who had not been sent to North Africa, were used, together with Muslims from French North Africa, to form the ''German-Arab Battalion 845'' in the summer of 1943. It served in the

Peloponnese The Peloponnese ( ), Peloponnesus ( ; , ) or Morea (; ) is a peninsula and geographic region in Southern Greece, and the southernmost region of the Balkans. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridg ...

region of Greece as part of the 41st Fortress Division from November 1943. It participated in the Greek partisan war, particularly against ELAS. In October 1944, it was withdrawn from Greece to

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, and in early 1945 was strengthened with the addition of Arabs from a unit of Arab volunteers that was disbanded before it was fully formed. It ended the war near

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

as part of the 104th Jäger Division. The 1st and 2nd battalions (which were non-Arab units consisting of Germans and French legionaries respectively) of Sonderverband 287 which had not been part of the ''Deutsche-Arabische Lehr-Abteilung'' were used to replace losses and rebuild ''Grenadier Regiment 92'' together with a light battery and light pioneer company on 2 May 1943, which was then renamed ''Grenadier Regiment 92 (MOT)'' on 5 June 1944. The regiment moved to Yugoslavia to fight against

Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito ( ; , ), was a Yugoslavia, Yugoslav communist revolutionary and politician who served in various positions of national leadership from 1943 unti ...

's National Liberation Army and was part of

Army Group F Army Group F () was a strategic command formation of the Wehrmacht during the Second World War. The commander of Army Group F served also as the ''OB South East, Oberbefehlshaber Südost'' (Commander-in-Chief in the Southeast). Created 12 Augus ...

. The regiment suffered heavy losses in the fighting near Belgrade in October 1944, and what remained of it became part of the

2nd Panzer Army The 2nd Panzer Army () was a German armoured formation during World War II, formed from the 2nd Panzer Group on October 5, 1941. Organisation Panzer Group Guderian () was formed on 5 June 1940 and named after its commander, general Heinz Gude ...

, where it was rebuilt into ''Panzergrenadier Brigade 92'' in January 1945. The whole army capitulated in disarray in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

in May 1945.

References

External links

{{Authority control Far-right politics in Africa Foreign volunteer units of the Wehrmacht Military units and formations established in 1941 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 Military history of Iraq Military history of Syria Arab collaborators with Nazi Germany