The 164th Infantry Division was formed on 27 November 1939 with
Oberst Konrad Haase as its commander. Stationed at
Dresden,
Wehrkreis IV, by January 1940, it included three infantry regiments and Haase had been promoted to
generalmajor on 1 January 1940. It was held in reserve during the
Battle of France and was later involved in the
invasion of Greece in April 1941. After the end of the campaign, it was stationed in Salonika on occupation duty. During this time, one of its infantry regiments was detached to serve on the Greek island of
Rhodes. In early 1942, the division was moved to the island of
Crete and organised as Fortress Division Kreta. Reinforced with the experienced 125th Infantry Regiment, it remained here until mid-1942 at which time it was transferred to North Africa to serve with the
Panzer Armee Afrika. It was now designated as the 164th Light Afrika Division; each of its regiments only had two battalions. The division fought at
El Alamein and performed well. During the battle, one of its regiments was instrumental in preventing the capture of the headquarters of
Panzer Armee Afrika by advancing Allied infantry. Along with the remainder of the Axis forces, the division gradually retreated into
Tunisia. It spent the final stages of the campaign in Tunisia fighting against Free French troops as part of the
1st Italian Army. Liebenstein, the division's final commander, surrendered to Lieutenant General
Bernard Freyberg, commander of the
2nd New Zealand Division. ==Commanding officers==