The 162. (Turkistan) Infanterie-Division was formed on 21 May 1943 from the Armenische Legion, Azerbajdzansche Legion, Georgische Legion, Nordkaukasische Legion, Turkestanische Legion and Wolgatatarische Legion with the staff from 162. Infanterie-Division. It surrendered to the British forces in Austria at the end of the war.

Commanders

Generalmajor Prof. Dr. Oskar Ritter von Niedermayer (13 May 1943 - 21 May 1944)
Generalleutnant Ralph von Heygendorff (21 May 1944 - 8 May 1945)

Operations Officers (Ia)

Oberstleutnant Kurt Busch (15 Nov 1943-25 Apr 1944)
Major Erhard Adler (30 Apr 1944-1945)

Area of operations

Poland (May 1943 - Sep 1943)
Italy & Slovenia (Sep 1943 - May 1945)

Holders of high awards

Holders of the Commendation Certificate of the Commander-in-Chief of the Army (2)
- Le Fort, Peter Baron von, 07.09.1944 (3858), Oberst, Kdr. Art.Rgt. 236
- Steller, Erich, 17.10.1944 (4206), Hauptmann, Chef 2./Inf.Rgt. 314
Holders of the German Cross in Gold (4)
- Bahr, Konrad, 22.12.1944, Major, Art.Rgt. 236
- Dierker, Heinz, 06.01.1945, Rittmeister, Aufkl.Abt. 236
- Heygendorff von, Ralph, 30.04.1945, Generalleutnant, Kdr. 162. (Turk.) Inf.Div. (1)
-- [per Die Generale des Heeres, 1921-1945, Band 5 by Dermot Bradley, et al. – per Scheibert addendum : Heygendorff von, ?,   Generalmajor, OKH, 00.00.1945 ]
- Külken, Horst, 07.12.1944, Hauptmann d.R., 5./Art.Rgt. 236
Holders of the Honor Roll Clasp of the Heer (1)
- Esper, Otto, 27.10.1944, Major, II./Inf.Rgt. 303

Order of battle

Infanterie-Regiment 303
Infanterie-Regiment 314
Infanterie-Regiment 329 (Added in August 1944)
Divisions-Bataillon 162
Artillerie-Regiment 236
Divisionseinheiten 236

Notable members

Oskar von Niedermayer (Famous for his efforts in the First World War to get Afghanistan's support against the British, the "German Lawrence of Arabia")
Nikolaus Graf von Üxküll-Gyllenband (Active in the resistance against Hitler and executed after the failure of the July 20 Plot)

Turkic volunteers during training in France 1943, note sleeve badge with a mosque and the text "Tanri Biz Meneni"

(Courtesy of Bundesarchiv/Wikimedia, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 Germany)

North Caucasian soldiers, note the sleeve badge with three horse heads and the text "Bergkaukasien"

(Courtesy of Bundesarchiv/Wikimedia, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 Germany)

Footnotes

1. Ralph von Heygendorff belongs to a group of soldiers who have "credibly proven" ("glaubhaft nachgewiesen") to have been awarded the decoration. The "Nachauflage" (1992) [addendum/2nd ed.] of the book by Horst Scheibert lists 50 recipients like that. 11 of them have been listed in the new standard work by Patzwall/Scherzer (2001,2003,2007) in the meatime and therefore can be regarded as confirmed. To enable further research, open for final confirmations as well as for rejections/proof of the contrary the status of the remaining 39 soldiers should be regarded as "credibly proven" per Scheibert and therefore this group is listed here for the time being.

Sources used

Christopher Ailsby - Hitler's Renegades: Foreign nationals in the service of the Third Reich
David Littlejohn - Foreign Legions of the Third Reich, vol 4
Georg Tessin - Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht 1933-1945

Reference material on this unit

- None known at this time -