Although Sonderverband 288 only contained a small group of Arab soldiers, the "true" Free Arabian Legion where the Arabic units came from was Sonderverband 287. Note however, that the name Free Arabian Legion was not the name of any specific unit, but an all-encompassing name of all Arabic units in the German Army.[6][7] The unit was formed on 4 August 1942, with much help from Amin al-Husseini and Rashid Ali al-Gaylani and consisted of mostly of Iraqi and Syrian Muslims, bolstered by former prisoner of war and other volunteers.[3]