The Wallonien
Author: Richard Landwehr
Publisher: Merriam Press
Published: 1997
Total Pages: 120
ISBN-13: 1576380882
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The Crusade of a Walloon Volunteer: August 8, 1941 - May 5, 1945
Author: Gerry Villani
Publisher: Lulu.com
Published: 2019-02-06
Total Pages: 234
ISBN-13: 0359412041
DOWNLOAD EBOOKRaymond was born on October 13, 1922 in Dampremy (province of Hainaut, Belgium). During the turbulent times of the occupation in Belgium he joined the "Legion Wallonie" on August 8, 1941 at the same time as his father Marcel and Rexist leader Leon Degrelle. He was initially attached to the 1st Platoon, 1st Company as a MG gunner. During his 4 years on the eastern front he participated in many major battles like, but not limited to Gromovayabalka or the "Valley of Thunder", the Caucasus and Cherkasy. Wounded several times during combat he saw many of his good friends die during these terrible battles but he would always return to the front lines since his fate was already sealed as a volunteer of the Waffen SS. He climbed up the ranks from private to officer of the Waffen SS and after his graduation as an officer in March 1945 he returned to the front and joined "Kampfgruppe Derriks." On May 5, 1945 he was captured by the Americans and later convicted for treason by the Belgian authorities
The Axis Forces 11
Author: Massimiliano Afiero
Publisher: Soldiershop Publishing
Published: 2019-08-22
Total Pages: 68
ISBN-13: 8893275007
DOWNLOAD EBOOKWe begin with with the article by P. Crippa, about the tanks of Mussolini, the armored division wanted by the Duce equipped with German vehicles. Following is the biography of Siegfried Brosow, one of the most famous and decorated officers of Waffen SS. We continue with an article about the employment of the Götz von Berlichingen division during the Mortain counteroffensive and another article on the employment of the Kampfgruppe Peiper on the Ukrainian front in 1943. Grégory Bouysse offers us a brief biography of the Walloon officer Henri Derriks. Our ever faithful Charles Trang speaks to us instead of the formation and employment of the 15th SS Latvian division. We close with the story of the Spanish volunteers integrated into the Waffen SS who fought in Berlin in 1945.
Korsun Pocket
Author: Niklas Zetterling
Publisher: Casemate
Published: 2011-03-31
Total Pages: 384
ISBN-13: 1935149849
DOWNLOAD EBOOKDuring the second half of 1943, after the failure at Kursk, GermanyÕs Army Group South fell back from Russia under repeated hammer blows from the Red Army. Under Erich von Manstein, however, the Germans were able to avoid serious defeats, while at the same time fending off HitlerÕs insane orders to hold on to useless territory. Then, in January 1944, a disaster happened. Six divisions of Army Group South became surrounded after sudden attacks by the 1st and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts under command of generals Nikolai Vatutin and Ivan Konev around the village of Korsun (near the larger town of Cherkassy on the Dnieper). The GermansÕ greatest fear was the prospect of another Stalingrad, the catastrophe that had occurred precisely one year before. This time, though, Manstein was in control from the start, and he immediately rearranged his Army Group to rescue his trapped divisions. A major panzer drive got underway, led by General der Panzertruppen Hans Hube, a survivor from Stalingrad pocket, which promptly ran up against several soviet tank armies. Leading the break-in was Franz Baeke with his Tiger and Panther-tanks. Due to both weather and ferocious resistance, the German drive stalled. Ju-52s still flew into KorsunÕs airfield, delivering supplies and taking out wounded, but it soon became apparent that only one option remained for the beleaguered defenders: breakout. Without consulting Hitler, on the night of February 16 Manstein ordered the breakout to begin. Led by the strongest formation within the pocket, SS Wiking, the trapped forces surged out and soon rejoined the surrounding panzer divisions who had been fully engaged in weakening the ring. When dawn broke, the Soviets realized their prey was escaping. Although the Germans within the pocket lost nearly all of their heavy weapons and left many wounded behind, their escape was effected. Stalin, having anticipated another Stalingrad, was left with little but an empty bag, as Army Group SouthÑthis timeÑhad pulled off a rescue. In The Korsun Pocket, Niklas Zetterling, a researcher at the Swedish Defense College since 1995 and Anders Frankson, have provided a highly detailed and often breathtaking account of one of the most dramatic battles of World War II. From grand strategy to soldiersÕ voices on the ground, including expert statistical analysis, the action, and the stakes, of the battle at Korsun are made vividly clear.
Belgian Waffen-SS Legions & Brigades, 1941–1944
Author: Massimiliano Afiero
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2021-05-27
Total Pages: 50
ISBN-13: 1472844297
DOWNLOAD EBOOKFrom the German occupation of Belgium in May 1940, Flemish recruits from northern Belgium – considered by the Nazis to be 'Germanic' – were accepted individually into Waffen-SS units. From Hitler's invasion of the USSR in June 1941, additional recruits from the French-speaking south (Wallonia) were drafted. Both communities formed volunteer 'Legions', to fight (according to Goebbels' propaganda machine) 'for European civilization against the Bolshevik threat'; these were a Flemish Legion in the Waffen-SS and a Walloon Legion in the German Army. Both served on the Russian Front in 1942-43; the Walloon Legion was then also transferred into the Waffen-SS, and the decorated Walloon officer Leon Degrelle became a publicized 'poster boy' for foreign SS volunteers. Both Legions were then redesignated as SS Assault Brigades, and thereafter saw extremely hard fighting in the Ukraine and on the Baltic front. In autumn 1944, their survivors were withdrawn from the front and incorporated into two new understrength SS Divisions, 27. 'Langemarck' and 28. 'Wallonien'. This new account, featuring detailed colour plates of uniform and insignia, recounts the battle history of the French and Flemish-speaking Belgian SS, up to their final transformation into full divisions in the winter of 1944/45.
Voices of the Waffen SS
Author: Gerry Villani
Publisher: Lulu.com
Published: 2019-03-15
Total Pages: 271
ISBN-13: 035949689X
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe Waffen SS were Hitler's elite forces during WWII. They were the forces that were feared by the enemy and praised by their allies. During the Nuremberg Trials, the Waffen SS was condemned as part of a criminal organization, however, the Nuremberg Trials exempted conscripts from that condemnation. On several occasions, the Waffen SS was criticized by Heer commanders for their reckless disregard for casualties while taking or holding objectives, however, the Waffen SS divisions eventually proved themselves as capable soldiers. The poor initial performance was mainly due to the emphasis on political indoctrination rather than proper military training before the war. Despite this, the experience gained from the Polish, French, and Balkan campaigns and the peculiarly egalitarian form of training soon turned Waffen SS units into elite formations. These are the stories of the men that once were part of this elite force, not to glorify the Nazi regime or crimes committed by them, but to give them a voice too.
Hitler's Foreign Executioners
Author: Christopher Hale
Publisher: The History Press
Published: 2011-04-11
Total Pages: 401
ISBN-13: 0752463934
DOWNLOAD EBOOKIn Hitler’s Foreign Executioners, Heinrich Himmler’s secret master plan for Europe is revealed: an SS empire that would have no place for either the Nazi Party or Adolf Hitler. His astonishingly ambitious plan depended on the recruitment of tens of thousands of ‘Germanic’ peoples from every corner of Europe, and even parts of Asia, to build an ‘SS Europa’. This revised and fully updated book, researched in archives all over Europe and using first-hand testimony, exposes Europe’s dirty secret: nearly half a million Europeans and more than a million Soviet citizens enlisted in the armed forces of the Third Reich to fight a deadly crusade against a mythic foe, Jewish Bolshevism. Even today, some apologists claim that these foreign SS volunteers were merely soldiers ‘like any other’ and fought a decent war against Stalin’s Red Army. Historian Christopher Hale demonstrates conclusively that these surprisingly common views are mistaken. By taking part in Himmler’s murderous master plan, these foreign executioners hoped to prove that they were worthy of joining his future ‘SS Europa’. But as the Reich collapsed in 1944, Himmler’s monstrous scheme led to bitter confrontations with Hitler – and to the downfall of the man once known as ‘loyal Heinrich’.
The Waffen-SS (4)
Author: Gordon Williamson
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2012-03-20
Total Pages: 50
ISBN-13: 1780965788
DOWNLOAD EBOOKIn 1944–45 the Waffen-SS formed many nominal 'divisions' from a motley range of sources, whose battlefield value was as varied as their backgrounds. The best were built around existing Western European volunteer regiments; some, raised from Central Europeans and Russians, were strong in numbers but weak in morale; some were of negligible size, scraped together from remnants and trainees; and some were sinister 'anti-partisan' gangs, assembled from the military dregs of the Eastern Front. Illustrated with rare photographs from private collections and meticulous colour artwork, this final title in our sequence details their organisation, uniforms and insignia, and summarises their battle records.
Spanish volunteers in Germany during World War II – Vol. 2
Author: Eduardo Manuel Gil Martínez
Publisher: Soldiershop Publishing
Published: 2024-06-05
Total Pages: 173
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOKDuring World War II, Spain did not participate as a nation, although many Spaniards took part, both on one side and the other. After the Spanish Civil War, Francisco Franco’s regime was morally and materially indebted to Germany and Italy, which led to Spain’s alignment with the Axis. The invasion of the Soviet Union by Axis troops gave the Spanish government the opportunity to meet the demand of many ex-combatants and young people who had not had the opportunity to fight in the Spanish Civil War to continue the struggle against communism that had already begun in the Spanish confrontation. This clamor turned into the Spanish Volunteer Division (DEV), which became known as the Blue Division (DA). Having been recruited as volunteers to fight against the Soviets, they were largely people with strong ideological convictions, which meant that when it came to fighting, they behaved with immeasurable momentum and courage despite the complicated situation they faced on the Soviet Northern Front.
Waffen-SS Dutch, Belgian, and Danish Volunteers
Author: Ian Baxter
Publisher: Pen and Sword Military
Published: 2023-02-22
Total Pages: 162
ISBN-13: 1399087657
DOWNLOAD EBOOK“This book is a treasure trove of inspiration for models, vignettes, and dioramas.” — IPMS/USA Following the German invasion of the Soviet Union, numerous Dutchmen, Belgians and Danes volunteered for the Waffen-SS. The largest division, SS Volunteer Legion Netherlands operated in Yugoslavia and then Northern Russia. It was later re-designated 23rd SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nederland. Fighting alongside the Nederland formation was the SS Volunteer Legion Flanders, manned mainly with Dutch speaking recruits from occupied Belgium. After being disbanded it was later reformed as the SS Assault Brigade Langemarck (SS-Sturmbrigade Langemarck). The SS Volunteer Legion Walloon, recruited from French-speaking volunteers from German occupied Belgium, was sent to Russia and later integrated with the SS Assault Brigade Wallonia (SS-Sturmbrigade Wallonien). Finally some 6,000 Danes served in Free Corps Denmark which went to the Eastern Front in May 1942. Within a year the formation was disbanded into Division Nordland, known as `Regiment 24 Danemark` Drawing on a superb collection of rare and often unpublished photographs, this fine Images of War book describes the fighting history of each formation, notably the 1944 battle of Narva, which was known as the battle of the European SS. As its forces were pushed further back across a scarred and burning wasteland it describes how these Dutch, Belgian and Danish units became cut off in the Kurland Pocket until some were evacuated by sea. The remainder were killed or captured in front of Berlin in April 1945.
