-PDF Download- Belgian Waffen Ss Legions Brigades 1941 1944 EBOOK

Belgian Waffen-SS Legions & Brigades, 1941–1944

Author: Massimiliano Afiero

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2021-05-27

Total Pages: 50

ISBN-13: 1472844297

From 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 In autumn 1944, their survivors were withdrawn from the front and incorporated into two new understrength SS Divisions, 27.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.

Belgian Waffen-SS Legions & Brigades, 1941–1944

Author: Massimiliano Afiero

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2021-05-27

Total Pages: 50

ISBN-13: 1472844327

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Dutch Waffen-SS Legion & Brigade 1941–44

Author: Massimiliano Afiero

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2020-05-28

Total Pages: 50

ISBN-13: 1472840305

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Goebbels' 1941 propaganda campaign to present Germany's invasion of the USSR as a battle for European civilization against Asian barbarism convinced many men in occupied 'Germanic' European countries, such as Scandinavia and the Low Countries, to volunteer to fight on the Russian Front. One of the strongest national legions of such a kind was raised in the Netherlands, where it was supported by a large pro-Nazi movement led by Anton Mussert. The 3,000-man Netherlands Volunteer Legion fought on the Leningrad front in regimental strength, from the Red Army's winter 1941/42 counter-offensive until April 1943. The survivors were then reinforced to form a 5,500-strong Panzergrenadier Brigade, and after anti-partisan service in Croatia, they returned to Army Group North as part of Steiner's III SS Panzer Korps, fighting in the most arduous battles of 1943–44 until driven back into Pomerania. In the final months of the war the division formed the nucleus of the new 23rd SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division 'Nederland'. In this illustrated study of the Dutch Waffen-SS Legion and Brigade, specialist Massimiliano Afiero explores the full history of this important formation from its establishment in 1941 until it was incorporated into the 'Nederland' Division in 1944. Contemporary photographs and full-colour illustrations support the text and reveal key details including aspects of uniform and insignia.

Norwegian Waffen-SS Legion, 1941–43

Author: Massimiliano Afiero

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2019-03-21

Total Pages: 50

ISBN-13: 1472834380

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Following the Nazi occupation of Norway in 1941, the Waffen-SS began recruiting volunteers to serve in their ranks. Initially formed into small volunteer units, these developed into large divisions by 1943, referred to as 'Legions' in Nazi propaganda. Early volunteers were promised that they would not leave Scandinavia and that they would serve under native Norwegian officers – but after the German invasion of the Soviet Union they were deployed to the Leningrad front alongside Dutch and Latvian units, in the 2nd SS Infantry Brigade. These units combined to form the nucleus of a whole regiment within the new 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division 'Nordland'. Fully illustrated with detailed artwork depicting the uniforms and equipment of the volunteer soldiers, this fascinating study tells the little-known story of the Norwegians who fought with the SS in World War II.

A European Anabasis

Author: Kenneth Estes

Publisher:

Published: 2019-05-15

Total Pages: 210

ISBN-13: 9781911628354

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Kenneth Estes studies the 100,000 West Europeans who fought against Russia as volunteers for the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS. A retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel, Estes shows tremendous knowledge of combat and writes gripping battlefield prose. Two-thirds of the West European volunteers came from Spain and the Netherlands, yet Estes demonstrates wide range and covers also Flemish, Walloon, French, Danish, and Norwegian combat units. Avoiding over-generalization, the author distinguishes carefully among the Danes and Flemings who fought competently with the SS-Wiking Division and later with Nordland, the courageous but poorly-armed Spanish, the ill-trained Dutch and French in Landstorm Nederland and SS-Charlemagne, and the Norwegians who after a first wave of enthusiasm held back altogether. Estes pulverizes the Nazi propaganda notion of a multinational European army defending 'Western civilization' against 'Bolshevism'. He shows that West Europeans, mainly of the urban working classes, volunteered from a mix of motives -adventure-seeking, ideology, hopes of personal advantage or material gain, a desire for better food, or a wish to escape a criminal record at home. He demonstrates that the best-performing foreign legions were trained and led by German officers and formed parts of larger SS units, and also that the Wehrmacht placed little value on foreign formations until its other manpower reserves ran out in 1944-45. This is a landmark work on a subject which has been much written about, but rarely understood or described as perceptively as in the pages of this book.

German Antiguerrilla Operations in the Balkans (1941-1944).

Author: Robert M. Kennedy

Publisher:

Published: 1989

Total Pages: 114

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Joining Hitler's Crusade

Author: David Stahel

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2018

Total Pages: 457

ISBN-13: 1316510344

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

A ground-breaking study that looks at why European nations sent troops to take part in Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union.

Roman Army Units in the Western Provinces (1)

Author: Raffaele D’Amato

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2016-06-16

Total Pages: 52

ISBN-13: 1472815386

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

At its height the Roman Empire stretched across Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, maintained by an army of modest size but great diversity. In popular culture these soldiers are often portrayed in a generic fashion, but continuing research indicates significant variations in Roman armour and equipment not only between different legions and the provincially-raised auxiliary cohorts that made up half of the army, but also between different regions within the empire. With reference to the latest archaeological and documentary evidence Dr D'Amato investigates how Roman Army units in the Western provinces were equipped, exploring the local influences and traditions that caused the variations in attire.

Lions of Flanders

Author: Richard Landwehr

Publisher:

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 182

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

For all too many people the "Eastern Front 1941-45" is synonymous with a struggle between Germans and Russians, ignoring the thousands of non-German Europeans who volunteered to take up arms against the most enduring despotic regime of the twentieth century, risking their lives on the most terrible of its battlefronts. Favored as a "Germanic" people over their Walloon (French-speaking) compatriots in the hybrid Belgian state, the Flemings were permitted to field a volunteer legion, a battalion sized infantry unit, under Waffen-SS auspices for service from early as November 1941 in the Northern section between Leningrad and Novgorod; integrated into the 2nd SS-Infantry Brigade and often fighting alongside the Spaniards of the Blue Division and other Western European volunteers, the Flemings proved themselves in defensive fighting in the first winter, in the final reduction of the Volkhov pocket in June 1942 and in Feb.-March 1943 at the battle of Krasnyi Bor

Last Blood on Pomerania

Author: Tomasz Borowski

Publisher:

Published: 2016-04-11

Total Pages: 200

ISBN-13: 1912174480

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The 28th SS Volunteer Grenadier Division ‘Wallonien’, which mostly consisted of French-speaking citizens of the Kingdom of Belgium – first as part of the Wehrmacht, and later in the ranks of the Waffen SS – fought as one of the national legions against the Red Army on the Eastern Front in February 1942. The Walloons gained fame during the legendary resistance in Cherkassy Pocket, where in early 1944 they lost more than fifty percent of their strength. In the summer of the same year they fought a defensive battle in Estonia in the region of Dorpat, and in February 1945 were directed to Western Pomerania, where until the last days of the war they put up a stubborn resistance to the armies of Stalin. This book, which was originally published in Polish, is based on the unpublished memoirs of participants of these events, and is the first account to describe the Walloons’ participation in the mysterious Pomeranian campaign in such a detailed manner. It tells the tragic story of the Walloon volunteers, who at all costs tried to stop the onrush of the enemy standing at the gates of the Third Reich. The Pomeranian odyssey led by the controversial and infamous Volksführer Leon Degrelle went on for three months, and the trial meant death and courage. Stargard, Altdamm, Neu Rosow – these are locations, that became synonyms for unconditional sacrifice. They are also a symbol of kameradschaft, of a group of tough guys and daredevils, who were determined to stake everything on one throw of the dice. The book is illustrated with unique photographs, known so far only to a small group of people. These are complemented by a special comic created by the French artist Godus and with images made with great attention to detail, which were produced for historical reconstruction, showing silhouettes of the Walloon soldiers. It is worth noting that some of these were made in the same location where the fighting raged in April 1945.