Kalmucken Kavallerie Korps
Da Wikipedia, l'enciclopedia libera.
| "Kalmucken Kavallerie Korps" | |
|---|---|
Simbolo del Corpo d'Armata della
Kalmucken Kavallerie Korps" | |
| Descrizione generale | |
| Attiva | autunno 1942-8 maggio 1945 |
| Nazione | .svg){kind=small} GermaniaCalmucchia |
| Alleanza | Potenze dell'Asse |
| Servizio | Waffen SS |
| Tipo | reparto di cavalleria e fanteria |
| Dimensione | Corpo d'armata |
| Guarnigione/QG | 3.438 alla metà del 1944 |
| Battaglie/guerre | Fronte orientale (1942-1945) |
| Comandanti | |
| Comandanti degni di nota | Helmuth von Pannwitz Othmar Rudolf Wrba |
| Voci di unità militari presenti su Wikipedia | |
Il Kalmucken Kavallerie Korps (Corpo di Cavalleria Calmucca), indicato anche come KKK, fu un'unità delle Waffen SS che operò sul fronte orientale nel corso della seconda guerra mondiale.
Indice[nascondi] |
Kalmucken Kavallerie Korps [modifica]
La prima unità calmucca ufficialmente fu il Abwehrtruppe 103, formata nell'autunno del 1942 come formazione di pattuglia e controllo, con funzioni di sicurezza alle dipendenze della 6ª Armata della Wehrmacht.
Storia [modifica]
A settembre il comandante della 16ª divisione motorizzata della Wehrmacht dava il suo benestare alla formazione di due squadroni di cavalleria calmucca per operare lungo le linee della suddetta divisione.
Nell'estate seguente furono create sette altre unità calmucche, conosciute poi come Kalmucken Verband Dr. Doll.
Poi per l'aumentare degli effettivi verrà creata una Kalmucken Legion e infine diventerà il Kalmucken Kavallerie Korps (KKK).
Nell'agosto del 1943 il KKK aveva ben 24 squadroni di cavalleria, suddivisa in 4 abteilungen.
Comandanti [modifica]
| Grado | Nome | Inizio | Fine |
| Sonderführer | Othmar Rudolf Wrba | ? Ottobre 1942 | ? Luglio 1944 |
| Oberstleutnant | Pipgorra | ? Agosto 1944 | ? Dicembre 1944 |
| Oberst | Raimund Hoerst | ? Gennaio 1945 | ? Maggio 1945 |
Struttura del Kalmucken Kavallerie Korps [modifica]
| 1.Quartier Generale del KKK | 2. I Abteilung | 3.II Abteilung | 4.III Abteilung | 5.IV Abteilung | 6.VI Abteilung (dietro le linee nemiche) |
| 2.1. 1º squadrone | 3.1. 5º squadrone | 4.1. 3º squadrone | 5.1. 2º squadrone | 6.1. 9º squadrone | |
| 2.2. 4º squadrone | 3.2. 6º squadrone | 4.2. 14º squadrone | 5.2. 13º squadrone | 6.2. 10º squadrone | |
| 2.3. 7º squadrone | 3.3. 12º squadrone | 4.3. 17º squadrone | 5.3. 19º squadrone | 6.3. 11º squadrone | |
| 2.4. 8º squadrone | 3.4. 20º squadrone | 4.4. 21º squadrone | 5.4. 22º squadrone | 6.4. 15º squadrone | |
| 2.5. 18º squadrone | 3.5. 23º squadrone | 4.5. 25º squadrone | 5.5. 24º squadrone | 6.5. 16º squadrone |
Forza operativa del "Kalmucken Kavallerie Korps" [modifica]
| organizzazione del "Kalmucken Kavallerie Korps" |
| Al 23 Maggio 1943 il "Kalmucken Kavallerie Korps" aveva in dotazione: |
| 67 kalmückischen Offizieren |
| 3165 Unteroffizieren und Mannschaften |
| Al 6 luglio 1944 il "Kalmucken Kavallerie Korps" aveva in dotazione: |
| 147 kalmückische Offiziere, |
| 374 Unteroffiziere |
| 2917 Mannschaften. |
Bibliografia [modifica]
- Carlos Caballero Jurado, Kevin Lyles. Foreign Volunteers of the Wehrmacht 1941-45 (Man at Arms Series 147), Botley (Oxford): Osprey Publishing, 1983, pp. 20-21. ISBN 0-85045-524-3
Voci correlate [modifica]
==================================================================Bretonische Waffenverband der SS Bezzen Perrot
Da Wikipedia, l'enciclopedia libera.
| "Bretonische Waffenverband der SS Bezzen Perrot" | |
|---|---|
 
Simboli del Corpo di Volontari bretoni della
"Bretonische Waffenverband der SS Bezzen Perrot" | |
| Descrizione generale | |
| Attiva | 1941-8 maggio 1945 |
| Nazione | Germania Bretagna |
| Alleanza | Potenze dell'Asse |
| Servizio | Waffen SS |
| Tipo | reparto varie specialità |
| Dimensione | Corpo volontario militare |
| Battaglie/guerre | Battaglie sul Fronte Occidentale e contro i partigiani francesi (1941-1945) |
| Comandanti | |
| Comandanti degni di nota | * SS-Untersturmführer Célestin Lainé – 1° comandante dell'unità, morto nel 1983 * SS-Untersturmführer Wild (Alsaziano) – 2° comandante dell'unità * SS-Hauptsturmführer Hans Grimm alias Lecomte (Alsaziano) – Comandante nominale dell'unità |
| Simboli | |
| Simbolo |  |
| Voci di unità militari presenti su Wikipedia | |
Dopo la Prima guerra mondiale nasceva il movimento nazionalista e indipendentista Bretone o Parti National Breton (PNB) che voleva l'indipendenza dalla Francia.
Le Parti national breton (PNB, "Strollad Broadel Breizh" in bretone) fu un partito politico nazionalista bretone che fa attivo dal 1931 al 1944.
Le autorità germaniche d'occupazione subito ne approfittarono, nonostante le pesanti proteste del governo francese di Vichy.
Indice[nascondi] |
Creazione del Reparto [modifica]
Così con l'aiuto del locale sezione della Sipo-SD, veniva creato il "Bezen Perrot" o "Unità Perrot".
L'unità forte di 70 uomini, veniva ridesignato "Bretonische Waffenverband der SS Bezzen Perrot"; portavano tutti l'uniforme con distintivi delle SS.
Struttura operativa [modifica]
Ogni sezione era divisa in 4 gruppi, ognuna comandata da un sergente o "Kentour".
Ogni gruppo aveva 4 o 5 uomini o "gour".
- Il 1º gruppo di ogni sezione era chiamato "Shock Group".
- Il 2º gruppo di ogni sezione era chiamato "Protection Group".
- Il 3º e il 4º gruppo di ogni sezione era chiamato "Reinforcement Group".
- La 1ª sezione era comanadata dal tenente Léon Jasson "Govez".
- Il 1º gruppo della 1ª sezione era denominato "Lealded".
- Il 2º gruppo della 1ª sezione era denominato "Mac Bride".
- Il 3º gruppo della 1ª sezione era denominato "Ambigateus".
- Il 4º gruppo della 1ª sezione era denominato "Gradlon".
- La 2ª sezione era comanadata dal tenente Alan Heussaf "Rovat" / "Professeur".
- Il 1º gruppo della 2ª sezione era denominato "Dahut".
- Il 2º gruppo della 2ª sezione era denominato "Cadoudal".
- Il 3º gruppo della 2ª sezione era denominato "Budoc".
- Il 4º gruppo della 2ª sezione era denominato "Dixmude".
Impiego del reparto [modifica]
Furono impiegati soprattutto contro i partigiani Maquis, poi nell'agosto del 1944 alcuni degli appartenenti a tale unità delle SS si ritirarono nell'area di Tubinga. Mentre altri entrarono nella divisione delle SS francesi, la 33. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS Charlemagne.Con la fine della guerra, alcuni di loro trovarono rifugio in Irlanda, mentre altri rimasero in Germania.
Bibliografia [modifica]
- Zaffiri Gabriele, Ahnenerbe, l'Accademia delle scienze delle SS, Nicola Calabria Editore, Patti (ME), 2004 ISBN 978-8888-010458-101
Voci correlate [modifica]
=======================================================================Domobranci
Da Wikipedia, l'enciclopedia libera.
| Slovensko Domobranstvo | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Descrizione generale | |
| Attiva | 1943-1945 |
| Nazione | .svg){kind=small} Provincia di Lubiana |
| Alleanza | Germania |
| Guerra contro la |  NOVJ |
| Dimensione | 13.000 circa |
| Dipendente da | |
| Comandanti | |
| Comandante | Leon Rupnik |
| Voci di unità militari presenti su Wikipedia | |
Domobranci (spesso scritto su molteplici fonti seguendo la pronuncia fonetica italiana della parola slovena, anche come: Domobranzi) fu la denominazione collettiva degli appartenenti alla Slovensko domobranstvo (Guardia territoriale slovena), formazione collaborazionista anticomunista di miliziani prevalentemente volontari, costituitasi in Slovenia nel settembre 1943, per contrastare l'Esercito popolare di liberazione della Jugoslavia[1]. Operò insieme alle truppe naziste, da cui fu equipaggiata con le armi sequestrate agli italiani dall'esercito tedesco dopo l'armistizio del 1943 e addestrata dalle SS tedesche. Arrivò a contare fino a 13.000 membri[2].
I domobranci inizialmente ebbero solo un ruolo di sostegno all'azione delle truppe tedesche ma durante il conflitto assunsero sempre maggiore autonomia. Il comandante della milizia fu Leon Rupnik, ex-generale dell'esercito jugoslavo.
Alla fine della seconda guerra mondiale buona parte dei domobranci, confinati dal Quinto Corpo dell'Ottava armata britannica assieme a numerosi civili al loro seguito a Viktring, nei pressi di Klagenfurt, furono rimpatriati forzosamente e consegnati all'Esercito popolare di liberazione della Jugoslavia alla fine del maggio 1945. Nelle settimane successive vennero in gran maggioranza uccisi in esecuzioni sommarie di massa e i loro corpi occultati in cavità carsiche, fosse comuni, miniere e cave dell'odierna Slovenia, come a Kočevski rog, dove le vittime vengono stimate in 14.000.[3]
Note [modifica]
- ^ Matjaž Klemenčič, Yugoslav Nations During World War II in The Former Yugoslavia's Diverse Peoples: A Reference Sourcebook, ABC Clio, 2004, pp. 168. ISBN 978-1-57607-294-3
- ^ Gregor Joseph Kranjc, Propaganda and the Partisan War in Ljubljana 1943–45 in War in a Twilight World: Partisan and Anti-Partisan Warfare in Eastern Europe, 1939–45, Palgrave Macmillan, 2010. ISBN 978–0–230–57569–1
- ^ Peter Jambrek. Crimes committed by totalitarian regimes : reports and proceedings of the 8 April European Public Hearing on Crimes Committed by Totalitarian Regimes, capitolo 3 pag.159. 2008
Bibliografia [modifica]
- John Corsellis; Marcus Ferrar, Slovenia 1945, Libreria Editrice Goriziana [2005], 2008.
Voci correlate [modifica]
=========================================================================Serbisches SS-Freiwilligen Korps
Da Wikipedia, l'enciclopedia libera.
| "Serbisches SS-Freiwilligen Korps" "Srpski Dobrovoljacki Korpus" (SDK) | |
|---|---|
| Descrizione generale | |
| Attiva | 15 settembre 1941-8 maggio 1945 |
| Nazione | Germania.svg){kind=small} Serbia |
| Alleanza | Potenze dell'Asse |
| Servizio | Waffen SS |
| Tipo | reparto di cavalleria e fanteria |
| Dimensione | Corpo d'Armata militare |
| Guarnigione/QG | 9.886 |
| Battaglie/guerre | Guerra di Liberazione Popolare |
| Comandanti | |
| Comandanti degni di nota | Generale Konstantin Musicki |
| Voci di unità militari presenti su Wikipedia | |
Il Serbisches SS-Freiwilligen Korps (Corpo di Volontari Serbi delle SS) venne formato in Serbia il 15 settembre 1941, quando Dimitrije Ljotić aggregò una minoritaria parte dei volontari Cetnici con gli attivisti di ZBOR, il Movimento Nazionale Jugoslavo (Jugoslovenski Narodni Pokret), fondato il 5 gennaio 1935 dallo stesso Liotic.
Indice[nascondi] |
Storia dell'unità [modifica]
Inizialmente era formato da 12 distaccamenti da 120-150 uomini ognuno. Nel gennaio 1943 divenne Srpski Dobrovoljacki Korpus (SDK) con 5 battaglioni da 500 uomini ognuno, tra cui un battaglione d'assalto. Subito si aggiunsero: un battaglione blindato, uno squadrone cavalleria e 6 aerei, portando l'unità a un totale di 3.000 uomini.
Il battaglione blindati aveva in dotazione 20 veicoli di differente tipologia, di fabbricazione francese e ceca, più qualche vecchio tipo di origine austro-tedesca. Tra i sei aerei si potevano invece conteggiare 2 apparecchi francesi tipo Breguet-XIX e un Fieseler Storch. Fino ad arrivare al 21 agosto 1944 quando il "Serbisches SS-Freiwilligen Korps" poteva contare su un organico di ben 9.886 uomini.
Dislocazione dell'unità [modifica]
Il Quartier Generale era a Belgrado; il primo reggimento era di stanza a Valjevo, il secondo a Kragujevac, il terzo a Sabac, il quarto a Smederevo e infine il quinto reggimento era di stanza a Kruševac.
L'8 ottobre 1944 da Belgrado si sposterà nello Srem, poi in Slovenia. Nel novembre del 1944 entrava ufficialmente a far parte delle Waffen-SS, anche se non indosseranno mai le uniformi tedesche, ma solo quelle italiane o jugoslave, e non avranno mai i gradi tipici delle SS sui colletti delle giubbe.
Cambio nome dell' unità [modifica]
La denominazione finale del "Srpski dobrovoljački korpus" sarà "Šumadijska divizija (Division Šumadija)". La denominazione verrà cambiata tra la fine dell' aprile e l'inizio del maggio 1945.
Dopo aver attrasversato Soča, il "Serbisches SS-Freiwilligen Korps" cambierà così nome in "Šumadijska divizija". *
Fonti [modifica]
- Boško N.Kostić, "Za istoriju naših dana" pag. 261
Organigramma del Serbisches SS-Freiwilligen Korps al 15 agosto 1944 [modifica]
* Staff ** comandante Generale Konstantin Musicki ** Staff company ** plotone telefoni ** compagnia medica ** colonna rifornimenti leggeri ** compagnia addestramento ** banda del Corpo * 1º reggimento di fanteria ** staff reggiemntale ** plotone trasmissioni ** banda reggimento ** compagnia rifornimenti ** 1º battaglione su 4 compagnie ** 2º battaglione su 4 compagnie ** 3º battaglione su 4 compagnie * 2º reggimento di fanteria (stesso organigramma del 1° regg.) * 3º reggimento di fanteria (stesso roganigramma del 1° regg.) * 4º reggimento di fanteria (stesso organigramma del 1° regg.) * 5º reggimento di fanteria (stesso organigramma del 1° regg.)
Voci correlate [modifica]
========================================================================33. Waffen-Kavallerie-Division der SS
Da Wikipedia, l'enciclopedia libera.
| 33. Waffen-Kavallerie-Division der SS | |
|---|---|
 
Simbolo divisionale della
33. Waffen-Kavallerie-Division der SS e anche Simbolo delle croci frecciate o "Parteisymbol der Pfeilkreuzler" | |
| Descrizione generale | |
| Attiva | novembre del 1944-gennaio 1945 |
| Nazione | Germania Ungheria |
| Alleanza | Potenze dell'Asse |
| Servizio | Waffen SS |
| Tipo | reparto di cavalleria |
| Dimensione | divisione |
| Battaglie/guerre | Battaglia di Budapest |
| Comandanti | |
| Comandanti degni di nota | * SS-Oberführer László Deák |
| Voci di unità militari presenti su Wikipedia | |
Il "33. Waffen-Kavallerie-Division der SS" (3 Ungherese) fu formata da volontari ungheresi nel dicembre 1944.
Insieme alla "26. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS" (2^ Ungherese) fu distrutta nella battaglia di Budapest. [1][2]
Il numero 33 verrà poi assegnata alla divisione SS di volontari francesi Charlemagne. [1]
Comandante [modifica]
- SS-Oberführer László Deák (27 dicembre 1944 - 23 gennaio 1945
Note [modifica]
- ^ a b German Order of Battle", Volume 3, di Samuel W. Jr Mitcham, p.189
- ^ Waffen-SS", edito da Ray Merriam., p.19
Bibliografia [modifica]
- Krisztián Ungváry, Die Schlacht um Budapest 1944/45. Stalingrad an der Donau, F.A. Herbig Verlagsbuchhandlung GmbH, München 1999, ISBN 3-776-62120-6.
- Gosztony Peter, Der Kampf um Budapest 1944/45. In: Wehrwissenschaftliche Rundschau, 14.Jahrg. (Frankfurt/Main1964)
Turkistanische Legion
Da Wikipedia, l'enciclopedia libera.
La Legione Turkestana (in tedesco: Turkistanische Legion) era un'unità militare composta di popoli turchi che hanno combattuto nella Wehrmacht durante la seconda guerra mondiale. La maggior parte di queste truppe erano disertori o ex-prigionieri dell'Armata Rossa che scelsero di lottare con la Germania nella speranza di costituire uno Stato indipendente nell'Asia centrale (Grande Turkestan) dopo la guerra. Ad essi si aggiunsero volontari giunti dal Turkestan cinese.
La prima formazione della Legione Turkestana è stata mobilitata nel maggio del 1942, originariamente costituita da un solo battaglione, ma che è stato ampliato a 16 battaglioni e 16.000 soldati dal 1943. Su indicazione del comando della Wehrmacht, queste unità furono impiegate esclusivamente sul fronte occidentale, Francia e nord Italia, nella consapevolezza della fine che avrebbero fatto se catturati dall'Armata Rossa.
Difatti una volta finita la guerra, gran parte della Legione Turkestana catturata da forze britanniche, fu riconsegnata all'Urss, dove la miglior sorte fu la detenzione in gulag o campi di concentramento.
Uno dei componenti che riuscì a salvarsi fu Baymirza Hayit che, sfuggito ai britannici, dopo la guerra si stabilì in Germania, e divenne un importante storico dell'Asia centrale e della Legione Turkestana. Anche il leader nazionalista Mustafa Chokaev fece parte della Legione.
Bibliografia [modifica]
- Flagmaster Nr. 105, Estate 2002, pubblicazione del "The Flag Institute", Mayfair, Londra, W1J5NS, Regno Unito
Indische Legion
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Indische Freiwilligen-Legion 950 (Indian Volunteer Legion Regiment 950) | |
|---|---|
 Flag of Azad Hind | |
| Active | 1941—1945 |
| Country | Germany |
Raised initially as an assault group that would form a pathfinder to a German/Indian invasion of the western frontiers of British India, only a small contingent was ever put to its original intended purpose when a hundred of the legionnaires were parachuted into eastern Iran in 'Operation Bajadere' to infiltrate into India through Baluchistan and commence sabotage operations against the British in preparation for an anticipated national revolt.[2] A majority of the troops of the Indian Legion were only ever stationed in Europe – mostly in non-combat duties – from the Netherlands, to Atlantic Wall duties in France until the Allied invasion of France. A small contingent, including the leadership and the officer corps, was transferred to Azad Hind ("Free India") after its formation and saw action in the INA's Burma Campaign.[3]
The unit saw action against British and Polish troops and also undertook anti-partisan operations in Italy in 1944.[4]
At the time of the surrender of the Third Reich in 1945, remaining troops of the Indian Legion made efforts to march to neutral Switzerland over the Alps, but these efforts proved futile as they were captured by American and French troops and eventually shipped back to India to face charges of treason.
Contents[hide] |
[edit] Background
[edit] Japanese and Italian recruitment
During World War II, all the three major Axis Powers, at some stage of their campaign against Britain, sought to support the armed revolutionary activities within India and aided the recruitment of a military force from disaffected Indian POWs captured while serving with the British Commonwealth forces and Indian expatriates, of which the most famous, and successful, was probably the Indian National Army (INA) that came into being with the support of the Japanese Empire in the Far East.By 1942, Fascist Italy had created the Battaglione Azad Hindoustan ("Azad Hindustan Battalion"). This unit was formed from ex-Indian Army personnel and Italians previously resident in India and Persia and ultimately served under the Military Regrouping Center (Ragruppamento Centri Militari).[5] However, these efforts proved unsuccessful, given the overtly propagandist nature of their efforts that ultimately found little acceptance among the constituent soldiers, and the lack of a leadership that was deemed legitimate by the troops.[6] By November 1942, following the defeats in El Alamein, Italian efforts had failed.
[edit] German recruitment
However at this time in India, although the Congress Party had passed resolutions conditionally supporting the fight against fascism,[7] some Indian public opinion was more hostile at Britain's unilateral decision to declare India a belligerent on the side of the Allies. Among the more rebellious amongst Indian political leaders of the time was Subhas Chandra Bose, who was viewed as a sufficiently potent threat that when the war started, the Raj put him under arrest, and later, house arrest. Bose escaped from under British surveillance at his house in Calcutta on January 19, 1941; with the help of family members, members of his party – the Forward Bloc – and later the Abwehr, he made his way through Afghanistan to the Soviet Union. Once in Russia the NKVD transported Bose to Moscow where he hoped that Russia's traditional enmity to British rule in India would result in support for his plans for a popular rising in India. However, Bose found the Soviets' response disappointing and was rapidly passed over to the German Ambassador in Moscow, Count von der Schulenberg, who arranged for Bose to be sent to Berlin at the beginning of April where he met Ribbentrop and later, Hitler.[8] In Berlin, Bose set up the Azad Hind Radio and the Free India Centre which commenced broadcasting to Indians on short wave frequencies. The Azad Hind Radio broadcasts were estimated to have been regularly received by 30,000 Indians who possessed the requisite receiver.[9] Soon Bose's aim became to raise an army, which he imagined would march to India's North-West Frontier Province with German forces through the Caucasus and trigger the downfall of the Raj.[edit] Origin
[edit] Organization
The British Indian Army organized regiments and units on the basis of religion and regional identity. Bose, from very early on, sought to end this practice and build up one unified Indian identity. Consequently, the Indian Legion was organized as mixed units so that Moslems, Hindus, Sikhs, Jats, Rajputs, Marathas, Kumaonis and Garhwalis all served side-by-side.[12] Approximately two-thirds of the legion's members were Muslim and one- third Hindu and other religions, including a large number of Sikhs.[13] That Bose's idea of developing a unified racial-nationalist identity was successful is evident from the fact that when Himmler proposed in late 1943– after Bose's Departure to the Far East- that the Muslim soldiers of the I.R. 950 be recruited into the SS Handschar Division that was formed at the time, the head of the SS head office Gottlob Berger was obliged to point out that while the Bosnians perceived themselves as people of a European identity, the Indian Muslims perceived themselves as Indians.[14] Hitler however showed little enthusiasm for the I.R. 950, at one stage insisting that their weapons be handed over to the newly created 18th SS Horst Wessel Division, exclaiming that "....the Indian Legion is a joke!"[12][edit] Uniform and standard
The standard of the Indian Legion - presented as regimental colours in 1942 – featured the same design as the arm badge of the IR 950 consisting of saffron, white and green horizontal bands in the stated order from top to bottom. The white middle band was approximately three times the width of the two colored bands. The words "Azad" and "Hind" in white were inscribed over the saffron and green bands respectively. Also over the white middle band featured a leaping tiger. This is essentially the same design that the Azad Hind Government later adopted as their flag, although photographic evidence shows that the later Indian National Army, at least during the Burma Campaign, may not have carried it as their battle standard, opting for the flag of the Congress instead.[15]
[edit] Medals
In 1942 Bose instituted several medals and orders for service to Azad Hind. As was typical for German decorations, crossed swords were added when they were issued for action in combat.[16] How many, if any, actual medals were issued remains uncertain.[17][edit] Structure and units
The Indian Legion was organized as a standard German army infantry regiment of three battalions of four companies each, with, at least initially all the commissioned officers German. It has been later referred to as Panzergrenadier Regiment 950 (indische),[18] indicating the unit was partially motorized. It was equipped with 81 motor vehicles and 700 horses.[19] In this structure, the legion came to consist of:- I. Bataillon - infantry companies 1 to 4
- II. Bataillon - infantry companies 5 to 8
- III. Bataillon - infantry companies 9 to 12
- 13th Infanteriegeschütz Kompanie (infantry-gun company - consisting of six 7.5 cm leichtes Infanteriegeschütz 18)
- 14th Panzerjäger Kompanie (anti-tank company - consisting of six panzerabwehrkanone)
- 15th Pionier Kompanie (engineer company)
- Ehrenwachkompanie (honour guard company)
[edit] Freies Indien in operation
See also: Battles and operations of the INA
It is doubtful that Subhas Chandra Bose envisaged the Free India Legion (or Azad Hind Legion as it came to be more popularly known by the time he left Germany for the far east) as an army sufficient or strong enough to conduct a campaign across Persia into India on its own. Instead, most historians accept that the IR 950 was to become the pathfinder and would precede a much larger Indo-German force in a Caucasian campaign into the western frontiers of British India that would encourage public resentment of the Raj and incite the British Indian Army into revolt.To this end, Operation Bajadere was launched in January 1942 when a detachment of the Freies Indien, numbering about one hundred and having trained with the German Special Forces, were paradropped into Eastern Persia tasked to infiltrate into India through Baluchistan. They were also tasked to commence sabotage operations in preparation for the anticipated national revolt. Information passed on to Abwehr headquarters in Berlin from their office in Kabul indicate that they were successful.[20]
Following German defeat in Europe at Stalingrad and in North Africa at El Alamein it became clear that an Axis assault through Iran or even USSR was unlikely. Bose had in the mean time travelled to the Far East where the Japanese troops were threatening India. Bose's army in South Asia, the Indian National Army successfully engaged the allies along with the Japanese 15th Army in Burma and ultimately entered India through Moirang to lay siege on Imphal. The German Naval High Command at this time made the decision to transfer the leadership and a segment of the Freies Indien to the Azad Hind Government in South Asia and on 21 January, it was formally made a part of the Indian National Army.
[edit] Netherlands and France
From Beverloo in Belgium, I Battalion was reassigned to Zandvoort in May 1943 where they stayed until relieved by Georgian troops in August. In September 1943, the battalion was deployed on the Atlantic coast of Bordeaux on the Bay of Biscay. II Battalion moved from Beverloo to the island of Texel in May 1943 and stayed there until relieved in September of that year. From here, it was deployed to Les Sables-d'Olonne in France.[21] III Battalion remained at Oldebroek as Corps Reserve until the end of September 1943,[21] where they gained a "wild and loathsome"[22] reputation amongst the locals.
[edit] Indische Freiwilligen Legion der Waffen SS
The legion was stationed in the Lacanau region of Bordeaux at the time of the Normandy landings and remained there for up to two months after D-Day. On 8 August 1944 Himmler authorized its control was to be transferred to the Waffen SS[12] (as was that of every other volunteer unit of the German Army). Command of the legion was very shortly transferred from Kurt Krapp to Heinz Bertling. The Indian personnel noticed a change of command was at hand and started to complain.[citation needed] Noting he wasn't "wanted" Bertling kindly refused the assignment[citation needed] and headed back to Berlin. On 15 August, the unit pulled out of Lacanau to make its way back to Germany. It was in the second leg of this journey, from Poitier to Chatrou that it suffered its first combat casualty (Lieutenant Ali Khan) while engaging French Regular forces in the town of Dun. The unit also engaged with allied armour at Nuits St. Georges while retreating across the Loire to Dijon. It was regularly harassed by the French Resistance, suffering two more casualties (Lieutenant Kalu Ram and Captain Mela Ram). The unit moved from Remiremont, through Alsace, to Oberhofen near the town of Heuberg in Germany in the winter of 1944,[23] where it stayed until March 1945.[edit] Italy
II Battalion, 9th Company, of the legion also saw action in Italy. Having been deployed in the spring of 1944, it faced the British 5th Corps and the Polish 2nd Corps before it was withdrawn from the front to be used in anti-partisan operations. It surrendered to the Allied forces April 1945, still in Italy.[24][edit] End of the Legion Freies Indien
[edit] Legacy of the Free India Legion
The integral associations of the Free India Legion with Nazi Germany and (later) Japan means its legacy is judged from two distinct view points – one of a collaborationist army of the Third Reich, and the other as the realization of a 'liberation' army against the British Raj in India. Comparisons have been made to the Vlasov movement in Russia.[26]The Free India Legion was conceived with the same doctrine as the Indian National Army and the entire Azad Hind movement, it has found little exposure since the end of the war even in Independent India, possibly due to a perception that their fight was far removed from the Battlefields of Burma, a land much closer to India where the troops of the INA fought and died and caught the public imagination. To consider the legacy of Free India Legion, however, one has to consider both the Azad Hind movement (of which the legion was possibly a birth mother, and certainly an integral plan of Bose's initial plans) and the events that happened at the time, both in and away from the public eye.
Finding itself desperately in the need of a leader after the disappearance of Subhas Chandra Bose, the legion surrendered to the British and the Americans soon after.
[edit] Perceptions as collaborators
In considering the history of the Free India Legion and the ramifications of its creation, the most controversial aspect comes to be its integral link to the Nazi Germany, with a prevailing perception among some historians that they were mere mercenaries and collaborators of the Third Reich by the virtue of their uniform, oath and field of operation. To properly assess this, one has to first assess what actions it is that may be termed collaborationist. Throughout Europe, during and after the war, collaboration came to be defined broadly as; being party to the Nazi philosophy of Aryan- and even more so, German- supremacy as a race; actively supporting and participating in the Nazi atrocities against inferior races and occupied people in support of furthering the Nazi ideology, and; actively supporting the Nazi war effort.As a prologue to the main debate on these issues, it is necessary to consider the views of the founder and leader of the Free India Legion, Subhas Chandra Bose (for Bose was the life blood of the entire Free India Movement in Germany, and later in South Asia). Bose, in 1931, had organized and led protest marches against the Japanese invasion of Manchuria and of China itself in 1938 when he was Congress president. In 1937 he published an article attacking Japanese Imperialism in the Far East, although he betrayed some admiration for other aspects of the Japanese regime.[27] Bose's earlier correspondence (prior to 1939) also reflects his deep disapproval of the racist practices of, and annulment of democratic institutions in Nazi Germany.[28] He also, however, expressed admiration for the authoritarian methods (though not the racial ideologies) which he saw in Italy and Germany during the 1930s, and thought they could be used in building an independent India.[29]
However, this does not address whether the men of the Freies Indien were party to or in collaboration with the Nazi machinery. Although, the Nazis regarded Indians as members of the Aryan race, the small number of Indians and their particular usefulness in Germany's situation resulted in Indians not receiving the best treatment. It is also fallacious to say that the soldiers of the Free India Legion were mere mercenaries who fought with the Reich, for money or power. Indeed, when the first POWs were brought to Annaburg camp and met by Subhas Chandra Bose, there was marked open hostility towards him as a Nazi propaganda puppet.[30] Subsequent to this, at a time when Bose's efforts and views had gained more sympathy, a persistent query among the (then) POWs had been "How would the legionary stand in relation to the German soldier?".[30] Neither were they prepared to fight Germany's war for Germany's people for Germany's interests. Italy had in 1942 created the Battaglione Azad Hindoustan, with Indian POWs captured by Italy, and Italians previously resident in India and Persia and led by an Indian resident in Rome for a long-time, Iqbal Shedai, whose rallying cry was to raise an Indian Unit to fight for India. In November 1942 the unit was three hundred and fifty strong, having been trained by Italian officers. Much has been said of the "dubious loyalty" of this unit. On 9 November, after the Allied landing in North Africa, the Italian high command made the decision to send the men to Libya to fight the allies instead of to India to fight for India's independence, contrary to Shedai's promises. The men refused to go and mutinied, insisting that they were only willing to fight for the Indian cause[31] Shedai refused to intervene. Consequently, the Centro Militare India was disbanded.[31][32] The men of the Battaglione Azad Hindoustan are later said to have been either integrated into the Free India Legion or sent back to POW camps. In another instance, immediately prior to the first deployment of the Free India Legion in the Netherlands in April 1943, after departure of I Battalion from Koenigsbrueck, two Companies within the II Battalion refused to move. The Free India Centre- in charge of the legion after the departure of Bose in January 1943 for South Asia- came to face a number of grievances, prime of which stood out two in particular; some were influenced by a rumour that Netaji had abandoned them and had gone off leaving them entirely in German hands; a second grievance was a perception that the Wehrmacht was now going to use them in the Western Front, instead of sending them to the East to fight for India's liberation.[32] Even in the east, where the Indian National Army took its colossal shape, the first efforts under Captain Mohan Singh came to nought essentially because Rash Behari Bose, who led the Indian Independence League (of which the first INA in the east was integrally linked) lost credence among the troops, appearing as a Japanese pawn.[32] These goes to show that the men never possessed loyalty either to the Fascist or the Nazi cause or ideology and that their motivation was to fight for India' liberation, their loyalty lay to India.[32] They were unwilling to fight for an alien nation and for a cause that was distant to the one for which they had abandoned their oath to the King Emperor.
Netaji sought and got agreement from the Germans that the Wehrmacht would train the Indians in the strictest military discipline, and they were to be trained in all branches of infantry in using weapons and motorized units the same way a German formation is trained; the Indian legionaries were not to be mixed up with any of the German formations; that they were not to be sent to any front other than in India for fighting against the British, but would be allowed to fight in self-defence at any other place if surprised by any enemy formation; that in all other respects the legion members would enjoy the same facilities and amenities regarding pay, clothing, food, leave, etc., as a German unit. </ref>
As for having participated in the Nazi war effort, in Europe the unit's deployments in the Netherlands and France appear to be solely for training purposes, according to Bose's plans for the unit to be trained in some aspects of coastal defence.[33] Bose had also had the German High Command committed to not deploying the unit for purposes of German military interests and strategy.[34] Indeed after the invasion of France by the Allies, the unit was ordered back to Germany. Even though the unit participated in atrocities, especially in the Medoc region in July 1944,[35] and in the region of Ruffec [36] and the department of Indre during their retreat,[37] the allegations that the Free India Legion was nothing more than a collaborationist Heer unit is a very simplistic view of a formation of men who possibly imagined themselves as patriots and pioneers and not as Nazis or collaborators.[38] However, the effects of the limited actions the unit undertook in anti-partisan role in Italy also ought to be considered while making a definitive conclusion. Briefly, the Free India Legion fought for a Nazi and Japanese victory, in the hope of gaining an independent India. Whether this would have also achieved a free India in a Nazi German and Imperial Japanese ruled world, or whether Chandra Bose's plan to establish a centralized state in India would have made it a free state, are both open to question.
[edit] A 'liberation' army?
The Free India Legion did not engage in its original conceived role in the western front of British India, so it is not possible to hold any arguments as to whether they did – or could have[although meant to be] – fulfilled the destiny that the men of the legion had dreamt of. Moreover, the legion was, and still remains, far removed from public perception in India because it did not engage its enemy, the British Raj as did the Indian National Army in Burma, which was much closer to the home of the common Indian. Even the 9th Company's engagements in Italy with British forces are hardly known outside those circles with an interest in World War II history.Were, then, Bose's plans for the Azad Hind Legion too grandiose for its own capability? In terms of military capability, that answer is a definitive yes, for the fate of the Free India Legion was tied like a corpse to that of the Axis.[39] But in political terms, to consider the Azad Hind Legion a paper tiger can be debated, for it ignores a number of events that occurred within India and more specifically the British Indian Armed Forces in the post-war demobilisation scenario.[40] To consider the effects that the legion had, it is necessary, however, to consider the effects that the entire Azad Hind movement (for they were a part of the same strategy and movement[41]) had on the culmination of the British Raj in India.
After the war ended, the stories of the INA and the Free India Legion were seen as so inflammatory that, fearing mass revolts and uprisings — not just in India, but across its empire — the British Government forbade the BBC from broadcasting their story.[42] The Raj also brought to trial soldiers and officers of the INA (as well as the Free India Legion, of which not much is known). However, the stories of the trials at the Red Fort filtered through. The Raj observed with alarm the turnaround in the perception of Azad Hind and its army as traitors and collaborators to the greatest among the patriots.[43]
During the trial, inspired to a large extent by the stories of the INA soldiers that were going around the country at the time mutiny broke out in the Royal Indian Navy (the mutiny had other underlying social and political causes as well; see article), incorporating ships and shore establishments of the RIN throughout India, from Karachi to Bombay and from Vizag to Calcutta. The most significant, if disconcerting factor for the Raj, was the significant militant public support that it received.[44] A wave of nationalist sentiments swept through the Indian troops who had fought with the Allies and were in the process of being de-mobilised. The Navy mutiny was followed up by another among the ground crew in the Royal Indian Air Force. Another Army mutiny took place at Jabalpur during the last week of February 1946, soon after the Navy mutiny at Bombay. This was suppressed by force, including the use of the bayonet by British troops. It lasted about two weeks. After the mutiny, about 45 persons were tried by court martial. Forty-one were sentenced to varying terms of imprisonment or dismissal. In addition, a large number were discharged on administrative grounds.
In the aftermath of the mutiny, the weekly intelligence summary issued on the 25th of March, 1946 admitted that the Indian army, navy and air force units were no longer trustworthy, and, for the army, "only day to day estimates of steadiness could be made".[45] It was decided that: if wide-scale public unrest took shape, the armed forces (including the air force – for Quit India had shown how it could turn violent) could not be relied upon to support counter-insurgency operations as they had been during the Quit India movement of 1942, and drawing from experiences of the Tiger Legion and the INA, their actions could not be predicted from their oath to the King Emperor.[46]
Reflecting on the factors that guided the British decision to relinquish the Raj in India, Clement Attlee, the then British prime minister, cited several reasons, the most important of which were the INA activities of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, which weakened the Indian Army – the foundation of the British Empire in India – and the RIN Mutiny that made the British realise that the Indian armed forces could no longer be trusted to prop up the Raj.[47]
Although Britain had made, at the time of the Cripps' mission in 1942, a commitment[48] to grant dominion status[49] to India after the war; these events and views held in 1946 by the administrations of the Raj would suggest to the reader that, contrary to the usual narrative of India's independence struggle (which generally focuses on Congress and Mahatma Gandhi), the INA and the revolts, mutinies, and public resentment it germinated were one factor in the complete withdrawal of the Raj from India.
In the same breath, whether awarded any credit for India's independence or not, the events at the time show that the strategy of Azad Hind (derived from the embryo of the Free India Legion) of achieving independence from Britain by fomenting revolts and public unrest – although militarily a failure – remains, politically, a significant and historic success. Ironically, the military failure, probably worked just as well for the cause, as the Axis victory would have likely led to bondage for India, by the foreign dictatorships it was aiding.It should also be noted that officers of the INA & Bose were ready to fight the Japanese in case of exploitation of the Indian nation by them. As mentioned earlier in this article, Bose was against invasion of Manchuria & China in 1938 the first place so it would be highly unlikely that the INA would have left India to Japanese or the axis exploitation.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
 | Constructs such as ibid., loc. cit. and idem are discouraged by Wikipedia's style guide for footnotes, as they are easily broken. Please improve this article by replacing them with named references (quick guide), or an abbreviated title. (April 2010) |
[edit] Sources
- Wilmott, Cross, Messenger "World War II", page 249
[edit] Notes
- ^ Axis War Makes Easier Task of Indians. Chandra Bose's Berlin Speech. Chandra Bose's Berlin Speech. Syonan Sinbun, 26 January 1943.
- ^ Weale, Renegades, p. 137-138.
- ^ Kurowski, The Brandenburgers – Global Mission., p. 137
- ^ Antonio J. Munoz – The East Came West: Muslim, Hindu & Buddhist Volunteers in the German Armed Forces, 1941–1945. Axis Europa Book, 2002.
- ^ Lundari, I Paracadutisti Italiani 1937/45, p. 90
- ^ ibid.
- ^ Official Website of the Indian National Congress, sub-link to article titled: World War II and the Congress. AICC.org.in, accessed on 20-Jul-2006
- ^ Kurowski, The Brandenburgers -Global Mission, p. 136
- ^ James L. Raj; Making and unmaking of British India. Abacus. 1997. p555.
- ^ Littlejohn, David (1987). Foreign Legions of the Third Reich. IV: Poland, the Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania, Free India, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland and Russia (2nd (1994) ed.). San Jose, California: R. James Bender Publishing. p. 127. ISBN 0-912138-36-X.
- ^ a b c Weale, Renegades, p. 213
- ^ a b c Littlejohn p.127
- ^ Houterman, Eastern Troops in Zeeland, The Netherlands, 1943–1945, p. 63
- ^ Lepre, Himmler's Bosnian Division, p. 117
- ^ Davis, Flags of the Third Reich 2: Waffen SS, pp. 42.
- ^ Indian Volunteers in the German Wehrmacht
- ^ Medals of the Second World War 1939 – 1945 India
- ^ Davis, Flags of the Third Reich 2: Waffen SS, p 22
- ^ a b Caballero Jurado, Foreign Volunteers of the Wehrmacht 1941–45, p. 31
- ^ See *2
- ^ a b Houterman, Eastern Troops in Zeeland, The Netherlands, 1943–1945, p. 63
- ^ BBC News
- ^ a b Davis, Flags of the Third Reich 2: Waffen SS, pp. 22
- ^ Antonio J Munuz – The East came West
- ^ Subhas Chandra Bose: Er wollte Freiheit für Indien. Augsburger Zeitung.19 August 2000
- ^ Die indische Legion - Ein Stück Deutsche Geschichte, by [www.urmila.de/UDG/Biblio/legion.html Urmila Goel]
- ^ "Japan's Role in the Far East" (originally published in the Modern Review in October 1937):
Japan has done great things for herself and for Asia. Her reawakening at the dawn of the present century sent a thrill throughout our Continent. Japan has shattered the white man's prestige in the Far East and has put all the Western imperialist powers on the defensive – not only in the military but also in the economic sphere. She is extremely sensitive – and rightly so – about her self-respect as an Asiatic race. She is determined to drive out the Western powers from the Far East. But could not all this have been achieved without Imperialism, without dismembering the Chinese Republic, without humiliating another proud, cultured and ancient race? No, with all our admiration for Japan, where such admiration is due, our whole heart goes out to China in her hour of trial"
" The Essential Writings of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Edited by Sisir K. Bose & Sugata Bose (Delhi: Oxford University Press) 1997 p190 - ^ Bose to Dr. Thierfelder of the Deutsche Academie, Kurhaus Hochland, Badgastein, 25 March 1936
"Today I regret that I have to return to India with the conviction that the new nationalism of Germany is not only narrow and selfish but arrogant. The recent speech of Herr Hitler in Munich gives the essence of Nazi philosophy......The new racial philosophy which has a very weak scientific foundation stands for the glorification of the white races in general and the German race in particular. Herr Hitler has talked of the destiny of white races to rule over the rest of the world. But the historical fact is that up till now the Asiatics have dominated Europe more than have the Europeans dominated Asia. One only has to consider the repeated invasions of Europe by Mongols, the Turks, the Arabs (Moors), the Huns, and other Asiatic races to understand the strength of my argument...."
The Essential Writings of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Edited by Sisir K. Bose & Sugata Bose (Delhi: Oxford University Press) 1997 p155 - ^ Sen, S. 1999. Subhas Chandra Bose 1897–1945. From webarchive of andaman.org.
- ^ a b Toye, Hugh, The Springing Tiger, London, Cassell, 1959, p. 63
- ^ a b Public Relations Office, London. War Office. 208/761A; James L. Raj; Making and unmaking of British India. Abacus. 1997. p553.
- ^ a b c d Borra R. Journal of Historical Review, 3, no. 4 (Winter 1982), pp. 407–439.
- ^ Ganpuley, N.G., Netaji in Germany: A Little-known Chapter, Bombay, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1959, p153
- ^ Borra R op.cit
- ^ (French) Dominique Lormier, La poche du Médoc, éditions CMD, 1998, pp.35-36
- ^ BBC.co.uk, Hitler's Secret Indian Army
- ^ (French) Le passage des Hindous dans le département de l’Indre (fin août 1944), from French official public archives, presented and annotated by Jean-Louis Laubry
- ^ James L. Raj; Making and unmaking of British India. Abacus. 1997. p553.
- ^ Lebra, Joyce C., Jungle Alliance: Japan and the Indian National Army. Singapore, Asia Pacific Library pp. 190–191.
When Bose heard the order to retreat he was stunned. He drew himself up and said to Kawabe in ringing tones: "Though the Japanese Army has given up the operation, we will continue it. We will not repent even if the advance of our revolutionary army to attain independence of our homeland is completely defeated. Increase in casualties, cessation of supplies, and famine are not reasons enough to stop marching. Even if the whole army becomes only spirit we will not stop advancing toward our homeland. This is the spirit of our revolutionary army." In an article in Azad Hind on 6 November 1944, after the retreat from Imphal, Bose was reported to have "reiterated his firm conviction that final victory in this war would belong to Japan and Germany ... that a new phase of war was approaching in which the initiative would again lie in the hands of the Japanese
- ^ Public Relations Office, London. War Office. 208/761A; James L. Raj; Making and unmaking of British India. Abacus. 1997. p598
- ^ Axis War Makes Easier Task of Indians. Chandra Bose's Berlin Speech. Syonan Sinbun, 26 January 1943
- ^ Op Cit, Last Section: "Mutinies" URL accessed on 08-Aug-06
- ^ Edwardes, Michael, The Last Years of British India, Cleveland, World Pub. Co.,1964, p. 93.
The Government of India had hoped, by prosecuting members of the INA, to reinforce the morale of the Indian army. It succeeded only in creating unease, in making the soldiers feel slightly ashamed that they themselves had supported the British. If Bose and his men had been on the right side — and all India now confirmed that they were — then Indians in the Indian army must have been on the wrong side. It slowly dawned upon the Government of India that the backbone of the British rule, the Indian army, might now no longer be trustworthy. The ghost of Subhas Bose, like Hamlet's father, walked the battlements of the Red Fort (where the INA soldiers were being tried), and his suddenly amplified figure overawed the conference that was to lead to independence.
- ^ Wikipedia entry on the RIN mutiny. Bombay Mutiny URL accessed on 9-Aug-06.
- ^ Unpublished, Public Relations Office, London. War Office. 208/761A; James L., Raj: Making and unmaking of British India. Abacus. 1997. p598.
- ^ James L., Raj: Making and unmaking of British India. Abacus. 1997. p571, p598 and; Unpublished, Public Relations Office, London. War Office. 208/819A 25C
- ^ "Dhanjaya Bhat, Which phase of our freedom struggle won for us Independence?". The Tribune. February 12, 2006. http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060212/spectrum/main2.htm. Retrieved 17 July 2006.
- ^ Judith Brown Modern India. The making of an Asian Democracy (Oxford University Press) 1999 (2nd Edition) pp328-330
- ^ James L., Raj: Making and unmaking of British India. Abacus. 1997. p557
[edit] External links
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Legion "Freies Indien" |
- Hitler's secret Indian army, BBC News
- Indian Volunteers in the German Wehrmacht, (Feldgrau.com)
- Axis History Fact Books
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||
| |||
======================================================================
Indische Freiwilligen Legion der Waffen-SS
Da Wikipedia, l'enciclopedia libera.
| "Indische Freiwilligen Legion der SS", in italiano: Legione SS "India Libera" | |
|---|---|
Simbolo del Corpo di Volontari indiani della
"Indische Freiwilligen Legion der SS" o Legione SS "India Libera" | |
| Descrizione generale | |
| Attiva | 1941-8 maggio 1945 |
| Nazione | Germania India |
| Alleanza | Potenze dell'Asse |
| Servizio | Waffen SS |
| Tipo | reparto varie specialità |
| Dimensione | Corpo volontario militare |
| Battaglie/guerre | Battaglie sul Fronte Occidentale e contro i partigiani francesi (1941-1945) |
| Comandanti | |
| Comandanti degni di nota | SS Oberführer Heinz Bertling |
| Simboli | |
| Bandiera della legione India libera |  |
| Voci di unità militari presenti su Wikipedia | |
Indice[nascondi] |
Costituzione della "Legione SS India Libera" [modifica]
La Legione SS "India Libera" o "Indische Freiwilligen Legion der SS" è stata un'unità di volontari indiani Waffen-SS, voluta dal Capo di Stato del Governo dell'India Libera Subhas Chandra Bose. Venne realizzata raggruppando prigionieri di guerra e disertori indiani dell'esercito inglese in nome della comune lotta dell'Asse contro il colonialismo.
I loro circa 4.000 effettivi servirono nell'esercito durante la seconda guerra mondiale. Assunti a esprimere la lotta contro i britannici, Subhas Chandra Bose aveva ottenuto la garanzia da Adolf Hitler che essi non sarebbero stati impegnati contro altri nemici della Germania, e in particolare non sul fronte orientale.
Alcuni vennero paracadutati in Medio Oriente per creare disordini e furono ampiamente utilizzati come guarnigione sul fronte occidentale, soprattutto in Francia.
Struttura dell'unità [modifica]
La Legione Indiana fu organizzata come un normale reggimento di fanteria dell'esercito tedesco su tre battaglioni di quattro compagnie ognuno, comandate da ufficiali tedeschi. Fu denominata Panzergrenadier Regiment 950 (indische) ed indicata come unità parzialmente motorizzata. Fu equipaggiata con 81 veicoli motorizzati e 700 cavalli.
La legione Indiana era costituita da:
- I. Bataillon: dalla prima alla quarta compagnia di fanteria;
- II. Bataillon: dalla quinta all'ottava compagnia di fanteria;
- III. Bataillon: dalla nona alla dodicesima compagnia di fanteria;
- 13th Infanteriegeschütz Kompanie: compagnia d'artiglieria per supporto alla fanteria, dotata di 6 7.5 cm leichtes Infanteriegeschütz 18;
- 14th Panzerjäger Kompanie: compagnia d'artiglieria anticarro, dotata di 6 Panzerabwehrkanone;
- 15th Pionier Kompanie: Compagnia di genio;
- Ehrenwachkompanie: Guardia d'Onore.
In Francia [modifica]
Secondo voci diffuse a Strasburgo, si disse che i sopravvissuti del massacro di Schluthfeld vennero utilizzati dopo la Liberazione, per lo sminamento, e che nessuno sarebbe sopravvissuto a ciò.
Bibliografia [modifica]
- Lothar Günther: Von Indien nach Annaburg. Indische Legion und Kriegsgefangene in Deutschland. Verlag am Park, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-89793-065-X
- Rudolf Hartog: Im Zeichen des Tigers. Die indische Legion auf deutscher Seite 1941-1945. Busse und Seewald, Herford 1991, ISBN 3-512-03034-3
- Jan Kuhlmann: Subhas Chandra Bose und die Indienpolitik der Achsenmächte. Schiler, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-89930-064-5
- Eugen Rose: Azad Hind. Ein europäisches Inder-Märchen oder Die 1299 Tage der Indischen Legion in Europa. Bhaiband, Wuppertal 1989
- Brian L. Davis, Malcolm McGregor: Flags of the Third Reich. Vol. 2: Waffen-SS. Osprey, London 1994, ISBN 1-85532-431-8 (Men-at-Arms-Series 274)
Altri progetti [modifica]
Commons contiene immagini o altri file su Indische Freiwilligen Legion der Waffen-SS
Voci correlate [modifica]
Collegamenti esterni [modifica]
========================================================================Ellinika Tagmata Asphaleias
Da Wikipedia, l'enciclopedia libera.
| "Ellinika Tagmata Asphaleias" | |
|---|---|
Simbolo del Corpo di militari volontari greci della
"Ellinika Tagmata Asphaleias" | |
| Descrizione generale | |
| Attiva | settembre 1943-8 maggio 1945 |
| Nazione | Germania |
| Alleanza | Potenze dell'Asse |
| Servizio | Waffen SS |
| Tipo | reparto speciale di sicurezza di militari greci |
| Dimensione | Corpo volontario militare di sicurezza |
| Guarnigione/QG | di 5.725 uomini, di cui 532 erano ufficiali e 656 sottufficiali. |
| Battaglie/guerre | Battaglie sul Fronte Balcanico (1943-1945) |
| Comandanti | |
| Comandante corrente | maggior-generale Basileios Dertiles |
| Comandanti degni di nota | * SS-Gruppenführer Walter Shimana |
| Simboli | |
| Bandiera greca dal 1941 al 1945 | .svg) |
| Voci di unità militari presenti su Wikipedia | |
Indice[nascondi] |
Struttura [modifica]
Conosciuti inizialmente come Evzoni ben presto passerà da 4 battaglioni a 9, e il suo compito sarà quello di controbattere i partigiani greci e funzionerà anche come forza di polizia ausiliaria.Forza del reparto [modifica]
Avrà una forza di 5.725 uomini, di cui 532 erano ufficiali e 656 sottufficiali.I 9 battaglioni saranno raggruppati in 3 reggimenti , costituiti ognuno da 3 battaglioni.
| Nome | aggregazione | luogo |
| 1° reggimento Evzonis | al LXVIII Corpo tedesco | ad Atene; |
| 2° reggimento Evzonis | al LXVIII Corpo tedesco | a Tripolis; |
| 3° reggimento Evzonis | al XXII Gebirgs Korps tedesco | a Ioannina; |
| data nomina comandante | grado prima del nuovo comando | nome | promozione a nuovo grado per il comando |
| 25 novembre 1943 | colonnello | Basileios Dertiles | maggior generale |
Bibliografia [modifica]
- Nikolas D. Christodoulou, "Pro-Axis Security Battallions in Southern Greece; 1943-1944"
- Antonio J. Muñoz, "Herakles and the Swastika: Greek Volunteers in the German Army, Police and SS", Axis Europa Books 2001
- Mavrokordatis Hanno, "Le Fascism en Grece pendant la guerre (1941-1944)"
Voci correlate [modifica]
============================================================================American Free Corps
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In reality, the German authorities made no effort to create an exclusive unit of US volunteers. Nevertheless, it is certainly the case that a small number of United States nationals did serve in the German Armed Forces in various units, including the Waffen-SS. Information about them remains fragmentary and no real effort was made by the US authorities to investigate the matter and trace the volunteers after the war, as opposed to the efforts by other countries like Britain. It is believed that at least eight Americans serving in the German armed forces were killed during their service.
The most famous propagandist associated with this pseudo-unit was Second Lieutenant Martin James Monti, who defected from the US Army Air Corps, and worked as a propaganda broadcaster under the pseudonym Martin Wiethaupt. After the war he was sentenced to 25 years for treason but was released in 1960.
Peter Delaney (aka Pierre de la Ney du Vair), a Louisiana-born SS-Haupsturmführer in SS-Standarte Kurt Eggers who is believed to have served in Légion des Volontaires Français. He met Monti and probably arranged for him to enter the Waffen-SS. Delaney was killed in 1945.
This unit was cited by the author Kurt Vonnegut in his novel Slaughterhouse Five and perpetuated by fantasists ever since. In reality, Vonnegut had been a prisoner of war in Dresden and had seen, or heard of, recruiting efforts by members of the British Free Corps who were based in the town at the time. The unit is also mentioned in the novel The Eagle Has Landed by Jack Higgins.
========================================================================
Russian Corps
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Russian Corps | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Active | 1941-1945 |
| Allegiance |  Nazi Germany |
| Size | 11,188 |
Contents[hide] |
[edit] Formation
General Mikhail Skorodumov, a veteran of the White movement, referred to the German occupational forces, asking for permission to form an armed "Separate Russian Corps" which would defend the Russian population against the communist partisans. In return for being armed and supplied by the Germans, Skorodumov set forth six conditions:- Only one commander of the Corps is responsible to the German command. All units and ranks of the Corps are responsible only to the commander of the Corps, who is confirmed by the German command, and the leaders that are picked by the commander of the Corps.
- Units of the Russian Corps cannot be integrated into German units, they are entirely independent.
- The Russian corps wears the old Russian uniform, the materials for which must come from the old Serbian supplies.
- The officers of the corps do not make any oaths.
- When the Corps finishes its formation and communism in Serbia is defeated, the German command transfers the Corps to the Eastern Front.
- The Russian Corps may not be used against any government, nor against the Serbian national forces of Draža Mihailović.
On 12 September 1941, after receiving the written approval of German Colonel Kevish, Skorodumov ordered the formation of the Corps. Three days later he was arrested by the Nazis for forming a "separate Russian corps" and was replaced by his assistant, General Boris Shteifon (who was half Jewish from his father's side), another White army veteran. Shteifon continued the formation of the Corps. At the same time, he was engaged in a diplomatic war with the German command in an attempt to win as much independence and freedom of action as possible. The Corps was a part of the German armed forces and took an oath of allegiance to Adolf Hitler.[2]
Several thousand Russian emigres living in Yugoslavia and in surrounding Eastern European countries enlisted in the Corps, men from age 16 to those in their seventies were admitted. At the beginning the Corps heavily lacked men in their twenties because most were conscripted into the Yugoslav Royal Army and were either taken prisoner, living in exile, or with the Chetniks. Most volunteers were either young men who grew up in the Russian Cadet Corps of Yugoslavia, or seasoned veterans of the Russian Tsarist and White armies. Consequently, many commissioned officers had to enlist as privates or non-coms. Officers and generals were permitted to wear their old rank on the shoulderboards, while using their collar to display their Corps rank.
The Corps consisted of five regiments, armed with German, Italian, and Yugoslav weaponry. The Corps was not allowed to have heavy artillery, according to Shteifon's speculation this was done to prevent the Corps from becoming a fully fledged, independent armed unit. The Corps initially instituted White Army uniforms, combined with Serbian royalist regalia, but were forced to switch to German uniforms later. These German uniforms were "Russified" by the inclusion of a Russian cockade and Russian medals of distinction. The Corps followed at first the Tsarist military charter for commands, then briefly switched to the 1927 Soviet charter before being forced to conform to the German Wehrmacht charter.
[edit] Deployment and growth
The Corps under General Shteifon were used at first primarily for guarding regions from partisan control, then in the spring of 1944 plunged into the heat of the Yugoslav guerrilla war. It engaged Titoists in villages and cities throughout Yugoslavia, often deployed in regions the Germans considered particularly dangerous. This went against the hopes of the founders of the Corps, who had hoped that it would be primarily deployed as a defense unit against partisan aggression and spared from heavy action.As per Skorodumov's point 6, the Corps refused to attack the national Serbian Chetnik forces. The Chetniks maintained a neutral and occasionally an allied relationship with the Corps, with a few exceptions. The Serbian Volunteer Corps of Dimitri Ljotic, by contrast, were a constant ally of the Corps.
Frictions had also developed between the Corps and the Croatian Home Guard, with which the Corps was in a de jure alliance. This occurred after the Corps' soldiers had intervened several times by force to stop atrocities against Serbian civilians committed by Croatian soldiers.
Shteifon's diplomatic war with the German command forced him to make several concessions. One was the introduction of the German uniform (as the Germans refused to supply anything else), another was an oath all soldiers were forced to give to Hitler. Shteifon was, however, able to win permission to send representatives to occupied territories (notably in Romanian occupied Odessa and Bessarabia) in order to recruit Soviet POWs and civilians for the Corps. Over 5,000 new recruits were successfully enlisted this way. In the wake of this expansion, an officer training program was instituted in order to create new ranks for a future army.
In 1944, the Germans ordered the Corps to cover their retreat from Greece. In September of that year, after the capitulation of Bulgaria and Romania, the Corps found itself confronting not only Josip Broz Tito's partisans (whom Winston Churchill had begun favoring over Mihailović, in view of the former's alliance with Joseph Stalin), but regular units of the Red Army, along with its newly allied Bulgarian and Romanian armies. Heavily outnumbered and poorly equipped, the Corps lost over one third of its men in a few months time. Data from a report dated August 22, 1944 that was prepared by Maximilian von Weichs for Adolf Hitler showed that the Corps had five regiments with 11,188 officers and men.[3]
In the winter of 1944-45, upon learning that General Vlasov's Russian Liberation Army was finally in existence, Shteifon met with Vlasov and offered his "unconditional subordinance". Thus, Shteifon and his men were coopted into the Russian Liberation Army. However, this remained a de jure designation, as the turn of events did not permit Vlasov to include the Corps in his operations.
The Corps began retreating into Slovenia. On the 30th of April, Shteifon died of a heart attack by Zagreb. Colonel Anatoli Ivanovich Rogozhin became the Corps' last commander.
[edit] Dissolution
The surrender to the British took place on the 12th of May, 1945, after which Rogozhin said in his daily order
| “ | We with a calm conscience can say that we completely accomplished the duty of the honest Russian soldier. The British commanders have respectfully treated us, as we did not surrender our weapons to those against whom we raised them, - our enemy - the Bolsheviks. With faith in a better future, let us await that moment when the Lord will help us finish our fight for the liberation of our Motherland to victory. | ” |
A confrontation began between the Corps' officers and Soviet SMERSH agents. Unlike with the Cossacks of Lienz and many veterans of the Russian Liberation Army, the British spared the Corps from forceful repatriation, citing that it was formed of people who did not fall under the classification of "former Soviet citizens" (as per the Yalta agreement). Those members of the Corps who were former Soviet citizens (as well as stray members of other Russian units who fled to the Corps' camp) were given false documents to protect them from repatriation.
On November 1, 1945, Rogozhin officially disbanded the Corps and formed a veteran's union (the Russian Corps Combatants) which was responsible for the safety and coordination of its members. Many Corps members emigrated to the United States, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, and several European countries.
The corps veterans created a modified symbol which was formed of a white Russian military opolchenskiy cross, upon which was a black cross of the Corps with the letters "R" and "K" (standing for "Russkiy Korpus") inscribed in white. On the blades of the white cross the years 1917 - 1921 and 1941 - 1945 are marked, signifying respectively the years of the Russian Civil War, and the years of its continuation during the Corps action in Yugoslavia.
A chapel of St. Alexander Nevsky (the patron saint of the Corps, on whose day of memory the Corps was originally founded) was erected in the Novo Deveevo Russian Orthodox convent in Nanuet, New York (USA) in honor of the Russian Corps. Many Corps veterans (including Rogozhin) are buried nearby. The Combatants union began publishing a periodical known as Nashi Vesti (Our News).
Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια:
Δημοσίευση σχολίου