Walloon Legion
Walloon Legion | |
---|---|
Active | 1941–1945 |
Allegiance | Nazi Germany |
Branch | Wehrmacht (1941–1943) Waffen-SS (1943–1945) |
Type | Infantry |
Size | 2,000 men (maximum strength) 7,000–8,000 men (total, 1941–1945) Battalion, brigade and later division, though never larger than brigade-strength. |
Engagements |
|
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Léon Degrelle (1944–45) |
The Walloon Legion (
Established in July 1941, the Walloon Legion was envisaged by
The unit was integrated into the Waffen-SS in June 1943 as the SS Assault Brigade Wallonia (SS-Sturmbrigade Wallonien) and was almost destroyed by Soviet forces in the
Background
At the time of the
After the Belgian surrender on 28 May 1940, the German Military Administration in Belgium and Northern France governed the occupied country. As part of its strategy of indirect rule, the administration preferred to work with established Belgian political and social elites, largely ignoring fringe political groups such as the Rexists.[3]
Creation of the Walloon Legion, 1941–42
In order to acquire more influence and German support, Rex attempted to bring itself closer to the occupation authorities. On 1 January 1941, Degrelle announced Rex's total support for the occupation authorities and for the policy of collaborationism. After the German invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, it embraced the idea of raising a military unit, seen as "a political opportunity to increase the importance of their movements and eliminate political competition".[4] At the same time, the Flemish National League (Vlaamsch Nationaal Verbond, VNV), a Flemish nationalist and rival authoritarian party in Flanders, also announced its intention to form a "Flemish Legion" to fight in the German Army in the Soviet Union. This move, combined with the Germans' favourable stance towards the VNV, meant that it would not be possible to realise Rex's preferred option of a national "Belgian Legion" on the Eastern Front.[5]
In July 1941, Rex announced that it would raise a unit of volunteers of its own, dubbed the Wallonia Free Corps (Corps Franc Wallonie) or Walloon Legion (Légion Wallonie). Unlike comparable Flemish and
Most of the Legion's initial volunteers were Rexist cadres and many had been part of the Combat Formations (Formations de Combat) which served as the party's paramilitary wing. In propaganda, Rex emphasised the anti-communist dimension of the German war effort and argued that collaboration was compatible with Belgian patriotism.[7] The unit encountered various internal problems with some volunteers being unwilling to swear personal allegiance to Adolf Hitler and others being classed as medically unfit; almost a third of the volunteers were repatriated before October 1941.[8] Over the winter of 1941–1942, it participated in training and security operations near Donetsk in Ukraine.[9]
Eastern Front
In the Wehrmacht, 1941–43
For the first months after its deployment, the Walloon Legion was deployed in "minor mopping-up operations" behind the Eastern Front from November 1941. One of the Russian émigrés who served in the Legion, Rostislav Zavadskii, at the end of November wrote in his diary about the shootings of civilians suspected of being partisans. Although Feldgendarmerie units did the killing, one Walloon legionary also took part, with Belgian officers and soldiers standing by to watch and taking photographs.
The high attrition rate within the Walloon Legion required increasing focus on recruitment. The age requirements for volunteers were loosened in early 1942.[14] A second recruitment drive was started in February 1942, recruiting 450 new volunteers of whom many came from Rex's small Rexist Youth (Jeunesse Rexiste) or its paramilitary Combat Formations (Formations de Combat).[a] A third "frantic" campaign in November 1942 raised a further 1,700 men. These recruitment drives weakened many Rexist institutions by diverting manpower away from projects in Belgium. At the same time, it failed to secure more than 140 recruits from among the thousands of Belgian prisoners of war held in German camps.[16][14] However, Degrelle became increasingly keen on the political potential of the Walloon Legion which he saw as a more effective political tool than the Rexist Party in Belgium.[13] As the war continued and the pool of Rexist members fell, the volunteers became "largely non-political 'adventurers' or desperate men", often drawn from the urban working class and the unemployed.[17]
The Legion's record in combat, however, was widely exploited in propaganda and increased Degrelle's legitimacy in the eyes of the German leadership, especially Heinrich Himmler who commanded the SS. In the fighting between February and May 1942, Degrelle was able to rise rapidly through the ranks to Leutnant and received numerous decorations including the Iron Cross.[11] In subsequent months, he received further plaudits and became the only foreign volunteer to be decorated with the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves.[14]
In the Waffen-SS, 1943–45
In late 1942, Himmler declared the Walloons to be a Germanic race, paving the way for the unit's incorporation into the Waffen-SS on 1 June 1943. The Walloon Legion was re-organised into a brigade-sized unit of 2,000 men, known as the SS Assault Brigade Wallonia (SS-Sturmbrigade Wallonien).[18][19] As part of the transfer, the links between the unit and Rex were cut. The pre-existing structure of welfare organisations set up by Rex in German-occupied Belgium such as Legionary Solidarity (Solidarité légionnaire) were disbanded and replaced by a new autonomous entity known as National Socialist Welfare (Entre'aide Nationale-Socialiste).[19] Degrelle himself spent much of 1943 on a publicity tour of Germany and Belgium.[20]
In November 1943, the new SS-Sturmbrigade Wallonia was deployed for the first time to Ukraine in response to the Soviet
The Western Allies landed in Normandy in June 1944 and began to advance rapidly towards Belgium. On the Eastern Front, the brigade was hurriedly redeployed in July from its temporary camp in Franconia to participate in the Battle of Tannenberg Line outside Narva alongside other units of the SS from Western Europe including Flanders.[24] In the aftermath of the Allied liberation in September 1944, Degrelle managed to have the brigade upgraded to division-status, after drafting Rexist refugees fleeing the Allied advance and Belgian volunteers from the paramilitary National Socialist Motor Corps (Nationalsozialistisches Kraftfahrkorps, NSKK). The new 28th SS Volunteer Grenadier Division Wallonia (28. SS-Freiwilligen-Grenadier-Division Wallonien) was created in October 1944. It numbered fewer than 4,000 men, making it considerably understrength.[21][22] French soldiers and Spaniards from the Blue Legion were folded into the unit to increase its numbers.[23]
Early in 1945, the Wallonia Division was deployed to the defence of
Commanders
- Captain-Commandant Georges Jacobs (August 1941 – January 1942)
- Captain Pierre Pauly (January 1942 – March 1942)
- Captain George Tchekhoff (March 1942 – April 1942)
- SS-Sturmbannführer Lucien Lippert (April 1942 – 13 February 1944)
- SS-Sturmbannführer Léon Degrelle as political leader of the unit
- SS-Oberführer Karl Burk (21 June 1944 – 18 September 1944)
- SS-Standartenführer Léon Degrelle (18 September 1944 – 8 May 1945)
Post-war activities
Altogether, between 7,000 and 8,000 men served in the Walloon Legion between 1941 and 1944, slightly less than the number of Flemish who served in comparable formations. Some 1,337 were killed,[27] representing about a fifth of its total strength. However, its maximum field strength had never exceeded 2,000 men. In the final weeks of the war, Degrelle fled to German-occupied Norway and flew to Francoist Spain where, sentenced to death in absentia, he remained in exile until his death in 1994.[23]
Survivors of the Legion were sentenced to death after the war, although this was only carried out against the officers and holders of the Knights Cross. The enlisted ranks were let off with 10 to 20 years imprisonment[28] and re-education and training classes between 1946 and 1951. It was reported in 1992 that there were around 1,000 surviving veterans. Many were unrepentant and claimed not to have had any knowledge of Nazi atrocities.[29]
See also
- Flemish Legion
- Walloon Guard, a collaborationist auxiliary police formation founded in November 1941 with Rexist support.
- List of Waffen-SS divisions
- Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts
References
- ^ The Belgian Resistance launched a major attack ahead of a public parade of the new recruits through Brussels on 10 May 1942. Rex's headquarters was attacked and a bomb set out the boulevard Anspach wounded 10 spectators.[15]
Citations
- ISBN 0-275-95230-4.
- ^ Wouters 2018, p. 261.
- ^ Wouters 2018, pp. 262–263.
- ^ a b Wouters 2018, p. 266.
- ^ Aron & Gotovich 2008, p. 243.
- ^ Wouters 2018, p. 267.
- ^ Wouters 2018, pp. 266–268.
- ^ Wouters 2018, p. 270.
- ^ Aron & Gotovich 2008, p. 244.
- ISBN 978-5-906569-02-8.
- ^ a b Littlejohn 1972, p. 168.
- ^ Plisnier 2011, p. 100.
- ^ a b Wouters 2018, pp. 271–272.
- ^ a b c d e Littlejohn 1972, p. 169.
- CEGESOMA.
- ^ Plisnier 2011, p. 101.
- ^ Wouters 2018, p. 286.
- ^ Wouters 2018, p. 272.
- ^ a b Littlejohn 1972, p. 176.
- ^ Littlejohn 1972, pp. 176–7.
- ^ a b c Wouters 2018, p. 273.
- ^ a b c Littlejohn 1972, p. 177.
- ^ a b c d Aron & Gotovich 2008, p. 245.
- ^ Littlejohn 1972, p. 179.
- ^ Littlejohn 1972, p. 181.
- ^ Littlejohn 1972, pp. 181–2.
- ^ Wouters 2018, p. 274.
- ISBN 978 1 78076 072 8.
- ^ Bailly, Michel (29 February 1992). "Sur la réinsertion des survivants de la Légion Wallonie". Le Soir. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
Bibliography
- Aron, Paul & Gotovich, José, eds. (2008). "Légion Wallonie". Dictionnaire de la seconde guerre mondiale en Belgique [Dictionary of the Second World War in Belgium] (in French). Brussels: André Versaille. pp. 243–245. ISBN 978-2-87495-001-8.
- LeTissier, Tony (1996). Zhukov at the Oder: the decisive battle for Berlin. Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Company. ISBN 0-275-95230-4.
- Littlejohn, David (1972). The Patriotic Traitors: A History of Collaboration in German-occupied Europe, 1940-45. London: Heinemann. ISBN 0-434-42725-X.
- Müller, Rolf-Dieter (2012). The Unknown Eastern Front. New York: I,B, Tauris. ISBN 978 1 78076 072 8.
- Plisnier, Flore (2011). Ils ont pris les armes pour Hitler: la collaboration armée en Belgique francophone [They Took Up Arms for Hitler: Armed Collaboration in French-speaking Belgium] (in French). Brussels: Renaissance du Livre. ISBN 978-2-5070-0361-6.
- Wouters, Nico (2018). "Belgium". In ISBN 978-1-316-51034-6.
Further reading
- Conway, Martin (1993). Collaboration in Belgium: Léon Degrelle and the Rexist Movement, 1940-1944. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-3000-5500-9.
- de Bruyne, Eddy & Rikmenspoel, Marc (2004). For Rex and for Belgium: Leon Degrelle and Walloon Political & Military Collaboration 1940-45. Solihull: Helion & Company. ISBN 1-874622-32-9.
- Horn, Stephan (2021). Französische und wallonische Freiwilligenverbände im Zweiten Weltkrieg. Politische Implikationen militärischer Kollaboration. Berlin: Carola Hartmann Miles-Verlag. ISBN 9783967760156.
External links
- Légion Wallonie at Belgium-WWII (Cegesoma)