Monday, October 27, 2008

Waffen SS Freikorps

This topic is of a kind that is not only interesting but also controversial, foreign volunteers in Nazi Germany Army, mostly in Waffen SS Corps. Those of Ostlegion were probably most colourful part of Nazi German army. For further research check: vikipedia and feldgrau.com

Here you have lots of shields belonging to different countries, ethnic and religious groups that participated in Waffen SS Corps. Please help me to identify unknown ones and send me links to the ones that you know about, not listed here. All below pictures are published in Russian Imperial Awards website.

Wallons 

Russian Liberation Army
Unknown 9 
Unknown 7
Unknown 6 (Russia?)
Unknown 5 (France?)
Unknown4
Unknown3
Unknown 2
Unknown 1
Ukrainian UWW?
Ukrainian

Ukrainian

Ukrainian

Turkistan
Turkistan
Terek Cossacks
Tatars

Russia
PSW? Cossacks
Norway
North Caucasus
Latvia
Latvia
Lappland (part of Finland)
Kuban Cossacks
Kuban Cossacks
Russian National Liberation Army (Russkaya Osvoboditelnaya Narodnaya Armiya, RONA)
Russian National Liberation Army (Russkaya Osvoboditelnaya Narodnaya Armiya, RONA)

India

India

Hungary
Georgia
Free Arabs
France


Estonia

Estonia

Don Cossacks

Don Cossacks
Bulgaria
Berg Kaukasien (Caucasian Highlanders?)

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan

Armenia

More shields (replicas this time) from www.historama.com :

RONA

Denmark

Walons

Albania

Flanders

Croatia

ROA

Finnland

Hungary

More shields replicas from www.epicmilitaria.com :

Byelarus

Belgium

Estonia

Italy

Italy

Italy

Turkistan

Turkistan

Terek Cossacks

Don Cossacks

Ukraine
Lithuania
Spain
Hungary

Hungary

Galicia

Dutch (Flanders)

Dutch
Dutch
British

Few posters inviting to join Frei Korps, from Wikipedia: 

More posters taken from: http://www.frontkjemper.info

Video -WWII Norwegian Police joining Waffen SS HERE

Video -Waffen SS Viking HERE

Slideshow -anthem of Norldand Division HERE

Slideshow -Estonian Narwa Battalion HERE

Slideshow -Danish Waffen SS HERE

Slideshow - The Flandern Legion HERE

Here's a list of volunteer units that took part in Waffen SS (with amount of people in each unit), all data from polish Vikipedia :

Albania - 3000 - 21 Waffen-Gebirgs-Division der SS "Skanderbeg

Belgium (Flemish) - 23 000 - 5. SS-Panzer-Division „Wiking“, 27. SS-Freiwilligen-Grenadier-Division „Langemarck“

Belgium (Wallons) - 15 000 - 5. SS-Panzer-Division „Wiking“, 28. SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division „Wallonien“

British - 50 - Britisches Freikorps

Bulgaria - 200-1000 (?) - Panzer-Zerstörerbrigade (bulgarian)

Croatia - 30 000 - 7. SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgs-Division „Prinz Eugen“, 13. Waffen-Gebirgs-Division der SS „Handschar“, 23. Waffen-Gebirgs-Division der SS „Kama“

Denmark - 10 000 - Dänische SS-Einheiten, 5. SS-Panzer-Division „Wiking“, 11. SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division „Nordland“

India - 3500 - Indische Legion

Estonia - 20 000 - 20. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (estnische Nr. 1)

Finland - 1000 - Finnisch Freikorps

Hungary - 15 000 (?) - 22. SS-Freiwilligen-Kavallerie-Division (ungarische Nr. 1), 25. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS „Hunyadi“, 26. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (ungarische Nr. 2)

Latvia - 39 000 - 15. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (lettische Nr. 1), 19. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (lettische Nr. 2)

Netherlands - 50 000 - 5. SS-Panzer-Division „Wiking“, 23. SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division „Nederland“, 34. SS-Freiwilligen-Grenadier-Division „Landstorm Nederland“

Norway - 6000 - Freiwilligen Legion Norwegen, 5. SS-Panzer-Division „Wiking“, 11. SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division „Nordland“

France - 8000 - 33. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS „Charlemagne“

Italy - 20 000 - 29. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (italienische Nr. 1)

Ukraine (Galitzie) - 25 000 - 14. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (galizische Nr. 1) 

USSR (Russians, Belyarussians) - 12 000 - 29. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS „RONA“, 30. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (weißruthenische Nr. 1)

USSR (Cossacks) - 40 000-50 000 (?) - XV. Kosaken-Kavallerie-Korps

USSR (Tatars, Azers, Turkmens, Kirgizis, Uzbeks) - 8000 - Waffen-Gebirgs-Brigade der SS (Tatarische Nr 1), Osttürkischen Waffen-Verbände der SS

Romania - 3000 - 103 Tank Destroyer Battalion

Serbia - 15 000 - 7. SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgs-Division „Prinz Eugen“, 21. Waffen-Gebirgs-Division der SS „Skanderbeg“, Serbisches Freiwilligenkorps

Spain - 1000 - 101 SS Volunteer Company, 3 Com-1 Bat-28. SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division „Wallonien“

Sweden - 100-130 - 5. SS-Panzer-Division „Wiking“, 11. SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division „Nordland“

Switzerland - 700-800 - 5. SS-Panzer-Division „Wiking“, 11. SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division „Nordland“

This data does not cover smaller contingents form: Slovenia, Greece, Czechoslovakia, Lithuania, Luxembourg and few dozens of thousands of Polish volksdeutch (Polish citizens that declared to be Germans)

And here are shields of those divisions that were made of foreign volunteers, taken from www.germanmilitariacollectibles.com

A- 34th SS Gren Div "Landstorm Nederland"

B- 23rd Volunteer Panzer Gren Div. "Nederland"

C- 24th Waffen SS Mountain Div. "Karstjager"

D- 25th Waffen SS Gren Div. "Hungarian No. 2"

E- 26th Waffen SS Gren Div. "Hungarian No. 3"

F- 15th Waffen SS Gren Division "Latvian No. I"

G- 35th Pol Gren Division "Polizei Division 2"

H- 31st SS Frw Gren Division

I- SS Frw Gren Division "Bohmen-Mahren"

J- 32nd SS Volunteer Gren Division "January 30"

K- 33rd Waffen SS Gren Division "Charlemagne"

L- 11th Frw Panzer Gren Division "Nordland"

M- 5th SS Panzer Division "Wiking"

N- 36th Waffen SS Gren Division "Dirlewanger"

O- 19th Waffen SS Gren Division "Latvian No. II"

P- 20th Waffen SS Gren Division "Estonian No. I"

Q- 21st Waffen Geb Div der SS "Skanderbeg"

R- 22nd WW Frw Kav Division "Maria Theresa"

S- 6th SS Mountain Division "Nord"

T- 37th SS Vol Cavalry Division "Lutzow"

U- 27th SS Vol Gren Division "Flemish No. I"

V- 28th SS Vol Panzer Gren Division "Wallonie"

W- 29th Waffen SS Gren Division "Italian No. I"

X- 30th Waffen SS Gren Division "Russian No. II"

Y- 7th SS Vol Mountain Division "Prinz Eugen"

Z- 10th SS Panzer Division "Frundsberg"

AA- 38th SS Panzer Gren Division "Nibelungen"CC- 12th SS Panzer Division "Hitlerjugend" (Hitler Youth)

DD- LSSAH

EE- Liebstandarte SS

FF- 9th SS Panzer Division "Hohenstaufen"

GG- 16th SS Panzer Gren Division "Reichsfuhrer SS"

HH- 17th SS Panzer Gren Division "Gotz von Berlichingen"

JJ- 18th SS Vol Panzer Gren Division "Horst Wessel"

KK- 13th SS Mountain Division "Handschar"

LL- 14th SS Waffen Gren Division "Galizische No. I"

MM- 8th SS Cavairy Division "Florian Geyer"

NN- 1st SS Panzer Division "Liebstandarte"

OO- 2nd SS Panzer Division "Das Reich"

PP- 3rd SS Panzer Division "Totenkopf"

QQ- 4th SS Panzer Division "Polizei Division"

RR- Gross Deutschland Division

Those nice pictures of Ostlegion was taken from:www.steppes.proboards23.com



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