Waffen ss in the French Foreign Legion

[diver99]

I'm thinking of collecting some FFL items, anyone know of a good site?

Nick

I think theyre recruiting at the moment.

[StefanM]

Some former soldiers of the Polish NSZ Brygada Świętokrzyska - Holy Cross Mountains Brigade - also enlisted with the FFL after the end of WWII.

Also the Brygada Świętokrzyska leadership, which became based in France, offered to set up a "Free Polish Legion" to fight in Korea but their offer was turned down by both Britain and the US.

[kz11gr]

=


Hello

Indochina : 55% to 63% German in the FFL.

A song of the 2nd paratrooper Regiment is a waffen SS song .

HERE : "FFL_SONG - YouTube"

Other german songs in the FFL : Legion Etrangere - chant vs lied.. - YouTube

And here an old version of the waffen SS song , by the FFL (perhaps indochina) : FFL march - YouTube

=

===============

origin : The Wise Old Owl: Vietnam...The Sorrow of WAR and other books.



Friday, August 27, 2010

Vietnam...The Sorrow of WAR and other books.
My recent trip to Vietnam In June was hugely meaningful for me personally.
I have had so much contact and connection with Vietnam through the books I've read
over several decades.
As Professor Higgins confessed in the movie musical My Fair Lady ...." I've grown accustomed
to her face. " Me too, except this is the face of Vietnam that I've grown familiar with.
Here in this blogpost, I would like to share a brief insight about 3 books from my Vietnam section.


First published in 1972, Devil's Guard by George Robert Elford tells about the life story
of an ex- German Waffen SS officer who, after the end of World War 2, who escaped the
war crime trials in Europe and joined the French Foreign Legion.
His name: Hans Josef Wagemueller. He and other escaped Germans like him were then
sent to Indo-china ( Vietnam ) to fight against the Viet Minh. Their battalion was nicknamed
the "DEVILS GUARD ".
Of all the factual books about Vietnam and the wars connected with it which I have in my library
or have read, I would rate the account in this book as the most brutal and raw that I have come across to date. The degenerate and totally inhuman violence that both sides perpetrated on each other is so shocking that you need to have strong nerves and a steady hand to hold the book while reading it. If you can somehow set aside the brutality and gruesome descriptions of some of the most inhuman acts against a human being...you will learn much about the brilliant German mind at work and the equally fascinating response from their formidable foes.
It is my belief that reading this book and learning from the Devils Guard concept of jungle warfare would have been of a super great help to all those greenhorn GIs and fresh college kids from America who were sent to Vietnam....many of whom did not survive.

=============







= use of german & ss material by the FFL (weapons, perts of uniforms ....)

A short hose in w SS camoufled - 1948 Caporal 3 REI


===

Origin : SS and the Foreign Legion

ss tarnjacke


camoufled german uniform ?

[Woolgar]

Thanks for that info!

Nick

[roger9344]

I just bought 3 of the Elford Devil's Guard books. I am looking forward to reading them.

[Paul D]

=


Hello

Indochina : 55% to 63% German in the FFL.

A song of the 2nd paratrooper Regiment is a waffen SS song .

HERE : "FFL_SONG - YouTube"

Other german songs in the FFL : Legion Etrangere - chant vs lied.. - YouTube

And here an old version of the waffen SS song , by the FFL (perhaps indochina) : FFL march - YouTube

=

===============

origin : The Wise Old Owl: Vietnam...The Sorrow of WAR and other books.



Friday, August 27, 2010

Vietnam...The Sorrow of WAR and other books.
My recent trip to Vietnam In June was hugely meaningful for me personally.
I have had so much contact and connection with Vietnam through the books I've read
over several decades.
As Professor Higgins confessed in the movie musical My Fair Lady ...." I've grown accustomed
to her face. " Me too, except this is the face of Vietnam that I've grown familiar with.
Here in this blogpost, I would like to share a brief insight about 3 books from my Vietnam section.


First published in 1972, Devil's Guard by George Robert Elford tells about the life story
of an ex- German Waffen SS officer who, after the end of World War 2, who escaped the
war crime trials in Europe and joined the French Foreign Legion.
His name: Hans Josef Wagemueller. He and other escaped Germans like him were then
sent to Indo-china ( Vietnam ) to fight against the Viet Minh. Their battalion was nicknamed
the "DEVILS GUARD ".
Of all the factual books about Vietnam and the wars connected with it which I have in my library
or have read, I would rate the account in this book as the most brutal and raw that I have come across to date. The degenerate and totally inhuman violence that both sides perpetrated on each other is so shocking that you need to have strong nerves and a steady hand to hold the book while reading it. If you can somehow set aside the brutality and gruesome descriptions of some of the most inhuman acts against a human being...you will learn much about the brilliant German mind at work and the equally fascinating response from their formidable foes.
It is my belief that reading this book and learning from the Devils Guard concept of jungle warfare would have been of a super great help to all those greenhorn GIs and fresh college kids from America who were sent to Vietnam....many of whom did not survive.

=============







=

A short hose in w SS camoufled - 1948 Caporal 3 REI


===

Origin : SS and the Foreign Legion

ss tarnjacke

Interesting photos and info thanks for posting !

[StefanM]

Updated information on soldiers of the Polish NSZ Brygada Świętokrzyska - Holy Cross Mountains Brigade - who enlisted with the FFL after the end of WWII.

On the basis of letters sent to the Brigade’s headquarters in Germany and intercepted by the CIC [Agent Report, 7970 CIC 1948, CIC Holy Cross Brigade File, FOIA], there is evidence that soldiers of the Brigade were fighting with the French Foreign Legion in Morocco and others had gone to the war breaking out against French rule in Southeast Asia.

Source: The Anabasis of the Holy Cross Brigade —Reflected in the Documents of the United States Government 1945-1950 by David & Todd Morgan

[JURA7818]

I have served in 2REP(FFL's airborne regiment) from 2002 to 2007 and I can confirm that after WW2 there was enormous amount of ex waffen SS and falschirmjager's in FFL. Most of our traditional songs are Wermacht or SS songs sung in French, and during Fete de Camerone I have met with some old guys who served 8 or more years in Indochina and Algeres and do not speek any French only German. That fact testifies that there must have been units at that time composed of mainly german soldiers. My Companies song "Le soleil brille" is Falschirmjeager song "Rot scheint die sonne."
And Regimental song "Le Diable marche avec nous" is SS song "SS marchiert in feindesland".
The "Westerwald lied" is sung in German durig marches, also "Rosemarie".
"Panzer lied" is "Les Kepis blancs".
The security service in Legion is still called by us Legionnaires L'Gestapo.
ZAnd so on...

[Gunny Hartmann]

I have served in 2REP(FFL's airborne regiment) from 2002 to 2007 and I can confirm that after WW2 there was enormous amount of ex waffen SS and falschirmjager's in FFL. Most of our traditional songs are Wermacht or SS songs sung in French, and during Fete de Camerone I have met with some old guys who served 8 or more years in Indochina and Algeres and do not speek any French only German. That fact testifies that there must have been units at that time composed of mainly german soldiers. My Companies song "Le soleil brille" is Falschirmjeager song "Rot scheint die sonne."
And Regimental song "Le Diable marche avec nous" is SS song "SS marchiert in feindesland".
The "Westerwald lied" is sung in German durig marches, also "Rosemarie".
"Panzer lied" is "Les Kepis blancs".
The security service in Legion is still called by us Legionnaires L'Gestapo.
ZAnd so on...

Thanks very much for the interesting info!...

[Woolgar]

I have served in 2REP(FFL's airborne regiment) from 2002 to 2007 and I can confirm that after WW2 there was enormous amount of ex waffen SS and falschirmjager's in FFL. Most of our traditional songs are Wermacht or SS songs sung in French, and during Fete de Camerone I have met with some old guys who served 8 or more years in Indochina and Algeres and do not speek any French only German. That fact testifies that there must have been units at that time composed of mainly german soldiers. My Companies song "Le soleil brille" is Falschirmjeager song "Rot scheint die sonne."
And Regimental song "Le Diable marche avec nous" is SS song "SS marchiert in feindesland".
The "Westerwald lied" is sung in German durig marches, also "Rosemarie".
"Panzer lied" is "Les Kepis blancs".
The security service in Legion is still called by us Legionnaires L'Gestapo.
ZAnd so on...

Thank you for that information and welcome to the forum!

If you can share some tales and pics of your time in the Legion that would be amazing!!

Nick