Per Sorensen - Danish Army

[keith A]

Can anyone give me details of this soldiers life before he joined the Wehrmacht in 1941?

regards

Keith

[Panzermahn]

No, he didn't join the Wehrmacht.

He was a Danish officer candidate before Denmark was invaded in 1940. Enlisted in the Freikorps Danmark, fought in the Demyansk Pocket transferred to Regiment 23, Nordland division after Freikorps Danmark was dissolved in 1943. KIA during the Battle of Berlin May 1945.

[keith A]

Sorry I assumed the Frikorps was a nuit of the Wehrmacht but now see it was part of the Waffen-SS. Was he really only an officer candidate in the Danish Army? One of the sources states he was Adjutant of the Vyborg Regiment which I assumed would be a First Lieutenant post. Officer Candidate for a soldier of 27 seems very unusual unless he served in the ranks? Also his admission to the Waffen-SS was as SS-Obersturmfuhrer. I assumed he had joined the Danish Army at around 20-22 (c1933-35) after some sort of officer training.

regards

Keith

[keith A]

I assume the Viborg regiment was the 3rd infantry regiment.

regards

Keith

[Halfdan S.]

http://ditt.almanet.dk/Sorensen.html

Best
Halfdan S.

[keith A]

thanks Halfdan but this doesn't answer my question. It was this site that got me interested in Sorensen but his pre-war service isn't mentioned other than he was with the Danish Army. As I wrote in my earlier message I assume he was a regular army officer with several years service possibly from his eariy twenties c.1933. He may have been a graduate of the Royal Danish Military Academy in your home city .

regards

Keith

[kstdk]

Hello

From the above link Quote: "Da er han en succesfuld premierløjtnant i den danske hær."

That is translated: Quote "As he is a succesfull first Leutenant in the Danish Army" - further "He enlists in the Waffen SS"

This is the full text where this sentence is in:

"Per Sørensen melder sig til Waffen-SS, da Frikorps Danmark bliver dannet i juli 1941. Da er han en succesfuld premierløjtnant i den danske hær. Han melder sig trygt til tysk tjeneste, da den danske regering har stillet officerer i udsigt, at de efter krigen kan vende tilbage til den danske hær."

Regards
Kurt
kstdk

[keith A]

Thanks Kurt, but again "successful" - how? The Danish army has no military engagements during his period with it, and first lieutenant after possibly eight years service is not meteoric promotion. Was he a staff officer perhaps? The Nazis obviously felt he was a capable officer, despite his lack of combat experience,and presumably his political views were in agreement with theirs. Was he a member of the Danish Nazi party I wonder?

regards

Keith

[Halfdan S.]

First, thanks for translating, Kurt.

Yes, you are right, Keith, what is successful?! As I remember "Per-Søren" wasn't a staff-officer, but he was among the highest ranking first lieutenants in the danish army. Denmark hadn't been at war since 1864. The army was "old", or the personnel was, we had 10 generals at the time, the oldest was from 1878, the youngest from 1888!!! That would go for all ranks that you had to have a certain age before you advanced … to advance you had to wait for the old ones to retire; no wars, means no swift promotions. Denmark had a bit of personnel in the Finnish War, amongst others Christian Frederik von Schalburg, which meant that he had build a certain reputation, that the others didn't. When the Germans came in 1940 the government decided not to put up any resistance, and a lot of the younger officers came to admire or respect the Germans; Martinsen, Schalburg, Sørensen etc.

Yes, Sørensen was at the 3. Regiment, based in Viborg. He didn't become a party member (DNSAP) until late 1942.

Best
Halfdan S.

[keith A]

Many thanks Halfdan, that explains a lot about the Danish military perspective.

best regards

Keith