Waffen-SS in Vietnam

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Ezboard

Waffen-SS in Vietnam

#1

Post by Ezboard » 29 Sep 2002, 21:30

Tomas
Visitor
(8/11/01 11:28:25 am)
Reply Waffen-SS in Vietnam
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Did any former Waffen-SS soldiers fight with the french in Vietnam? A friend of mine has read that in some book and I am not sure I believe it.

Tomas

Madcap7
Veteran Member
Posts: 162
(8/11/01 2:09:46 pm)
Reply Re: Waffen-SS in Vietnam
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At the end of the war, the French Roreign Legion went around the camps looking for recruits, the Germans were offered food and water etc if they joined, many did because it offered them a better life than in a camp. They were then sent to Indochina.
"Alles fur Deutschland!... WOTAN... WOTAN... WOTAN! ". "Wir werden Sieger - durch unsren Tiger" (We will be victorious - thanks to our Tigers)

Max Martinson
Visitor
(8/12/01 12:58:19 pm)
Reply Indochina
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Many Waffen SS and in perticuar regular SS members joined the Legion after WWII. According to the legend the Legionaires mainly sang German marces in the Indochina during the war in the 50's.

For many former members of the regular SS Foreign Legion gave an escape from prosecution in the various war-crime trials. For many of the European volunteers in the Waffen SS the legion was the only way out to normal life. After the service legion veterans received French citisenship and one could start using a new name from the day one registered.

A new identity was quite helpfull for SS veterans from countries that had been occupied by Germany. Others actually had no country to return to like Estonians, Lithuanias, Ukranias and the like.

Others, like some Finns and Swedes, could well have returned to their home countries without any fear of persecution but chose to join the legion just the same. I guess they just had got the fighting in their blood...

tovarich2
Veteran Member
Posts: 537
(8/14/01 12:24:09 am)
Reply Re: Indochina
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Poke around a little, this topic has come up before and discussed on other threads.

It is typical for the Legion to get the losers from the last war -experienced military men with nothing to go home to. Germans after WWI and II, a handful of Americans after Vietnam.

It is my understanding there were so many Germans at Dien ben Phu that the Communist Vietnamese used German language propaganda broadcast urging them to give up.

Bubba
Visitor
(8/14/01 1:02:19 am)
Reply "Devil's Guard"
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Tomas,

The book your friend read is "Devil's Guard" by George Robert Elford. One of the past discussions tovarich is talking about can be found at:

pub3.ezboard.com/fskalman...=269.topic

I liked the book, although it was a long time ago that I read it.

Bubba


Haegg
New Member
Posts: 10
(8/14/01 4:46:13 pm)
Reply Germans in Indochina
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About five years ago I met a veteran from the legion's war in Indochine. He claimed that the number of Germans in the ranks often is exagerated. But that there was a few units with alot of Germans. He claimed that the legion tried to keep the Germans in the same units. I don't know why but maybe it was a matter of language. He also said that there was one veteran from Charlemange working as a cargomaster on a cargo aircraft during the siege of Dien Bien Phu.

RobWSSOB
Visitor
(8/21/01 6:52:31 pm)
Reply re: SS troopers in French Foreign Legion
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Bernard B. Fall in his book "Hell in a Very Small Place" about the Siege of Dien Bien Phu writes that while many of the French Foreign Legionnaires at Dien Bien Phu were German, they were probably not Waffen-SS members, since most of them were in their early 20's during the battle (1953) - so they would have been circa 13-15 years old in 1945. He believed that most were from East Germany.

Chris
Visitor
(8/24/01 12:13:25 pm)
Reply SS
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The ex-SS and Fallschirmjaeger were,along with the French Paras,the best soldiers ever to fight in the jungles of Indochina.
Diem bien phu,no,most of the soldiers there were French,a lot of paras who were overwhelmingly outnumbered and were in the end obliterated.
Tovarish seems to think these guys were "loosers"...
The kill ratio of best French units and American were impressive...If politicians were stronger the Viet Minh/Cong would have been exterminated.
Ive heard many say that America won the war militarily but lost the war politically.This is true.
Tovarish,what would you say of Afghanistan?Apart from Spetsnaz and para units,how did the regulars fare?Not very good.Why?Because of their leadership wasnt it.Spetsnaz were given more "freedom" and they subsequently wreeked havoc on the Mujahadeen,their strategy was very good.The men in charge of your regs,were using tactics for open field war,good for the 1950's maybe.
Same as what happened to the French.The paras were given free roles,the Legion and others had bafoons in charge.
Panjemajo?
Dassvidanja.

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