Wehrmacht Veterans in other Armies of the World

[Edward L. Hsiao]

During the Korean War,Soviet fighter pilots flying in their MiG-15s fighters,fought over Korea fighters against American F-86 fighters. At first the Soviets thought the pilots were German pilots from the Luftwaffe because the F-86s were handled in excellent flying and marksmanship. The Soviets reported their encounters to their superiors later they got to base. Later the reports about German pilots flying the F-86s were not true at all. It was just United States Air Force fighter pilots flying in their F-86s. I got this statement from "Twelve O'clock High Forum" [Post-WWII Aviation]. There maybe Luftwaffe pilot veterans flying USAF military planes over the battlefield of Korea but for now there is no proof of F-86s flown by Germans.

Edward L. Hsiao

[Edward L. Hsiao]

I remember looking at one of the Brandenburgers website, it said that after World War II, quite a few Germans of the Brandenburger commando units were hired by the British Special Forces due to the Germans expertise. I know that the Germans participated with the British plenty of small wars.


Edward L. Hsiao

[Edward L. Hsiao]

Gentlemen,

It would be interesting to know what French decorations were awarded to Germans while serving with the French Foreign Legion to go along with their WWII combat German decorations. I heard that a few Germans in the FFL wore their Iron Cross Ist Classes on their combat uniforms while in combat. In fact it would be interesting to know what foreign decorations that the Germans won while serving in the armies of the world especially the United States to go along with their WWII German combat decorations.

Edward L. Hsiao

[Edward L. Hsiao]

Gentlemen,

Were any Wehrmacht veterans in other Armies of the World besides Germany and Austria ever become generals or admirals? As far as I know there were no Wehrmacht veterans ever become generals or admirals of our US armed forces.
I still wonder if any Kriegsmarine veterans ever served in the US Navy after World War II.


Edward L. Hsiao

[Edward L. Hsiao]

Gentlemen,

After serving the French Foreign Legion,quite a few Germans decided to settle in South Vietnam and find civilian jobs and raise a family. There were also Germans becoming advisors to the South Vietnamese armed forces. I wonder if the Luftwaffe veterans after serving with the French Foreign Legion ever got a chance to fly while serving as advisors with the South Vietnamese Air Force? When South Vietnam was invaded by the North Vietnamese Army,a lot of Germans quit their civilian jobs and became soldiers again sometimes joining the German military advisors in fighting the North Vietnamese Army. It was a lost cause. Plenty of Germans lost their lives in the fighting.

Edward L. Hsiao

[Ironmachine]

Gentlemen,

Were any Wehrmacht veterans in other Armies of the World besides Germany and Austria ever become generals or admirals? As far as I know there were no Wehrmacht veterans ever become generals or admirals of our US armed forces.
I still wonder if any Kriegsmarine veterans ever served in the US Navy after World War II.

Well, a number of Spanish veterans of the Heer and the Luftwaffe later became generals in the Spanish Army and Air Force. Also, at least one of the Spaniards that served with the Kriegsmarine became later an admiral in the Spanish Navy, but I'm not sure that the Spaniards in the Kriegsmarine were technically "members of the German Kriegsmarine".
Regards.

[Edward L. Hsiao]

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your answer about the Spanish veterans who served with the Wehrmacht that rose to general and admiral ranks in the Spanish military years after World War II. But I was thinking about German veterans of World War II and if they ever rose to become generals and admiral ranks while serving in other world military forces after WWII. Pretty slim though. Maybe the highest rank in the US military armed forces for WWII German veterans serving with them was Colonel in the Army,Marines,or Air Force or Full Captain of the US navy.


Edward L. Hsiao

[Ironmachine]

Well, you left the "German" bit out the first time you asked, so you got what you actually asked for.

[Edward L. Hsiao]

Sometimes I wonder if the Luftwaffe transport pilots and Luftwaffe air and sea rescue pilots were ever hired by other countries' air forces of the world after World War II including the Western Allies like France, the United Kingdom and the United States?

Does South Korea's military ever had military advisors of German Wehrmacht veterans after World War II?


Edward L.Hsiao

[Edward L. Hsiao]

Gentlemen,

There were German soldiers,airmen,and sailors that were in the Legion Condor during the Spanish Civil War in Spain,1936-1939. Then came WWII,1939-1945. After WWII,there maybe quite a few German soldiers,airmen,and sailors who were veterans of the Spanish Civil War and World War II,came back to Spain to serve in the Spanish military as advisors or to serve in the Spanish Foreign Legion for years to come. I hear of Heer veterans serving the Spanish Army after WWII. The Luftwaffe veterans serving the Spanish Air Force after WWII. But I never heard of Kriegsmarine veterans serving the Spanish Navy after WWII.


Edward L. Hsiao

[Edward L. Hsiao]

One thing that you never heard of in your lifetime. Is that German K-men veterans of WWII (Frogmen,MEK,torpedo riders) becoming mercenaries or advisors to foreign navies. Nothing is known about their activities after WWII.

Edward L. Hsiao

[Edward L. Hsiao]

Skorzeny's SS Special Forces that includes men from the SS 600 Parachute Battalion and men from the SS frogmen were likely to be hired by foreign armies of the world after World War II. Quite a few of them ended up in the French Foreign Legion. Maybe the South Vietnamese military hired these Germans as well.

Edward L. Hsiao

[Ironmachine]

After WWII,there maybe quite a few German soldiers,airmen,and sailors who were veterans of the Spanish Civil War and World War II,came back to Spain to serve in the Spanish military as advisors or to serve in the Spanish Foreign Legion for years to come.

It's possible that some German veterans may have served in the Spanish armed forces after WWII, but they must per force have been very few in numbers. The Spanish Army was a conscript army with a far-too-big officer corps, so there was really no place for many Germans. The size of the Spanish "Foreign Legion" [sic] was 11 infantry battalions and 3 mixed-weapons battalions (and in 1947 the infantry battalions were cut to 9) and were already manned, so again no place for many Germans. It should be also remembered that, unlike the French Foreign Legion, the Spanish Legión was never really much "foreign": IIRC at its foundation, when the number of foreigners was higher, only about 20% of the men were foreigners, and post-WWII this percentage was about 5% or less.

I hear of Heer veterans serving the Spanish Army after WWII. The Luftwaffe veterans serving the Spanish Air Force after WWII.

Have you heard some general remarks of the "there were Germans in the Army" kind, or do you know any particular case with names and surnames?

But I never heard of Kriegsmarine veterans serving the Spanish Navy after WWII

That's kind of ironic, because the Navy was the one service that could have used some German veterans, as there was a real need of for example technical officers.

[Edward L. Hsiao]

I remember reading about German general Horst Niemack going to Spain after World War II. He and some other Germans were advisers to the Spanish horse calvary army. Niemack was awarded a high Spanish neck decoration for his service to the Spanish Army. I forgot what source it was.
There were German test pilots who used to be in the Luftwaffe and flew Spanish air force planes including the first Spanish made jet trainer.


Edward L. Hsiao

[Edward L. Hsiao]

I heard of soldiers of fortune among WWII Germans fighting ground wars in African countries. But I never heard much of pilots of fortune that were from the WWII Luftwaffe during the African wars during the 1960's.


Edward L. Hsiao