Wehrmacht Veterans in other Armies of the World

[Ironmachine]

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.

Never heard about him advising the Spanish Army, and I think it is not correct. If he was indeed an adviser, I think he would have advised the Spanish Olympic equestrian team, not the Spanish Army cavalry branch. After all, his Spanish decoration, the "Gran Cruz de la Orden del Mérito Militar", was apparently awarded "for his services to the German-Spanish equestrian friendship":

Im Jahre 1953 erhielt er für seine Verdienste für die deutsch-spanische Reiterfreundschaft von Generalissimus Franco das Großkreuz des spanischen Militärverdienstordens. Ab 1954 war er Präsident der Ordensgemeinschaft der Ritterkreuzträger.

Source: http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Per ... ackH-R.htm
Anyway, I'm fairly sure he was never considered a member of the Spanish Army.

]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.

The first Spanish-made jet trainer was the HA–200 "Saeta", designed by a team headed by Willy Messerschmitt. I don't know if there were German test pilots involved in the development of the plane (I do know that the first test flight was made by a Spanish pilot, Fernando de Juan Valiente), but if there were they well could be staff from the Hispano Aviación firm and not members of the Spanish Air Force. Anyway, again I must say that without any names all this is just gossip, no way to confirm or disprove it.

[Sheldrake]

Gentlemen,

It's been awhile that anybody could come up with examples of Wehrmacht veterans serving in other military services of the World. I for one is out of ideas for now. Thank you so much for you contributions to this topic that I put together a very years ago!

Sincerely,

Edward L. Hsiao

I have not heard of ex Wehrmacht soldiers serving as individuals in the British post war army. We had plenty of good Special Forces soldiers and didn't need the dubious expertise of Skorzeny's men.

However, the British Army recruited whole units from the Wehrmacht on the same basis as other native troops - with British officers and NCOs in control of the discipline and money. At the end of WW2 there were hundreds of thousands of Germans PW. Logistic support was provided by German supply and transport units retained under British Command. Eventually they were retained as third line transport in Germany. They were civilians with lower pay and pensions than UK military.

There is a list of these units here. http://british-army-units1945on.co.uk/r ... group.html

A friend of mine commanded 632 MCTG based in Kerr Barracks. They were the transport column of a parachute corps the superintendents (NCOs and Staff superintendents (Officers) were all whrmacht vetyerans.

There were two types of civilian tranpsort organisation. MCTG = ex Wehrmacht and MSO = Ex Polish DP. Never mix the two

[Edward L. Hsiao]

Well,the German Wehrmacht veterans in the British Armed Forces were not many.
I wonder if Saudi Arabia's armed forces had German Wehrmacht veterans acting as military advisors after WWII?


Edward L. Hsiao

[Edward L. Hsiao]

So far I have not heard any confirmed reports of German Kriegsmarine veterans of WWII joining other navies and wearing naval uniforms of other countries. I heard of Kriegsmarine veterans that joined the armies of other countries.

Edward L. Hsiao

[Edward L. Hsiao]

For some WWII German veterans,the US Army was the third army of the world they served. The first two would be the Wehrmacht and the second would be the French Foreign Legion. And if they retired from the US Army in their 40's years of age and still not have enough of being soldiers,they joined a mercenary army overseas,particularly in Africa. So it was three or four armies they served and a number of conflicts they fought. Sounds unbelievable to you guys but it was true. They were not insane,it was just the way of life of being career soldier. And they were still Germans!

Edward L. Hsiao

[Edward L. Hsiao]

So far the WWII German veterans who decided to stay in Canada after the war joined the Royal Canadian Army after an unsuccessful find for civilian jobs. What about the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Royal Canadian Navy? I have not heard anything about WWII German veterans joining the other two services of the Royal Canadian Armed Forces. Were there any WWII German veterans in these other two services?

Edward L. Hsiao

[Xavier]

In the documentary “In Foreign Service”, broadcast on the French television channel Arte in 2005, the French film maker Marc Eberle has retraced some of these hallucinating journeys. One of the former german legionnaires confided that, when he was taken prisoner by a vietminh group, he was led straight to the captain ... who was German.
According to Eberle, 1,400 German legionnaires would have changed sides.
the documentary is on two parts on vimeo, including some interviews
https://vimeo.com/68831329?fbclid=IwAR1 ... IM1myjSlT4 part 1
https://vimeo.com/68837669?fbclid=IwAR1 ... E6Arb6EiYg part 2

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[Edward L. Hsiao]

I don't know how it was in South Africa after WWII,but a lot of WWII German veterans settled in that big country after the war. Plenty of them found civilian jobs there. Others had joined the South African armed forces. Quite a few German veterans from the Brandenburg commando units became military advisors to South Africa's special forces. The Germans I think went on plenty of commando missions with the South Africans. I'm sure there were Germans with the South African Army. I'm not sure there were Germans in the South African Air Force or the South African Navy.

Edward L. Hsiao

[Edward L. Hsiao]

In the past from other forums, I heard of some Germans from the other branches of the Wehrmacht other than the Luftwaffe joined the US Air Force after WWII and when they become US citizens. I don't know what positions in the US Air Force they joined. Most likely crewmen or pilots. I have to yet hear a comfirmed report of a Luftwaffe pilot veteran in the US Air Force flying US fighter jets.


Edward L. Hsiao

[Edward L. Hsiao]

I'm not surprised that the Israel's tank force have a few WWII German crewmen from the Panzerwaffe. Israel's tank crewmen probably learned something from the Germans. Israel's tank force had defeated tank forces of Egypt,Syria,and other Arab countries.

Edward L. Hsiao

[Edward L. Hsiao]

From another forum. A former Luftwaffe pilot in California National Guard unit in 1959. He had immigrated. Anglicized his name,became a US citizen and enlisted in the guard where he became a much respected NCO (and instructor in escape and evasion).
His name not known.

Edward L. Hsiao

[Edward L. Hsiao]

The German Kriegsmarine veterans of WWII who joined the French Foreign Legion after the war were not well known as those Germans who came from the Heer,Waffen-SS,and the Luftwaffe. The FFL had a few gunboats for river warfare off the Gulf of Tonkin for the legionnares including the German Kriegsmarine veterans to man. The German sailors who were in the FFL were from the U-boats,S-boats(speedboats),surface warships,flak barges, frogmen and others. Those from the SS-frogmen did well in the FFL too in the river. The operations of these German frogman veterans in the FFL remains to be told. There were reports of former U-boat commanders fighting on land as privates in the FFL. Anybody who knows a good story of German Kriegsmarine veterans in the FFL fighting on land and in the river in Indochina is free to contribute.

Edward L. Hsiao

[Edward L. Hsiao]

Siegfried Freytag wasn't the only Knight's Cross and German Cross in Gold holder to be in the French Foreign Legion. There had to be other German Wehrmacht veterans who were holders of these two high decorations to be in the French Foreign Legion. Can you name some more examples. Probably those who won the German Cross in Gold were many in the FFL.

Edward L. Hsiao

[Edward L. Hsiao]

Three areas of the US military armed forces that you never heard of German Wehrmacht veterans served in. The USAF Green Hornets helicopter squadron,the US Army Rangers,and the US Navy SEALS. There is probably no such thing.

There was one country in Asia where no German military advisor ever step foot in to train its military armed forces. That is Thailand.


Edward L. Hsiao

[Edward L. Hsiao]

The CIA might have recruited some Luftwaffe pilot veterans to fly covert missions with Air America over some hot spots in Asia and South America.
I still think there were German pilots from the Luftwaffe that flew combat missions with the French Air Force and the French Army Light Aviation during the First Indochina War. Well not many.


Edward L. Hsiao