It was essentially to embarrass the British high command and to use the Indian Legion as a propaganda tool in 1942. A very very expensive propaganda tool if you think about it as the funding could have been better spent perhaps on raising a foreign legion from within Europe which the german's could maybe have actually sent to the Eastern Front instead if you think about it in that sense.Ironmachine wrote:Maybe for Bose and his most close collaborators, but what about the Germans? After all, there were the Germans who created, funded and trained the Indian Legion that, it must not be forgotten, was a unit of the German Army.The whole point of the formation of the Indian Legion was Nationalistic in nature.
By the time 1943 comes around suddenly, Hitler finds out that Bose has negotiated a set of terms and conditions of the formation of the Legion in which include being put out of harm's away from being ánnhilated (i.e no front line service) to be part of a German effort.
This infuriated him and though this is speculation, hammered them in late 44 during an SS conference pertaining to the handling of the foreign legions (who by this time had all been absorbed into the Waffen SS) by stating they were essentially useless, were poor soldiers and would run when faced with British forces. He ridiculed them and that was that as far as legion 950 was concerned.
Other than a short period of combat against French and American Shermans (anti tank role) and small arms combat, they were retreating for much of the time back across the Rhine. I have the dates which I can dig for you as far as which towns they passed through on their retreat and what months.
At one point, they successfully knocked out 4-10 French Shermans and a number of American Shermans but lost in excess of over 1000 men during the period due to air attacks by allied ground attack fighters and combat, to soldiers running off to surrender to advancing allied forces, to men who joined the french resistence and in some cases, some being lost and never found.
A number were arrested and shot for 4-6 cases of rape and others for war crimes once leadership began to waver and the main component of officers surrendered to the allies.