Former Waffen -SS in French Foreign Legion

[Dan M]

Years ago, I recall reading an article about former Waffen -SS members joining the FFL and fighting in Vietnam. Any truth to the story?

[irish]

I had also heard this. The FFL post WW2 had large numbers of ex German soldiers in their ranks so it would stand to reason that a portion of these would have been SS. And a portion of these would likely have served in Indochina.

The way it was presented was that some of these ex SS soldiers needed to disappear after the war and a great place to disappear was in the FFL.

I am unsure how dilligent the French were in weeding out these individuals.

An acquaintance of mine who had served in the FFL in the mid 70's said at that time their were still a number of FFL NCO's that were ex German soldiers.

[kammo man]

FFL is one big happy family for the worlds naughty boys who crave adventure.
And what a party was going on in Indo-china in the late 40s early 50s .
Who could resist the fun.

owen

[hochiminhtrail]

many ex W-SS members were recruited in french POW camps, instead of serving their time in camps they had a deal to serve instead in the FFL.

HCMT

[wasserfal]

A dutch artist named Jan monteyn joined the FFL after serving in the German army.
I don't know if here is the right place but it might be of interest for some of you.
http://www.janmontyn.com/roles2.html

[cookie]

This is one of those legends that springs up around usually baseless rumours. Very few 'SS men' served in the Foreign Legion post WWII. Those that tried to join were weeded out by the French Duxieme Bureau and sent to prison as war criminals. The whole thing about dodgy people needing to disappear and the legion looking the other way springs up from the nineteen hundreds when they had to fill their dreary and dangerous Saharan forts with runaway debtors, thieves, fraudsters and adventurers. The Legion had a very healthy intake of volunteers post WWII and they didn't need to lower themselves to accepting runaway war criminals. There were more than enough experienced soldiers of all nations flocking to join them. Europe was an impoverished and damaged place at that time and people joined up for three square meals and a roof over their head.
The French Colonial Army did form a unit of French nationals who had served in the Milice, Waffen-SS (Charlemagne Div & Sturmbrigade), the Legion Volontaire Francaise, and the various other German services. This was called the BILOM (bataillon infanterie legere d'outre mer) and was raised on 6th July 1948. It wasn't Legion and only accepted French nationals. They werved mostly in Cambodia and Laos. Casualties were high and they were initially not allowed rank or awards although this changed as they proved to be (mostly) quite effective. The unit was renamed several times and ended up as a Bataillon montagnard in 1950. Several men survived and went on the fight as paratroopers in Algeria.

If anyone has documented proof of Waffen SS Germans serving in the Legion I would be very interested to see it.

[irish]

"The French Colonial Army did form a unit of French nationals who had served in the Milice, Waffen-SS (Charlemagne Div & Sturmbrigade), the Legion Volontaire Francaise, and the various other German services. This was called the BILOM (bataillon infanterie legere d'outre mer) and was raised on 6th July 1948. It wasn't Legion and only accepted French nationals."

This sounds like an important distinction. Yes rumours do unfortunately turn into reality. thank you for this clarification.

Is it true that a number of Wehrmacht Germans "non SS" served in the FFL in the imediate post WW2 era? I had always accepted this as fact, rightly or wrongly.

[lew]

Originally Posted by irish

Is it true that a number of Wehrmacht Germans "non SS" served in the FFL in the imediate post WW2 era? I had always accepted this as fact, rightly or wrongly.

This part is true. Many non-SS German soldiers served all the way through the Algerian War (and beyond). I forget the exact stats, but about a quarter to a third of the FFL in the late 40's, 50's, and early 60's were Germans, with many having served in the Wehrmacht.

[DennyB]

I knew a man that had been in the Hitler Jugend and inducted into the Volkssturm in 1945, wounded, then left at home to mend where he was at war's end.
In 1948, he was 18 years old and could not find a job. He joined the French Foreign Legion and served in French Indo-China.

[Jean-Loup]

There were a lot of former german soldiers in the legion after the war, including some SS; though I have no idea of the percentage; and of course there is the usual tendency on the long run for every German soldier to be "SS" and "nazi"...

In the book "Et mets ta robe de bal" by Belgian SS Henri Phillipet, he mentions at least one SS comrad who joined the legion and was killed in Indochina. I believe he mentions a few others as well, but I dont remember as I read the book several years ago.

A very interesting case (though not SS) is that of Paul Malaguti. In 1944 he was a member of the collaborationist Parti Populaire FRancais (PPF). On August 15th he was present in a Villa in Cannes when 11 FRench resistance members were executed in the basement following the Allied invasion of southern France a few miles away. He apparently shot at one prisoner who managed to escape.
After the war he was condemned to death, but managed somehow to join the Legion, and was pardonned. This scumbag later went into politics in Jean Marie Le Pen's party, and presented himself at elections! A man who had been condemned to death for his involvement in a massacre of French patriots later had the guts and right to be a candidate at elections...

Link to his obituary here: http://www.liberation.fr/france/0101...dele-de-le-pen

JL

[kammo man]

Well there you go .

[Beersheba4thLH]

Originally Posted by Jean-Loup

There were a lot of former german soldiers in the legion after the war, including some SS; though I have no idea of the percentage; and of course there is the usual tendency on the long run for every German soldier to be "SS" and "nazi"...

In the book "Et mets ta robe de bal" by Belgian SS Henri Phillipet, he mentions at least one SS comrad who joined the legion and was killed in Indochina. I believe he mentions a few others as well, but I dont remember as I read the book several years ago.

A very interesting case (though not SS) is that of Paul Malaguti. In 1944 he was a member of the collaborationist Parti Populaire FRancais (PPF). On August 15th he was present in a Villa in Cannes when 11 FRench resistance members were executed in the basement following the Allied invasion of southern France a few miles away. He apparently shot at one prisoner who managed to escape.
After the war he was condemned to death, but managed somehow to join the Legion, and was pardonned. This scumbag later went into politics in Jean Marie Le Pen's party, and presented himself at elections! A man who had been condemned to death for his involvement in a massacre of French patriots later had the guts and right to be a candidate at elections...

Link to his obituary here: http://www.liberation.fr/france/0101...dele-de-le-pen

JL

I know of five veterans of the Legion Wallonie who served in Indochine with the Legion Etrangere. Three of them were killed in action.

Some of you might find this of interest:

[kenify]

In the 80's an 'uncle' visited my parents here in Australia. My parents, the visiting uncle and my wife and I went to a dance, I asked him why he didn't dance, he said that he had walked back to Germany from Moscow, his legs weren't up to it. This certainly got me interested so I asked for his story. He was in the Infantry with 'Das Reich' for most of the war, when the war was over he was a french POW. He said the french gave him a choice, 14 years POW, mine clearing (I wasn't sure whether he meant below ground mining or land mines) or join the FFR. He joined the FFR, and was badly wounded in Diem Ben Phu (spelling) and medevaced out by helicopter. A few years after we had met him we visited him in Berlin where he was born and still lived. As it happened he lived in the french sector of Berlin, had access to the french version of the PX which he used frequently, his flat was full of french cigarettes food and wine, he even received a french pension on top of his german pension. Sadly I know no more and he has passed away 20 years ago.