| 33rd Waffen Grenadier Division Of The Ss Charlemagne (1st French) |
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The 33.Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS ''Charlemagne'' (französische Nr. 1) and ''' ''Charlemagne'' Regiment''' are collective names used for units of French volunteers in the Wehrmacht and later Waffen-SS during the World War II . FORMATION AND HISTORY The ''Charlemagne'' division was formed in 1944 from an amalgamation of troops serving in other French units of the German armed forces, as well as from the paramilitary Franc-Garde of the Milice . The first unit was the Légion des Volontaires Français (Legion of French Volunteers or LVF), mainly composed of right-wing Frenchmen and released French soldiers who preferred fighting to forced labor in Germany. The LVF, also known by its official German designation, Infanterieregiment 638, fought near Moscow in November 1941 but its commander, Colonel Roger Labonne , was later relieved of his duties and in 1942 the men were assigned to anti- Partisan duties in the Byelorussian SSR ( Belarus ). They were briefly succeeded in France by ''La Légion Tricolore'' (Tricolor Regiment) but this unit lasted only six months in 1942 and was later absorbed into the LVF. The unit (without a French commander) was attached to various German divisions until June 1943 when Colonel Edgard Puaud took command. The LVF fought well on the Ukraine front against the Soviet s in 1944. In June of 1944, hours before the LVF's planned departure to France, it was called into action when Army Group Centre's weak front crumpled under the Red Army's all-out summer offensive. On 25 June elements of the LVF under Major Bridoux fought for the next forty-eight hours against a Soviet assault. Supported by Stuka, five tiger tanks and a unit of SS-Police, they checked attack after attack. This fight at the Bobr river undoubtedly was the LVF's finest hour. Upwards of forty Soviet tanks lay destroyed in front of the French positions. Testimony to the prowess of the LVF came from a Soviet communique which spoke of their forces being stopped by the sacrifice of "two French divisions". In the meantime, in July 1943, a new recruiting drive had begun in Vichy France . It attracted 3000 applicants, mostly members of collaborating militias and university students. This unit (''Französische SS-Freiwilligen-Sturmbrigade'')led by ex-Foreign Legionnaire Obersturmbannfuhrer Gamory-Dubordeau, was attached to SS Division Horst Wessel; sent to Galicia to fight the Soviet advance it tenaciously held its ground, suffering heavy casualties. In September 1944 the surviving LVF/Sturmbrigade volunteers were inducted into the new Waffen-Grenadier-Brigade der SS 'Charlemagne' (franz. Nr.1), also know at the time as the "Französische Brigade der SS" with the addition of French collaborators fleeing the Allied advance in the west, as well as Frenchmen from the German Navy, the National Socialist Transportation Corps (NSKK) and Organisation Todt , a construction unit. Others came from the Vichy French Milice , as mentioned above. Some sources claim that the unit included also volunteers from French colonies and Switzerland . SS-Brigadeführer Gustav Krukenberg took actual command with Edgard Puaud (now Oberführer der SS) as nominal French commander. The two main infantry regiments were Waffen-Grenadier Regiment der SS 57 and 58. The other principal elements shared the numerical designation of 57. Veterans of the Sturmbrigade were the nucleus for Regiment 57 as those of the LVF were for Regiment 58. The LVF also populated the artillery battalion, the Headquarters Company and the Engineer Company. The reaction of the LVF to their transfer into the SS was mixed. In Berlin in early 1945 Oberfuhrer Puaud received assurance from Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler that Charlemagne would not be sent to a front where they might fight fellow Frenchmen, In addition, they would fight under the French flag and continue to fully practice their own religion, with Catholic military chaplains. Himmler asserted that there was no question but that France would regain its sovereignty after Germany's victory. In February 1945 the unit was officially upgraded to a Division and renamed ''33.Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS "Charlemagne"''. However, the unit was severely undermanned with only 7340 men. The division was sent by train to fight against the Red Army in Poland , but on February 25 it was attacked while deploying from the railhead at Hammerstein by troops of the Soviet 1st Belorussian Front . Opposing the Charlemagne Division were four Red Army infantry divisions and two tank brigades. The lightly-armed French troops had not had time to re-equip prior to their departure, and they had no radio equipment and few maps. Fortunately they were well supplied with Panzerfausts, the self-contained handheld anti-tank weapon that was extremely effective at close range against enemy armor. In the violent battle that ensued, French SS troops riddled the two tank brigades in and around Elsenau. On the night of 3-4 March the Charlemagne survivors were sent to defend the nearby town of Koerlin with orders to "hold at all costs." At noon on March 4 a massive Red Army force hit Koerlin from the southwest. The French fought back desperately and were able to hold their positions throughout the day. But their situation appeared bleak. The Division was ordered to immediately withdraw to the west, to avoid being trapped, and was broken into three battlegroups. Only the units with Krukenberg survived, as they retreated to the Baltic coast, were evacuated by sea to Denmark and later sent to Neutrelitz for refitting. Around 4,800 men had been lost. Oberführer Puaud was one of them. Following an order dated March 25th from the SS-Führungshauptamt, AMT II/Org (the Waffen-SS office for military organization), the German inspection of the French units was from now on to assume the role of divisional headquarters. Reduced support units were also formed. The bulk of the combat units-less than 700 men-made up a single infantry regiment with two battalions (57 and 58) and one heavy support battalion which did not have the necessary equipment. In early April 1945, Krukenberg, now commanding only 700 men, released those who were disillusioned from combat service; about 300 men chose to remain. The other 400 men were formed into a construction battalion. During this time, most of the 300 were supplied with assault rifles, the Sturmgewehr 44. During the night of 23/24 April 1945 a telegram was sent dirctly from the Reich chancellery in Berlin ordering SS-Brif Krukenberg to make haste for the capital with, as an advance party, a Sturmbataillon (assault battalion) to be made up from the only regiment he had. This battalion was formed within the hour, from strictly combat elements of the newly-formed 57th Battalion and the 6th company of the 58th Battalion. In the end, between 320 and 330 French officers, NCOs and grenadiers arrived at their destination on April 24th and were tactically attached to the 11th SS Freiwilligen-Panzer-Grenadier-Division 'Nordland' which SS-Brif Krukenberg had just been given command of. Supported by type B Tiger tanks and the assault guns of the SS-Panzer-Regiment 11 'Hermann von Salza', on the morning of 26 April, the bulk of the assault battalion took part in a first counter-attack Neukolln, a district south/southeast of Berlin, in sub-sector C of the defense plans. Due to a lack of working Tanks and heavy Anti-tank Weapons , the Sturmbataillon Charlemagne in Berlin made heavy use of Panzerfausts. While the effective firing-range of these weapons were very small - to destroy most of the Soviet tank-types with the Panzerfaust the soldier had to be as close as 20m-30m to the target - the possibility to get killed during the attempt to destroy an enemy tank in this way was high. Through April 27, the Soviet advance into Berlin had been somewhat cautious, with a pattern of massive shelling followed up by probing attacks led by tanks. Usually the armored vehicles were knocked off by the defenders. By 28-29 April, approximately 108 Soviet tanks had been destroyed in Berlin, 62 of them by Charlemagne. On 28 April, the communists started a full-scale offensive into downtown Berlin. The battle raged savagely and the Charlemagne solders were in the middle of the fighting. Unterscharfuhrer Eugene Vaulot, who had destroyed two tanks in Neukolln, used his Panzerfausts to claim six more in the area of the Fuhrer Bunker. He was awarded the Knight's Cross by Krukenberg during a cadlelight ceremony in a subway on 29 April. Vaulot would not survive Berlin. Three other members of Charlemagne, two of them French, would be awarded the Knight's Cross, although only Vaulot actually received his decoration. Worn down to approximately 30 effectives, most were captured or escaped Berlin singly or in groups. Most of those who made it to France were denounced and sent to prison. DIFFERENT NAMES During its existence the units were know with various names including: ''Französische Grenadier-Infantrie-Regiment.638 (''Légion des Volontaires Français'')'' ''Französische SS-Freiwilligen-Sturmbrigade'' ''Französische SS-Freiwilligen-Grenadier-Regiment''' ''Waffen-Grenadier-Brigade der SS ''Charlemagne'' (französische Nr.1)'' ''33.Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS ''Charlemagne'' (französische Nr.1)'' SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS REFERENCES
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