Legie francouzských dobrovolníků [1941-1944]

The Legion of French Volunteers against Bolshevism was formed by decision of the Vichist authorities on 8 July 1941. In the LVF were gathered practically all the prewar fascists and radical nationalists such as Marcel Bucard, Marcel Deat, Jacques Doriot, Eugene Deloncle or Pierre Clementi. The LVF enjoyed the sympathy of one of the greatest quislings of the Vichy era, Pierre Laval, the main support of Nazi domination in France, who hoped that French participation in the struggle against Bolshevism would improve France's position in the "New Europe" created by the Nazis.
By contrast, the head of state, Marshal Henri Petain, was not happy about the LVF, especially the fact that French volunteers had entered service in German uniforms. The old Marshal's opinion was not taken into account.
Officially, the LVF was known in the Wehrmacht as the 638th Infanterie-regiment.
Besides the already mentioned French fascists and volunteers, there were also a number of prisoners in the LVF who preferred combat to forced labour in Germany. Another unit, La Legion Tricolore, was incorporated into the LVF 6 months later.


In October 1941, the first French LVF unit of 2,452 men crossed the Soviet border. The LVF fought during November and December 1941 on the Moscow front as part of the German 7th Pesi Division under the command of Colonel Roger Labonne. During the spring of 1942 the LVF was reorganized into the 1st and 3rd Battalions and took part in the fight against partisan units in the German rear.
In June 1943, these separate battalions were again merged into one regiment, which, under the command of Colonel Edgar Puaud, conducted anti-partisan operations in the Ukraine.


In June 1944 the LVF was scheduled to be gradually withdrawn back to France. A few hours before their departure, the Soviets launched an offensive against the Mitte Army Group and the German command had no choice but to deploy all available reserves, including the LVF, against the Red Army. Led by Major Pridoux, the French, along with the 4th SS Polizei Division, supported by Stukas and 5 Tiger tanks, repelled one Soviet tank attack after another for 48 hours. Over 40 Soviet tanks were destroyed at the French front lines alone. The Battle of the Beaver River is generally regarded as the most successful battle of LVF units on the Eastern Front. The capabilities of the French are confirmed by the official Soviet communiqué, which claimed that the Red Army forces were stopped by "two French divisions".


On 1 September 1944, the LVF regiment was officially disbanded. While this did not mean the end of French military presence on the Eastern Front, the French volunteers now fell under the command of the Waffen SS, which reinforced the LVF veterans with militia units that retreated in time from the Allies into Germany to form the advance 8th Army.Volunteer Sturmbrigade Frankreich, from which was later formed the 33rd Grenadier Volunteer Division Charlemagne, fighting ahead of Pomerania (where most of the legionnaires fell, including the commander Puaud). The last 700 men under the command of SS-Brigadefuhrer Gustav Krukenberg defended Berlin as the Waffen-Grenadier-Regiment der SS Charlemagne at the end of April 1945.
Ironically, the French became the last defenders of Hitler's bunker, fighting until 2 May 1945.


Sources
en.wikipedia.org


en.wikipedia.org