French Volunteers of the Waffen-SS

Merriam Press Siegrunen Monograph 4. Third Edition (March 2012). History of the Frenchmen who volunteered to fight for the Waffen-SS against the communist forces of Soviet Russia. In their brief history the soldiers of the French Waffen-SS demonstrated their fiber as soldiers and human beings in a series of hopeless engagements on the Eastern Front against vastly superior enemy forces. Wherever they were deployed, they fought with maximum effectiveness and courage despite the odds against them. Almost two-thirds of French SS troops died on the battlefield or in captivity. Contents: * Foreword * Background to the French Waffen-SS: The L.V.F * The Formation of 8.SS-Sturmbrigade “Frankreich” * Battles in Galicia * Reformation of the Sturmbrigade and Creation of the “Charlemagne” Division * Training of the “Charlemagne” Division * At the Front in Pomerania * Observations on the 33rd SS Division “Charlemagne" * Reformation of the “Charlemagne” Division * The Battle for Kolberg * The Defense of Gotenhofen * Defeat in the Ruins: France’s Last Battle for Europe * Fighting for Berlin: A Battle Memoir * The French Waffen-SS in Bavaria and Italy * Death at Bad Reichenhall: The Karlstein Massacre * SS Kampfbataillon and the Retreat from Mecklenburg * Epilogue * Appendix 1: Personalities * Appendix 2: 33.Waffen-Grenadier Division der SS “Charlemagne” (fran.Nr.1) Command Roster * Appendix 3: 18.SS Freiwilligen-Panzer-Grenadier Division “Horst Wessel” * Appendix 4: Counterintelligence Summary * Appendix 5: Addendum * Select Bibliography * Color cover painting by Ramiro Bujeiro * 12 color photos * 137 B&W photos * 4 drawings * 4 maps. Reviews by Robert Bingham: The French Volunteers of the Waffen-SS volume arrived. It is a work of art.