Customer Reviews

FOR EUROPE: The French Volunteers of the Waffen-SS

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is one of those rare books that gives an insight into the Foreign Volunteers of the Waffen SS, in this case French members of the Charlemange Division.
Formed originally as a Sturmbrigade the unit grew into a formidable fighting force which fought its way through Galicia, Pomerania, Danzig and finally its destruction in the inferno of Berlin.
I was amazed at how Frenchmen for a variety of reasons would join such an organisation as the Waffen SS, but the various reasons why these men joined are varied and complex.
Many of these men were extremely proud to belong to the Waffen SS and had volunteered gladly, others as the fortunes of Germany wavered opted to join to escape the vengance of the French people who many had helped to suppress in such units as the Milice.
Its fighting spirit never wavered and even in the final battle for Berlin its soldiers fought to the bitter end in tank hunting units armed with panzerfaust where they were extremely effective.
The book is very long over 500 pages with a few maps of the battlegrounds and pictures of some of the volunteers. I found it to be a very easy read and appears to be very well researched with lots of footnotes to explain parts of the story.
The book has many many personal accounts of the men who fought in the unit and where possible lists the fate of the survivors, where some fought in Indo China (on both sides !) and others were not so lucky who were executed.
It also deals with a war crime which I did not know about, where 12 French SS Volunteers who had been captured by the free French Army forces were executed.
This is an impressive book well written and researched and I highly recommend this book to others

Undoubtedly, Robert Forbes has written with "For Europe : ..." the most precise, objective, accurate (to that date) and exciting account about the french serving in the Waffen SS between 1943 and 1945 and notably in the 33rd Grenadier Division of the SS "Charlemagne".

Forbes details the different backgrounds of the frenchmen (from working class to aristocracy!) who opted for a military collaboration with the germans, their motives ('greater europe', anti-communism), their training (tough but too short), their military achievements (as good as it could have been) on the eastern front and finaly their end in the third's reich capital, Berlin...

The author separates the two main formations of the frenchmen serving in the Waffen SS. The french SS "Assault Brigade" and the "Charlemagne" division. If the first was made solely of volunteers for the ss and was well equiped and correctly trained, the second was a mix of different collaborating french formations (from the Heer L.V.F infantry regiment to the Organisation Todt labor units...).

While the "Assault Brigade" performed very well but suffered high losses during the red army great offensive of july 1944, the "Charlemagne", poorly equiped, without tank and aerial support, undertrained and without most of its specialists, had a variable combat record : If all units did their best to halt the red army formations, inflicting to the soviets heavy losses, some managed to maintain some cohesion while other rapidly disintagrated... For the frenchmen, it was a bloodbath...

Virtually distroyed in february-march 1945 in pomerania, the "Charlemagne" and its survivors were reorganised. Whose from the "Assault Brigade" and the LVF choosed to continue the fight. Most of them would be sent to their death by defending fanatically Hitler's Bunker... The others, mainly from the 'milice française' ranks opted to serve in contruction battalions. It has to be said that men from the milice didn't have frontline experience for most of them and consequently, they sustained the highest losses... That is why their morale was very low...

Forbes has done a good job with 'For Europe...'. It is well written and includes numerous veteran sources. It is not a propagandist book about whose who joined the waffen ss. It is just an honest try to EXPLAIN why so many frenchmen joined... Many mistakes from orther authors are corrected. The military accomplishments of the SS frenchmen are accurately described but not exagerated.

Finaly that book is probably the best testimony about these men who believed fighting for their country, "for europe" and against "the communist threat" by joining nazi germany.

This subject must have been a fixation of the author's for decades. Otherwise he never would have been able to produce this book. Every contact with th enemy is documented as well as keeping track of the division's ever changing order of battle and equipment. Every officer in the division must have been mentioned by the time the book ends. Details of recruitment and training are also included. If a squad knocked out a tank on 24 Feb 1945 then it's in the book. The author also gives alternate views of an action if first hand accounts differ. Of course any book that is this detailed does not flow like a novel, it can be heavy going at times. But the payoff it acquiring detailed knowledge of the French volunteers in the Waffen SS and even other French paramilitaries fighting on the Eastern Front. One minor quibble is the lack of maps. As with most military histories maps are key to understanding the combat narratives. This book as few maps and the ones it does have are poor. But if the topic of the foreigners who were willing to fight for Hitler interests you this book is a must.

I picked up this book because I had long wondered about the people who joined the Nazi Army. I couldn't imagine why anyone from outside Germany would do that. This book answered those questions.

They joined for various reasons, but mostly because they were still kids - 17 years old was common. They looked at their life in France and were attracted to the colors. Some were admirers of Germany. Some were going with the winners. Some were anti-communist and wanted to fight them in Russia. In short all of the reasons that people of all types join the military. It becomes easier to understand as you hear the stories of the individuals.

After that, when the units had been formed, this is a story of what the French units did for the remainder of the war. In this area the book is extremely complete. It seems that every action, no matter how small is covered in great detail. Especially fascinating is the chapter on the post war years where it seems that the treatment of the returning soldiers was almost arbitrary in nature with some going to jail, some being set free, some joining the French army to fight in Indo-China.

All in all, a fascinating book, extremely detailed in its research and presentation.

This is the first book read on the French volunteers and it appears Mr Forbes has devoted a large segment of his life in gathering and presenting this topic in such detail to the English speaking world. The amount of data is monumental. The book starts with the fall of France to the Germans in June 1940 and will work its way, practically on a daily basis, to the end of the war and beyond. Areas of deployment include southern Poland, Galicia, Hungary and Germany - primarily in the east defending Berlin but also in the west against US forces. There is also some coverage of combating the French underground and fighting their "terrorism".

The "Charlemange" Division lost its freedom in the closing days of the war but the author doesn't end there. In the closing chapter, the epitaphs of about 20 men is delivered, describing the last years of their lives. I found it interesting but disconcerting how the hardship for some of these men didn't end with the surrender.
The author spends a lot of time on background information, activation and training of the French SS Strumbrigade and later the 33rd Waffen Grenadier Division. There is also detailed coverage of a large array of people within the orgainzation, down to Company level. This is an involved read for the author not only covers the Division as a unit but also follows the exploits of many of these men inside the Division and without as some get transferred to other units and other responsibilities. Its a blizzard of unfamiliar names, places, dates, events and in some cases trivia which for me was a steep learning curve. If you take this topic seriously be prepared for a challenging read.

There are only six maps which is a little anemic. There should have been twice that many. Besides the smattering of maps, another downside to this book is that while there is a lot of information, there is little tactical analysis discussed. There are a few photos of the men in the division but there are several command rosters showing the formation of the 33rd SS Division which was useful. There are Footnotes, an impressive Bibliography but no Index.

Though the book could be improved with more maps and greater tactical analysis, it still received five stars for the huge effort the author made in delivering this volume. ( Tactical coverage is a personal bias and the author should not be penalized if that aspect was not in his purview.)
Using the information obtained from many veteran interviews, primary documents and diaries and secondary sources, the author has written an impressive reference for anyone who has an interest in these forgotton soldiers.

Excellent book, very detailed and interesting read.
Book received in good condition and promptly, Thanks to the seller. I highly recommend this book for those interested in the motives and backgrounds of the volunteers, as well as the political settings from which they came. The unit history, statistics, battles and personal experiences of the volunteers are all included. Very long but well detailed book.

I bought this book and it was excellent, it accurately protrayed the formation and combat of the French "Charlemange" divison. The author was painstaking in his research and development of this book,from its creation until its demise in the streets of Berlin in May 1945.Of particular interest is the detailed account of the Kampfgruppe Charlemange in the defence of Central Berlin in late April 1945 this book goes into great detail in the personal accounts of the fighting and suffering in Berlin in the final death throes of the Third Reich. It is also very suprising that the French were the last defenders of the Zitadelle defence sector (Nazi Government Area). A great book and great reading.

A good chronicle, well grounded on fact. However, besides being poorly written (the book reads more like a long newspaper article than like a cogent story) "For Europe" fails to acknowledge one basic fact: the Frenchmen who joined the SS were bad guys, period. If there is a war in which it was clear who the bad guys were, that is WWII, and if you were on the side of the Germans... I read the book bc I was interested in taking a closer look at an obscure subject (after reading Beevor's Fall of Berlin), but I was already forewarned by the title, which instead of being "For Europe" should be "For Facism" or "On the Bad Guys' Side" or "Helping Those Who Massacred My Own People"... Finally, the shooting of 12 Charlemagne members by the Free French is almost presented by the author as a war crime... The way I see it those guys got what was coming to them, they wore the same uniform that martirized so many of their own countrymen, did they deserve a decoration perhaps?

Robert Forbes book on the French collaborators in the LVF and the SS sturmbrigade/33rd SS "Divsion" is a pro-Nazi revisionist whitewash. True to the form, it get's into great detail on trivia and minutiae and little on objective analysis and absolutely nothing on objective criticism.

For example, is it REALLY historically significant if the Milice units joining the French SS at Wildflecken marched the chassuer step and what decorations Officer Raybaud was wearing on his uniform? Absolutely not.

But is it historically significant that the Milice was a Vichy counterinsurgency unit and death squad - extremist, violent, and undisciplined - recently chased out of France due to the Liberation and not especially eager to join the division? Yes. But I can't find that in Forbes' book.

The section on the Battle of Berlin (which relies heavily on Mabire and Fenet) reads like a Sgt. Rock comic, with the heroic French sticking it to the "Reds," destroying more T-34s in Berlin then there are baguettes in Paris.

A poor book that reinforces an ahistorical myth.