The Landwacht Nederland

 

Published in „Siegrunen“ Magazine – Volume XII, Number 4, Whole Number 72,

Spring - Summer 2002

 

In December 1942, the Higher SS and Police Leader for the Netherlands, SS-Gruppenfiihrer Hanns Albin Rauter, sent a proposal to the Reichsfuhrer-SS for the establishment of a “home guard", under SS guidance, for Holland. The idea had come about in conversations with the Dutch National Socialist Movement (N.S.B.) Leader Anton Mussert in which the idea of how best to use some of the excess Party manpower in an effective military manner was discussed. Thus the concept of a new, home security force emerged.

 

Several names were discussed for this formation, including Heimatwacht, (literally “home guard"), and Landweer, (the equivalent of the German Landwehr, the traditional 3rd string homeland defense force in the Germanic countries, which literally meant “land defender"). The title Landwacht, (“land guard") was probably settled upon in early 1943. The outfit was to be trained and run by the SS, although initial differentiations were made. For instance while SS ranks were to be adopted they were to be preceded by the title Landwacht as in Landwacht-Unterststurmführer, etc. Uniforms were to be the standard Waffen-SS field grey with a German sleeve eagle. A specific Landwacht badge displaying a Dutch lion above an oak wreath (see above) was also designed, probably for wear on a breast pocket. A Landwacht sleeve title was also manufactured for use by the unit. There was some debate over what collarpatch to use for the formation; either the SS runes or the Wolf Rune (Wolfs Hook) emblem being then utilized by the Volunteer Legion Niederlande.

 

Neither concept was deemed totally satisfactory, so at least initially the Landwacht officers, (mostly German at first), wore the SS runes while the other ranks either used blank collar patches or SS rank badges in duplicate, (i.e. on both collars instead of just the left one). A traditional Dutch “flaming bomb" police emblem was eventually introduced for use on both the right collarpatch, on helmets in the form of a decal, and on headgear in place of the SS death’s-head. This emblem certainly carried over to some extent in the Landwacht successor unit, the Landstorm Nederland.

 

Above: Mustering in and oath taking by the Landwacht Nederland in ‘s Hertogenbosch on 5 June 1943, before Reichsminister Seyss-Inquart (Reichskommisar for Holland) and German Army and SS officers.

 

 Above: SS-Oberfgruppenführer Hanns Albin Rauter shooting target practice. He could be considered the “founder“ of the Landwacht Nederland.

 

The Landwacht was to be organized as an infantry regiment with three regional battalions for a total troop strength of approximately 2-3,000 soldiers. At the time, (early 1943), some 2,200 Dutch volunteers were serving in an auxiliary police force under German control in Holland. Another 2,500 were serving in the SS Volunteer Legion Niederlande and there were some 600 to 700 Dutch volunteers in the 5. SS-Pz. Gr. Division “Wiking'’. Another 2-3,000 volunteers were serving in other SS combat units, guard battalions and localized units, such as the Dutch “Factory Guard”. The Landwacht would bring the total number of Dutch volunteers to more than 10,000 by the spring of 1943. Eventually more than 50,000 Dutch volunteers would serve under arms with the Germans, (the majority in the Waffen-SS), and several thousand would be killed in action.

 

The Landwacht Nederland was officially established on 12 March 1943 as a territorial land defense organization to fight against the external or internal enemies of the Netherlands. It was to be organized with the assistance of the N.S,B. Leader in Holland under the direction of the Waffen-SS. It would come under the operational control of the Higher SS and Police Leader “Nordwest”, (SS-Ogruf. Rauter). The main qualification of enlistment was that the candidate be a Dutch citizen between the ages of 17 and 50, of good health and character. No one with a criminal record was allowed to join, unlike the various “resistance” Allied-backed terrorist groups which were filled with hard-core criminals and communists. Enlistments were accepted for a minimum of 3 months to “as long as needed” or the duration of the war. A loyalty oath would be taken acknowledging Adolf Hitler as the leader of the Germanic peoples. Members of the Landwacht were to have the same rights, priveleges, punishments and benefits as all other members of the Waffen-SS. All of the administrative aspects of the unit were to be handled by the Waffen-SS Recruiting/Replacement commando in Holland.

 

To get things started, N.S.B. Leader Mussert set up a number of specially publicized rotating recruiting centers throughout the country that were in operation from 14 March to 3 April 1943. Following that, the volunteers could enlist through the main Waffen-SS recruitment offices. Some of the Landwacht service standards were soon tightened by the Waffen-SS Ersatz Kommando in Holland; namely the upper age enlistment limit was changed from 50 to 45 and it was decided that all volunteers between the ages of 18 and 30 would first have to serve for 3 months in the State Labor Service, (similar to the RAD in Germany).

 

The recruiting drive for the Landwacht was overwhelmingly successful. On 23 March 1943 alone 123 men joined the unit from Drente Province. By 31 March, some 50 former members of the front-line Legion Niederlande had signed up as NCO's or officers and a plan was devised to give reserve Police members over the age of 40 automatic officers' commissions in the Landwacht if they chose to join.

 

As of 6 April 1943, 1,643 volunteers had enlisted in the new formation. This was about 400 more men than had been anticipated! Since the barracks facilities in 4s Hertogenbosch could only hold 1,200 soldiers, the excess troops were retained “on hold” until other provisions could be made for them. Eventually, barracks facilities in other Dutch cities were also utilized. On I May 1943, 130 of the best volunteers were sent out for NCO training.

 

Initially, all of the higher officers for the Landwacht came from the German Police and Waffen-SS. A number of former N.S.B.-W. A. (Stormtroop) commanders were sent to the SS Junkerschule Tölz for officer training, and a number of Dutch Waffen-SS officers from other units were transferred to the Landwacht. The higher-ranking NCO cadre generally came from the German Order Police, while the lower ranking NCO’s were nearly all Dutchmen who had served in the Legion or the SS Guard Battalion “Nordwest” at Amersfoort. The enlisted volunteers who had already served on the Eastern Front were automatically sent to the SS NCO School at Arnhem, Holland.

 

On 27 April 1943, SS-Ogruf. Rauter issued the first deployment orders for the Landwacht to take effect by 3 May 1943. The regimental staff along with a machine-gun company and an anti-tank company was to be stationed in the Hague. The I. Battalion was to be located in ‘s Hertogenbosch. A second battalion was to be formed later and stationed elsewhere. The estimated unit strength was now around 2,000 troops and brought in as regimental commander was SS-Standartenftihrer Viktor Knapp, (born 10 January 1897/SS-Nr. 31 411). Knapp was a versatile training officer who during the course of the war was the Commandant of the SS Training Grounds “Moorlager ’T’ Seelager” near Riga, Latvia, served on the staff of II I. Germanic SS Panzer Corps, and finished the war as Inspector of SS Rapid Motorized Training Units.

 

As the Landwacht continued to grow, (going over 2,800 men by July 1943), the two-battalion concept was soon expanded to include a third battalion. By mid-July 1943, each of the battalions consisted of four companies, numbered consecutively on a regimental scheme from 1 to 12. A 13th Heavy Weapons Company was formed around the anti-tank company with the addition of light field howitzers and more anti-tank guns. It was trained in Scheveningen-Clingendaal. It was inspected by the N.S.B. Leader Mussert along with high- ranking German officials on 15 July 1943. At this point in time, a combat engineer company was also being planned for the Landwacht.

 

In the summer of 1943, light infantry training went on at the former Royal Dutch Army facilities at Den Bosch, Vught, Hoogeveen and Roermond. The three battalions were outfitted with Mauser K98 carbines, MG34 machine-guns, (soon upgraded to MG42 models), heavy machine-guns and mortars. 13th Company received 7.5 cm anti-tank guns and close-combat infantry support guns. Someone, probably Anton Mussert, came up with the idea that members of the N.S.B. Nationale Jeugdstorm (the youth branch of the Party), should automatically join the Landwacht after their 17th birthdays. To facilitate this concept a special Jeugdstorm training company was set up under the direction of Waffen-SS officers in Vught in September 1943, and soon 200 to 300 youngsters were assigned to it. However this does seems to have remained a voluntary rather than a compulsory concept.

 

By October of 1943, the Landwacht Ne der landh&d reached a maximum troop strength of2,835 men. SS- Ogruf. Rauter now began having second thoughts about the unit title. He no longer thought it adequate for a tough, combat formation. Therefore in a letter to Reichsfuhrer-SS Himmler on 14 October, Rauter advocated that the title of the unit be changed from Landwacht Nederland to Lands form Nederland. The latter title indicated that the unit was no longer just a “guard troop” but was in fact a fully trained “assault force”. This was a change in duty concept that had grown over the previous few months. Rauter now proposed that the Landwacht title be used only by a city and provincial guard force which he intended to call the “Stads - en Landwacht ”. This formation, of mostly older men, would take over the original proposed ‘guard” duties of the LN. The new Landstorm would now be considered a full combat unit available for use against conventional enemy forces.

 

RF-SS Himmler had no problem approving the name/concept change for the unit and it was officially adopted on 16 October 1943 at swearing-in ceremony for some 600 new volunteers that was attended by high-ranking German and Dutch officials. The former Landwacht Nederland was now on its way to becoming the eventual 34th SS Volunteer Grenadier Division “Landstorm Nederland”, which saw heavy and effective combat action against Allied invasion forces in 1945.

 

Above left: A Landwacht Nederland collarpatch with a “flaming bomb”, (could either be a metal attachment or sewn on in silver-grey thread). Above right: A member of the Landwacht Nederland with the appropriate hat and collar insignia, (he was later killed on the Eastern Front while serving with the 4th SS-Pz.Gr. Brigade “Nederland“). Below: A Landwacht cuff title; apparently several other variations were also in use.

 

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