A BRIEF OVERVIEW
Published in
"Siegrunen" Magazine - Vol. V, No.4, Number 28, January 1982
By Richard
Landwehr
After the German declaration of war on the Soviet Union
on 22 June 1941, the Reich Commissioner for the Occupied Netherlands, Dr.
Arthur Seyss-Inquart, addressed the Dutch nation and called for the creation of
a national legion to join the Germans in the struggle against communism. The
former chief of the Dutch Army general staff, Lt. General H.A. Seyffardt,
offered his services and was instrumental in helping gain recruits for the new
formation. He was appointed honorary commander of the Dutch SS Legion, a
position which he held until his death.
While
most of the first Legion volunteers came from the ranks of the Dutch National
Socialist Movement (N.S.B.) led by Anton Mussert, a great effort was made to
attract former Dutch Army members by offering to restore old ranks and waiving
the age limit for ex-officers. Enlistment standards were not too rigid, but a recruit
had to be at least 5 feet 4 inches tall and between the ages of 17 and 40 with
no criminal record. A large number of potential recruits were turned down for
health or political reasons, and eventually a number of individuals who had
slipped into the Legion by concealing criminal records had to be discharged.
The same applied to 266 former Dutch Army members who proved to be politically
unreliable.
On 27
July 1941, the first large group of Legion volunteers assembled in Den Bosch,
Holland and later left from The Hague railroad station for the trip to the SS
training facility at Debica, near Krakau, Poland. Led by Hauptmann Vorwinden,
they arrived at Krakau on 30 July.
Prior
to the outbreak of the German-Soviet war, a large number of Dutchmen had enlisted
in the 6th SS Standarte “Nordwest,” which was composed of Dutch, Flemish and
Danish volunteers. It was decided to form the Dutch Legion within the structure
of Regiment “Nordwest,” so to help with that process a Legion battalion was
created on 26 July 1941 from Dutch soldiers already serving with “Nordwest.”
Effective 1 August 1941, the Legion “Niederlande” existed as a regiment with
two battalions, but until September it still remained a part of Regiment
“Nordwest.” In the fall months, a vigorous training program was carried out,
mostly at the troop training grounds at Ayrs in East Prussia. With the
dissolution of SS Regiment “Nordwest” in late September 1941, the Legion
“Niederlande” became a fully independent entity. In October a third battalion was
added, called the “W.A.” Battalion, because it was recruited primarily from the
W.A. stormtrooper arm of the N.S.B. General Seyffardt a member of the N.S.B.
since 1934, presented the colors to this unit, which was slated to become the
I. Battalion of the 2nd Legion Regiment. However, it later proved impossible to
form a second regiment so the battalion was retitled III./SS Legion
“Niederlande.”
In
mid-January 1942, the combat ready Legion, consisting of 2 600 troops, was
transported by rail to Danzig and from there was shipped across the Baltic Sea
to Libau on the Latvian coast. The Dutch Legion then marched by foot to Riga
where it joined a truck convoy that took it to Pleaskau. From there the Legion
went to its assigned battle area on the Volkhov Front, in the vicinity of
Gusi-Gora to the north of Lake Ilmen. The situation was critical; the Soviets
had launched massive attacks all along the Eastern Front using forces from Asia
that had been freed for use due to an espionage coup by Victor Serge, a Communist
agent who forwarded information of the Japanese plans that they were not
contemplating an attack against the Soviet Union, but that they would attack
south against the British and American forces. Everywhere there were holes in
the front that had to be plugged and by the end of January 1942, the Legion
“Niederlande” was fully engaged in hard combat.
By
March 1942, the Legion had won its first mention in the Wehrmacht War Bulletin,
and it had proven itself to be a first-rate field formation. In April 1942,
after having been reduced from 3 battalions to barely 2 companies in size, the
Legion “Niederlande” was withdrawn from the front for refitting. Due to the
extreme losses, Dutch N.S.B. leader Mussert began ordering members of his W.A.
paramilitary organization to sign on with the Legion. At any rate, by June
“Niederlande” was back up to strength. On 15 June 1942, it returned to action
and participated with great success in the final push against the trapped
Soviet divisions in the “Volkhov Pocket.”
Dutch SS Rottenführer is presented the Iron Cross, 2nd Class at an
awards ceremony, photo courtesy of Kenneth Nieman.
German SS officer presenting a Dutch volunteer with the Iron Cross, 2nd
Class. Photo courtesy of Kenneth Nieman.
Photo of an original Legion collarpatch.
During
the first months of Legion “Niederlande’s” frontline deployment an interesting
— but tragic — little story unfolded. Back in Holland, Mussert’s N.S.B. had won
the backing of the Germans and for some other Dutch nationalist/NS leaders that
was not particularly good news. One of Mussert’s rivals was an early Dutch
Fascist named Sinclaire de Rochement, who had founded an organization called
the National Solidarity Group. For some unknown reason the Gestapo became
interested in him and after learning of this, de Rochement joined the Dutch SS
Legion under a concealed identity, (he was at least 40 years old at the time).
On 13 March 1942, de Rochement was mortally wounded while on a scout-troop
operation between the lines near Gusi. While he was dying he revealed his
identity and made one last request: that the Gestapo bureau in The Hague be
told that he had fallen in the fight against Bolshevism! According to some
writers, de Rochemont had deliberately sought death in action, so he may have been
suffering from a guilty conscience.
In
early July 1942, the Dutch infantry-gun (light artillery) company was sent to
support the 250th Infantry Division “Spanish Blue” on the Leningrad Front.
Towards the end of July, the entire Legion moved into positions around
Krasnoje-Selo in the Leningrad sector and for the next several months
participated in the hard static warfare that took place in that area. The
fighting on the Leningrad Front was often very intense and the Legion lost 42
men killed on 4 December 1942 alone.
In
January 1943, the 14th Anti-tank Company of the Legion was placed in frontline
positions to the west of Schluesselburg and participated in extremely violent
fighting. In February, a member of this company, SS-Schütze Geradus Mooyiman,
destroyed 13 tanks in a single day. For this feat he became the first Germanic
SS volunteer to receive the Knight’s Cross, which was bestowed to him on 8
March 1943 by the commander of the 2nd SS Brigade (to which the Legion had been
subordinated), SS-Brigadeführer von Scholz.
Legion “Niederlande” funeral party honor guard.
Back
in the Netherlands, Lt. General Seyffardt and his special staff worked
tirelessly on behalf of the Legion. Then on 6 February 1943, Seyffardt was
murdered at his home by terrorists posing as postmen. They had used
British-provided “Sten guns” to carry out their foul deed. A large crowd turned
out for Seyffardt’s state funeral and on 9 February, Adolf Hitler bestowed his
name on the 1st Company of the Legion “Niederlande” as a special honor. The
name “General Seyffardt” was embroidered in silver on a black cuffband for the company
and the title and insignia were later passed on to the 48th SS Panzer Grenadier
Regiment of the heroic 23rd SS Division “Nederland.”
On
27 April 1943, Legion “Niederlande” was withdrawn from the Eastern Front. On
this occasion, the commander of the 2nd SS Brigade, Brigfhr. Fritz von Scholz,
issued the following “Order-of-the-Day”:
“Since 1 February 1942, the Legion has, in conjunction with the
Volunteer Legion ‘Flandern’ and with volunteers from Norway before Leningrad,
defended against or destroyed the Bolshevik enemy. Your men have bravely proven
themselves in the test of the hard fighting on the Volkhov and before
Leningrad. Looking back, the courage of the Legion has brought about success in
all of your actions on the Eastern Front! Your fighting spirit is unbroken! The
numerous decorations are the best expression of your courageous struggle.
“Future generations will remember all those among you who gave their
lives in this battle for a new Europe, and your achievements in leading the
fight for the ultimate victory!”
In
early May 1943, the Legion “Niederlande” reached the SS training camp at
Grafenwoehr in Bavaria, where it was dissolved on 20 May. About 2 500 of its
soldiers decided to continue serving with the new 4th SS Brigade “Nederland.”
During its short span of existence, the SS Volunteer Legion “Niederlande” had
gained an awesome reputation for its terrific frontline exploits. It is to be
hoped that someday the full, detailed history of this Legion can be published.
***
Legion “Niederlande” Order-of-Battle (Fall 1941):
|
Field Post Number
|
Legion Staff
with Staff Company
I. Battalion
with 1st to 4th Companies
II. Battalion
with 5th to 8th Companies
III. Battalion
with 9th to 12th Companies
13th Company
(Infantry Guns—Lt. Artillery)
14th Company
(Anti-tank)
|
40
112
40
899
41
450
42 278
43
156
43
990
|
Commanders:
SS-Oberführer
Otto Reich, July 1941 to early 1942.
SS-Obersturmbannführer
Arved Theuremann, early to mid- 1942, (temporary).
SS-Obersturmbannführer
(promoted to Standartenführer) Josef Vitzthum, mid-July 1942 to May 1943,
(permanent commander).
Insignia:
Collarpatch:
Vertical Dutch-made and horizontal German-made “Wold’s Hook” right patch with
SS ranks on the left patch.
Armshield:
Dutch national colors, red-white-blue on either a flag shaped or shield shaped
patch worn under the German eagle on the left shield. Some patches carrying the
N.S.B. colors of orange-white-blue, may also have been worn.
Helmet
insignia: The SS runes and possibly sometimes the Dutch or N.S.B. colors were
worn in decals on the steel helmets. When these colors were not worn, the
standard SS-swastika shield was in place.
Cuffbands:
A sleeve title bearing the words “Frw. (Freiwilligen) Legion Niederlande” in
silver on black was issued to the troops. These came in a crude Dutch pattern
and a more polished German version. 1st Company of the Legion was issued the
“General Seyffardt” sleeve title and wore it in place of the “Niederlande”
cuffband.
Legion
Strength as of 31 December 1942:
57 officers,
1,698 men. Total: 1,755.
***
Those
wishing to read more about Legion “Niederlande” are referred to the superb
pictorial work, Hitler’s Germanic Legions
by Buss and Molo and the article “Das war ‘het Legioen’! (The Actions of Dutch
Volunteers in the Struggle Against Bolshevism”) by Peter Strassner, that
appeared in the 1966 edition of the Deutsches
Soldaten Jahrbuch.
R.L.
Two
final notes on Legion “Niederlande” insignia usage:
1) The SS Runic collarpatch was widely worn and
2) Quite frequently no decals at all appeared on the helmet.
Members of the Legion being decorated with the Iron Cross. The
Legionnaire on the right is a war reporter, and wears the rare vertical Dutch
flag armshield. Photo courtesy of Kenneth Nieman.
