Denmark was unique during the second world war.
The nation was nominally neutral, but was under German occupation since 1940.
The pre-existing Danish government was allowed to stay, but with a number of concessions.
One such concession was that of a Danish army that would fight against the Soviets and nearly
6,000 men would join the cause.
The Danish Free Corps, has been born.
The Danish Nazi Party was formed in 1930, mimicking the German Nazi Party in terms of
policy, views, and overall organization.
The party had some differences with the Germans of course.
As Danish nationalists, they wanted the Danish border to grow south, to take in the whole
of the historical Duchy of Schleswig, a move which would have brought more ethnic Germans
under Danish rule.
One other main point of divergence, was that the party was supportive of the Danish monarchy
and the Church of Denmark.
Something which was extremely rare in regards to other similar fascist movements around
Europe.
The party would run local candidates throughout the 30's, but never managed to net much in
the way of the vote nationally.
Managing only 3 seats in the the 149 member Parliament.
Denmark and Germany would enter into a non-aggression Pact in 1939, in an effort to stay neutral
in the coming conflict, as they had in the first world war.
Indeed, it was hoped that the whole of Scandinavia would be spared the direct impact of war.
But, that was simply not to be.
Scandinavia was a major supplier of a main war material, that being high grade Iron Ore.
Vital in machining and weapon production.
Here, Sweden was the primary exporter of said ore, and it was vital to the Germans that
this line not be disrupted.
An issue presented itself however, as the only ice-free port year round that transported
this ore was that of Narvik, located in Northern Norway.
The Allies, knowing how vital this ore was to the Germans, had developed a plan to cut
the supply line.
In an operation put forward as a way to help the Finnish against the Soviets, British and
French troops would land at a number of important cities along Norway, including Narvik, Oslo,
Trondheim and others.
There, they would march overland to occupy the Swedish Iron fields in the northern end
of the nation, depriving the Germans of their ore and opening up another front to fight
them on.
To counter this, Germany implemented Operation Wesurbung, a joint air, land, and sea invasion
of both Norway and Denmark.
Denmark's importance was as a staging area for operations in Norway, as well as acting
as a strong defense towards the major German harbors.
Denmark would be invaded on April the 9th of 1940, via a combined land,sea,and air invasion.
The Danish government, knowing that their splintered and significantly smaller army
wouldn't be able to stop the Germans.
Ordered them to stand down and surrender.
Thus, the German invasion met only token resistance, with casutalites for the invasion, amounting
to 50 men on both sides.
Due to the more pressing matters in Norway, the quick capitulation, and over-all co-operation.
Denmark was allowed to keep nominal independence, with their existing government staying in
place, including the king, albeit with heavy restrictions.
Their army was reduced down to 3,000 men, most of their military supplies were taken
by the Germans, and the Island of Bornholm would be directly occupied by the German army.
Their diplomatic and economic policies were meant to aid the Germans, more so then the
nations populace as a whole, and a German diplomat would be accredited to the King and
Parliament, to keep supervision.
At the outset of the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Germany issued a series of demands
towards the Danish government.
Including demands that prominent communists in the country be interned, and at the behest
of Heinrich Himmler, Denmark was to form a military corps to fight with the Germans against
the Soviets.
The Danish Nazi Party proclaimed the creation of the Danish Free Corps, backed officially
by the party and its members.
Here, they managed to get a fair number of recruits, and even the semi-official backing
of Danish Foreign Minister Erik Scavenius.
Which allowed serving members of the armed forces to join this group and still retain
their rank.
The Danish party, were the main recruiters and pushers of Danish volunteers for the various
units.
They understood from the on-going political situation, that the chance of them getting
a hold of the Danish government, much like the Quisling government in Norway, was not
going to occur any time soon.
So, the party instead tried to increase its standing with the Germans by focusing largely
on the volunteers.
Essentially requiring that all abled body males within the party had to join, as a sacrifice
for the cause.
By late July of 41, the men were deemed ready enough to start training, and they would be
transferred to Hamburg to receive it, led by Danish Lieut.
Colonel Christian Peder Kryssing.
A 30 year veteran of the Danish army.
This initial batch of men would number some 480 men, most still in Danish Army uniforms.
At Hamburg, they formed the 1st Battalion of the Free Corps, and were fitted with SS
uniforms and gear.
The members of the corp wore standard Waffen-SS kit, with a cuff worn on their lower left
sleeve which said FREIKORPS DANMARK , and had a national-shield just above this of the
Danish national colors, red with superimposed white cross with SS flashes being worn on
all ranks collar tabs.
By the end of the year, the corp would gain a second battalion, and number some 1,200
men and had been sent to Owi?ska Poland, ready for deployment.
While it awaited deployment, Kryssing would be removed from command of the unit in February
1942, as higher ups did not see him as being allied enough to their cause, and feared him
leading his men to join the Soviets if an opportunity arose.
He would be replaced by Christian von Schalburg, a Danish-Russian aristocrat, member of the
Danish Nazi Party, and had currently been serving as a Sturmbannfuhre (essentially a
major) within the SS Wiking Division.
The corp would be moved to the front in May of 1942, attached to the infamous SS-Totenkopf
Division where they would see heavy fighting near the Demyansk pocket.
On June the 2nd, Schalburg would be shot and killed in action, and his replacement, Hans-Albert
von Lettow-Vorbeck, would also get killed in action two days after taking command with
Knud B rge Martinsen being the next commander of the corp.
Martinsen was an officer of the Danish royal army since 1928, being a captain lieutenant
by the time of the German occupation.
He was barred from further advances in his military career, after taking part in public
demonstrations while in uniform, thus left the Danish army, and joined the SS.
At Demyansk, the corp was absolutely miserable, the area was filled with swamps and scrub,
the water being contaminated, and the mean having to live in damp pillboxes and bunkers,
that were usually so waterlogged that they were effectively useless, and their morale
plummeted.
With a consistent tenth of the unit being sick from August of 42 onwards.
The waterlogged terrain could not absorb the rainfall, within just a few hours rain, the
roads would be transformed into a bog, and one walked in mud up to there knees..
It has now been raining for two days and nights in a row now, and most men fled their bunkers
last night around one o'clock, because they feared drowning there.
If this continues, we'll have to live above ground, and be eaten alive by either the hundreds
of mosquitoes, or Soviet bullets.- Per Sorensen, Captain of First company.
The Corp would continue to see action, after being refitted with additional recruits in
September of 42.
First they would engage in anti-Paristan actions near Jelgava, Latvia, then at the Battle of
Velikiye Luki, which saw the corp lose roughly four fifths of its total strength.
It would be pulled from the front line, and sent back home to German in April of 43, and
was eventually disbanded in June due to the lack of men and replacements for the unit.
Instead, most of the men that were still combat ready, were transferred to the 11th SS Division
Nordland, being the hardened core of the division.
While many others would be put into the kreigsmarine, the auxiliary police HIPO Corps, or the paramilitary
Schalburgkorps, a group that intended to replace the standing Danish Army.
The Nordland division and the Danes attached to it, would be sent to Croatia during the
summer of 43, to engage in war against the Yugoslav partisans as they awaited further
training.
But instead, it turned into little more then a long, confusing, and bloody fight against
battle hardened guerrilla fighters.
Many of the men would write home about not only the fear and stress of a partisan attack
that may occur, but of the landscape, the people, exotic food, and an unusual climate.
But, they would be called for action elsewhere before being able to get the training promised.
The men would be sent to the front, against the will of their commanders, and engaged
in the Battle of Narva in early 1944.
Here, they proved to be reliable and desperate fighters, but they had taken heavy losses.
By September, the unit was pulled out from their defense of Estonia, and made their way
towards what would become the Courland pocket.
The unit would manage to escape via transport in Pomerania, moving to Berlin for a refitting
in March of 45 were all of the remaining Danes, as well as nearly the whole Nordland division,
would perish the next month in the battles of the Oder and Berlin.
Of the remaining men that were captured, most of them were sent back to Denmark in 1946,
many serving prison sentences of 5-10 years.
Christian Kryssing, the first commander of the corp, and the highest ranking foreign
national in the SS, would face trail and be sentenced to four years imprisonment in 1947,
but was released merely seven months later on probation.
Knud Martinsen, was actually arrested shortly before the end of the war in Europe.
He was arrested for the murder of two individuals the year previously as well as his part in
the creation of the Schalburg Corps.
He would face trail, and be sentenced to death by firing squad on June the 25th of 1949.