One of the most feared fighting forces of the Second World War, was the Waffen-SS, the
armies combat branch of the Schutzstaffel.
But there was one military unit made up of Indian soldiers that later became part of
the SS, and with this the Indian Legion a troop of around 4,500 soldiers were actively
fighting against the allies and were fighting for Hitler and the Nazis.
They were part of the German army before they were switched to the Waffen-SS, but the story
of this legion is one which is shocking, but one which was deep rooted with trying to liberate
India from the British.
There had been a long history in India in fighting to bring down the British Raj, and
rebellions would be initiated to do this, and they hoped for German support.
During the Second World War, all of the major axis powers supported armed revolutionary
activities in India against the British.
One man who was considered a significant threat to the British during the Second World War
was Subhas Chandra Bose, a former president of the Indian National Congress.
He managed to escape house arrest and he then travelled to the Soviet Union where he wanted
aid and help to support an uprising in India.
But the Soviets were concerned about going against the Allies in case of a German Invasion,
and Chandra Bose then went to Germany and he met with Joachim von Ribbentrop, the Nazi
foreign minister and then Hitler himself.
In Berlin, Bose established the Free India Centre and Azad Hind Radio, which broadcasted
to Indians and he was promised support to help bring the downfall of the Raj, but then
talk came to bring about a fighting force made up of Indian soldiers who would fight
for the Nazis and the Germans.
The first soldiers of the Indian legion were Indian prisoners of war captured during the
Battles for Tobruk, and the German forces had 27 POWs who were trained as officers and
these were sent to Berlin.
Eventually the numbers of prisoners of war grew, and Indian soldiers were being sent
back to Germany to join the legion.
Further training took place to school them in the ways of the German Army, and there
were 15,000 Indian POWs in Europe, and many remained loyal to the King and Emperor, and
treated Bose with contempt, but a number did swear allegiance and defect to the Nazis.
With this the maximum size of the Indian legion was 4,500 men, and they were then transferred
to the German military.
They were schooled in the stricter discipline, and they were taught how to use lots of different
weapons, but they were not allowed to mix with other German soldiers at times.
They did experience the same facilities and clothing and food rations as German soldiers,
but they were also trined in coastal defence.
The uniform of the Indian Legion as feldgrau in winter and khaki in summer which was standard
for the German army, and on the right upper arm they wore a badge designed in the shape
of a shield with a leaping tiger in the middle.
They also had the colours of the unit on their steel helmets at times, and Sikhs were allowed
to wear a turban which was dictated by their religion if they wanted, rather than a peaked
field cap.
Subhas Chandra Bose probably never believed that the Indian Legion would be strong enough
to carry out a huge offensive in India, but the legion would be involved in a lot of action
during the Second World War.
Following the German defeat at Stalingrad and at El Alamein in North Africa, it was
clear that an assault through Persia to India by the Axis would never occur.
The legion would be transferred to The Netherlands in April 1943 and was part of the Atlantic
Wall, and then it was months later moved to France.
It was attached to the 344th Infantry Division and then the 159th Infantry Division of the
Wehrmacht.
More reassignment took place, and it continued to see action in France and was viewed by
the locals as ‘wild and loathsome.’
But then what happened was rather shocking.
The legion was based near to Bordeaux at the time of the Normandy Landings, and they remained
there for the next two months after the 6th June 1944.
They were ordered to help suppress the French Resistance, and to help round up and capture
civilians so that these people could be used in slave forced labour projects for the German
military.
They also continued to suppress and take out members of the resistance, but 25 Indian soldiers
would defect across to the resistance.
They were told they would be handed over to the Allies, but then these men were executed
by the Resistance forces for collaborating with the Nazis.
However on the 8th August 1944, Heinrich Himmler the Head of the SS authorised its control
and said that the Indian legion would now become a unit of the Waffen-SS, meaning that
the legion were now linked to one of the most notorious and brutal fighting groups of the
Second World War.
The unit was then renamed the Indische Freiwilliigen Legion Der Waffen-SS.
The command of the unit was given from Obersturmbannfuhrer Kurt Krapp to Oberfuhrer Heinz Bertling.
The Indian soldiers realised the chance in command and they were not happy with the leadership
and Berling then was relieved of his duties shortly after.
But the legions fighters would be ordered to lay their lives down for Nazi Germany and
to dig in and fight as much as they could to repel the allies who were at this time
in the war pushing forward heavily.
They had not at this time seen too much action, but they were then on the retreat back to
Germany and whilst engaging French forces in the town of Dun, the unit suffered its
first combat casualties, leftenant Ali Khan.
The unit then continued to experience fighting with the enemy, and they engaged allied tanks
whilst retreating across the Loire River to Dijon.
All whilst they were moving back, they were continually assaulted and attacked by the
French Resistance who inflicted more casualties.
They did manage to get back to Germany.
However with the defeat of Nazi Germany on the horizon in May 1945, Adolf Hitler would
decide to die by his own hand inside of his bunker in Berlin.
The Indian legion realised that the war was lost, and they knew that if they were sent
back to India, then there was a good chance their own people would execute them, or that
the British would deem them as traitors and have them executed themselves.
Because of this, the remaining part of the Indian Legion based in Germany travelled to
neutral Switzerland to seek sanctuary.
They had to try and enter Switzerland through the alpine passes, marching along the shores
of Lake Constance, but their attempt to enter the country was not successful.
They were captured by the American and French forces and were then taken to the British
and Indian troops who fought on the side of the allies.
It’s believed that some of the Indian legion were shot by French Moroccan officers near
to Immenstadt when they were captured before they could be sent to the British.
The captured soldiers would then be sent back to India, and many were to stand trial for
treason.
Many of their sentences were commuted however.
A controversial part of the Indian Legion’s legacy is their link to Nazi Germany and the
belief that they were collaborators with the Nazis based on their uniform, their oath and
who they fought alongside of.
Chandra Bose did in correspondence denounce the racist policies of the Nazis, but he did
express admiration for the methods of government used by Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, and
he would praise Mussolini and Hitler and he believed that he could take these dictatorial
principles and apply it to India.
His views though were not always shared by the men of the Indian legion, who were partly
or in collaboration with the ideology of the Nazis.
The volunteers were not just taking part in fighting with the SS and the Wehrmacht as
they wanted to escape imprisonment, a number of them were motivated by hatred of the British.
Many soldiers through were not prepared to just fight for the enemy after abandoning
their oath, and it became clear that they had in a sense been betrayed slightly.
They believed that the NAzis would help them achieve independence in India, and that they
would invade the country through Persia.
But it was clear that the German Army had no wish to do this, and these Indian soldiers
were instead just fighting on the western front for the Nazis rather than for their
independence back home.
There were elements of obstinance and refusal with the legion also, as when they were deployed
in The Netherlands, two companies refused to move.
Some men had little loyalty to the Nazi cause and ideology, however following their absorption
into the SS, this was a fighting force which Himmler prodded himself on complete ideological
devotion.
It is believed that the unit did take part in some war crimes, for example in the Medoc
region in July 1944 and in the region of Ruffec they assaulted and even murdered children.
Some who were sent to Italian also took part in anti partisan operations resulting in more
death and execution.
What is concerning though is their involvement with the Waffen-SS, and although they didn’t
have a choice in this, the SS to begin with was initially open to people only of Germanic
origin.
But Nazi propaganda would uphold that the Waffen-SS would fight against Bolshevism and
the Jews, and of course the Waffen-SS were involved in a.
Huge number of war crimes and atrocities, with some former members even being executed
after the conflict.
The fact the Indian legion were linked to this organisation is one which is rather shocking.
But the Indian Legion was a military unit that fought during the Second World War as
part of the German army and then later the Waffen-SS.
They believed that the would be backed up by the Germans to help liberate British ruled
India however this would never be the case and they would fight alongside German soldiers.
They had non combat roles in The Netherlands and France until the allied invasions of D-Day,
and they would then be used to help repel the allied advances, and they were pitted
against the French Resistance fighting mostly against these.
India would get independence in 1947, 2 years after the war in Europe came to an end.
But in the eyes of many Indian people, the 4,500 who fought for the nazis and the SS
during World War 2 were traitors.
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