Danes in the Wehrmacht

[Voldbjerg]

Hi folks !

Does anybody have some info, concerning those 95 danes who served in the german Wehrmacht during the Second World War ??

Cheers,
Mads

[Jens]

Hello mads

are you looking for someone specific ?

The number of Danes serving in the Wehrmacht (Heer, Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe) was far higher! Alone in the minority 500 was serving in theses units!

regards Jens

[Voldbjerg]

I'm just looking for some information concerning those 95 danes who joined the Wehrmacht- Heer..

I just wondered, if they were transfered to normal kompanies, or if they ended up in a special one just for foregin volunteers.

[Simon O.]

I was looking through some stuff from the 20 Gebirgs Armee in Norway today and have a table of foreigners in German service at the end of the war. It gives 259 Danes working with the OT in May '45.

[Voldbjerg]

Cheers

But, were some of the other danes, in the Heer, assigned to other "more frontline active" units than Organisation Todt ?

[Jens]

Hello Mads

They were assigned to a wide area of units, also combat. They were however not kept together, unless the Flak battery of Copenhagen!

regards Jens

[Jens]

Simon,


Very, very interesting. Do you have a source, and can I have a copy (if its an dayly order)?

regards Jens

[Simon O.]

Hi Jens

The source is the records of the 20 Gebirgs Armee, NARA microfilm roll T312-1071. Its from May 1945. It's an A3 sized chart so a bit difficult to scan but i can tell you that it has 143 Danes at Trondheim, 107 Danes with the Transport korps an Transportflotte (i assume it means Speer). With the remaining few spread out in ones and two around mid-Norway.

I only skimmed through this microfilm roll today so there's more info to find but it looks like there's some good information there about non-Germans serving in the wehrmacht and other German organisations in Norway.

[Jens]

Very, very interesting! And very little researched! Thanks for the information!

Can you see other Danes in other units?

I have this feeling that the OT were for those who didnt want to end up in the meat grinder of the eastern front, and went for the "slack" job! I wonder went the majority returned from Norway to Denmark.
As I understand the british Army only send a few troops to Norway in the beginning so the Germans were in "charge" for a little longer than in other places.

regards Jens

[Voldbjerg]

Quite interesting indeed !

It would indeed be interesting, if you could find some danes in other units.

By the way, did the danes wear regulare uniforms, or did they wear something special ? Perhaps a sleeve like POA ?

[Simon O.]

The chart has an annotation saying that OT workers were given 30 days supplies by the red cross handed over to\surrendered to Norwegian forces.

The chart breaks down the nationalities by male, female and by OT and wehrmacht. No female danes are listed and none under wehrmacht.

[Jens]

Great Info Simon!

Was the number of say Dutchmen or Belgian likewise high?

For some reason I belive not!

[Simon O.]

Actually higher. 546 dutchmen of which 7 were with the luftwaffe, 42 with the Kriegsmarine and 39 under the wehrmacht. It doesn't say though under what capacity they were working for the Germans.
289 Belgians of which 2 were with the luftwaffe.

[Jens]

Well Interesting as most of Holland was liberated and Belgium was for a year. I ould have thought thy would have been absorbed in to Langemark and Landstorm Nederland. But if theit number should equalate danish numbers they should be about 3 times higher due to the 3 times higher population.