SS Nordland Lot

[Michael73]

Hello
I have this lot from Nordland member. Any known faces/places?
Looks like some officers have a Wolfsangel on their caps..

Regards,
Michael

[Michael73]

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[Michael73]

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[Michael73]

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[Michael73]

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[Erwin L]

Hello Michael

That's a very nice lot. Congrats with it. The small guy with leather coat on the first picture is Anton Mussert, leader of the Dutch National Socialist Party called NSB ( Nationaal Socialistische Beweging) They wore wolfsangels as a symbol.

Regards

Erwin

[Edgar Alcidi]

Hello Michael

That's a very nice lot. Congrats with it. The small guy with leather coat on the first picture is Anton Mussert, leader of the Dutch National Socialist Party called NSB ( Nationaal Socialistische Beweging) They wore wolfsangels as a symbol.

Regards

Erwin

here an example

[Erwin L]

Thanks Edgar

[harmel]

nordland lot.

1st-pic left looks like SS Gruf Johannes Johst,then tall SS officer
is Hans-Albin Rauter.
Harmel

[Erwin L]

Harmel

We don't have to put in extra energy while it is already on the e-stand already.

Regards

Erwin

[MarcRikmenspoel]

Most of those photos are of the Legioen Nederland training at Arys, East Prussia in late 1841 and early 1942. Mussert visited the regiment at the beginning of 1942, and the occasion was photographed by the Dutch war reporter Dirk Willem Brantsen. The contact sheets for these photos are in the Bundesarchiv and the US National Archives (I scanned dozens at the latter place).

It looks like your contact was fortunate to get prints of some of Brantsen's photos back when they were new. Other photos are with a replacement unit, probably the Legion Ersatz Bataillon at Graz, Austria. This processed recovered wounded from the Dutch, Flemish and Norwegian Legions. The men were supposed to be returned to their units upon being declared ready for action, but in practice, they were actually sent to the Wiking Division as replacements. The non-Germans in Wiking were dispersed throughout the division, in an effort to keep them from having large groups of one nationality wiped out in combat. So, while Dutch were mostly in the Westland Regiment, by design some went to Germania, which was intended to have men from every Germanic country, and some ended up in Nordland (just as some Norwegians and Finns ended up in Westland).

My best guess about your contact is that he was a Dutchman who volunteered for the Legioen Nederland. He went with the unit to the Volkhov front in early 1942. The regiment suffered enormous casualties there, and he was probably wounded. He was then with the legions replacement battalion at Graz, before being sent to Wiking later in 1942, where he served in the Nordland Regiment until it was disbanded in the spring of 1943.

Thanks for posting these fascinating images!

[Michael73]

Most of those photos are of the Legioen Nederland training at Arys, East Prussia in late 1841 and early 1942. Mussert visited the regiment at the beginning of 1942, and the occasion was photographed by the Dutch war reporter Dirk Willem Brantsen. The contact sheets for these photos are in the Bundesarchiv and the US National Archives (I scanned dozens at the latter place).

It looks like your contact was fortunate to get prints of some of Brantsen's photos back when they were new. Other photos are with a replacement unit, probably the Legion Ersatz Bataillon at Graz, Austria. This processed recovered wounded from the Dutch, Flemish and Norwegian Legions. The men were supposed to be returned to their units upon being declared ready for action, but in practice, they were actually sent to the Wiking Division as replacements. The non-Germans in Wiking were dispersed throughout the division, in an effort to keep them from having large groups of one nationality wiped out in combat. So, while Dutch were mostly in the Westland Regiment, by design some went to Germania, which was intended to have men from every Germanic country, and some ended up in Nordland (just as some Norwegians and Finns ended up in Westland).

My best guess about your contact is that he was a Dutchman who volunteered for the Legioen Nederland. He went with the unit to the Volkhov front in early 1942. The regiment suffered enormous casualties there, and he was probably wounded. He was then with the legions replacement battalion at Graz, before being sent to Wiking later in 1942, where he served in the Nordland Regiment until it was disbanded in the spring of 1943.

Thanks for posting these fascinating images!

You are so right!
Most photos have Graz photo studio stamp on the reverse!
Sadly I have to let them go - very rare find indeed,thanks for the help to all who made an input