For Europe: The French Volunteers of the Waffen-SS (Stackpole Military History Series)

Undoubtedly, Robert Forbes has written with "For Europe : ..." the most precise, objective, accurate (to that date) and exciting account about the french serving in the Waffen SS between 1943 and 1945 and notably in the 33rd Grenadier Division of the SS "Charlemagne". Forbes details the different backgrounds of the frenchmen (from working class to aristocracy!) who opted for a military collaboration with the germans, their motives ('greater europe', anti-communism), their training (tough but too short), their military achievements (as good as it could have been) on the eastern front and finaly their end in the third's reich capital, Berlin... The author separates the two main formations of the frenchmen serving in the Waffen SS. The french SS "Assault Brigade" and the "Charlemagne" division. If the first was made solely of volunteers for the ss and was well equiped and correctly trained, the second was a mix of different collaborating french formations (from the Heer L.V.F infantry regiment to the Organisation Todt labor units...). While the "Assault Brigade" performed very well but suffered high losses during the red army great offensive of july 1944, the "Charlemagne", poorly equiped, without tank and aerial support, undertrained and without most of its specialists, had a variable combat record : If all units did their best to halt the red army formations, inflicting to the soviets heavy losses, some managed to maintain some cohesion while other rapidly disintagrated... For the frenchmen, it was a bloodbath... Virtually distroyed in february-march 1945 in pomerania, the "Charlemagne" and its survivors were reorganised. Whose from the "Assault Brigade" and the LVF choosed to continue the fight. Most of them would be sent to their death by defending fanatically Hitler's Bunker... The others, mainly from the 'milice française' ranks opted to serve in contruction battalions. It has to be said that men from the milice didn't have frontline experience for most of them and consequently, they sustained the highest losses... That is why their morale was very low... Forbes has done a good job with 'For Europe...'. It is well written and includes numerous veteran sources. It is not a propagandist book about whose who joined the waffen ss. It is just an honest try to EXPLAIN why so many frenchmen joined... Many mistakes from orther authors are corrected. The military accomplishments of the SS frenchmen are accurately described but not exagerated. Finaly that book is probably the best testimony about these men who believed fighting for their country, "for europe" and against "the communist threat" by joining nazi germany.

This is one of those rare books that gives an insight into the Foreign Volunteers of the Waffen SS, in this case French members of the Charlemange Division.Formed originally as a Sturmbrigade the unit grew into a formidable fighting force which fought its way through Galicia, Pomerania, Danzig and finally its destruction in the inferno of Berlin.I was amazed at how Frenchmen for a variety of reasons would join such an organisation as the Waffen SS, but the various reasons why these men joined are varied and complex.Many of these men were extremely proud to belong to the Waffen SS and had volunteered gladly, others as the fortunes of Germany wavered opted to join to escape the vengance of the French people who many had helped to suppress in such units as the Milice.Its fighting spirit never wavered and even in the final battle for Berlin its soldiers fought to the bitter end in tank hunting units armed with panzerfaust where they were extremely effective.The book is very long over 500 pages with a few maps of the battlegrounds and pictures of some of the volunteers. I found it to be a very easy read and appears to be very well researched with lots of footnotes to explain parts of the story.The book has many many personal accounts of the men who fought in the unit and where possible lists the fate of the survivors, where some fought in Indo China (on both sides !) and others were not so lucky who were executed.It also deals with a war crime which I did not know about, where 12 French SS Volunteers who had been captured by the free French Army forces were executed.This is an impressive book well written and researched and I highly recommend this book to others

I wanted this book for background info in building a unique unit for my wargaming German army. Haven't had a chance to delve into the book, but the initial browse through shows promise with much information regarding unit development and deployment.

This subject must have been a fixation of the author's for decades. Otherwise he never would have been able to produce this book. Every contact with th enemy is documented as well as keeping track of the division's ever changing order of battle and equipment. Every officer in the division must have been mentioned by the time the book ends. Details of recruitment and training are also included. If a squad knocked out a tank on 24 Feb 1945 then it's in the book. The author also gives alternate views of an action if first hand accounts differ. Of course any book that is this detailed does not flow like a novel, it can be heavy going at times. But the payoff it acquiring detailed knowledge of the French volunteers in the Waffen SS and even other French paramilitaries fighting on the Eastern Front. One minor quibble is the lack of maps. As with most military histories maps are key to understanding the combat narratives. This book as few maps and the ones it does have are poor. But if the topic of the foreigners who were willing to fight for Hitler interests you this book is a must.

I want to express my dearest thanks to the author for the tremendous research he has done on the fields of Divison Charlemagne. This book is outstanding. It is a milestone in military history and you cannot miss it. Even after digging into this deep for more than 10 years I still could learn interesting facts. Interestingly enough it ist rated worst by people interested in European history. "Ein Schelm, wer Böses dabei denkt." Thank you very much.

What an excellent publication this is. It was worth the wait that I had to get this. I began to read this one evening and 8 hours later had to put it down to sleep. I finished the book in 4 days and I will re-read it again very soon. I t shows the bravery of the French soldiers and the battle for Berlin is an incredible action carried out by these men.I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the men who fought in one of the European armies of the 20th century.

Reading this made me realise how fantastically brave these men were in the face of an unwinnable battle against the Red Army. They deserved a better cause to fight for.

This is a good read, manages to get a lot of detail about the battles in Pomerania and Berlin, with good coverage of those final actions in The Reich capital. Its a good unit history, balancing analysis of their training and effectiveness with gung-ho first person battle reports. Good action yarn.

like this book looking forward to reading it

Only bought because the author is a friend of mine. Glad I bought it as it is very comprehensive and a great read.