Not to be confused with the contemporary paramilitary formations known as the Walloon Guard.
Walloon Legion
Sleeve insignia of the Walloon Legion
Active
1941–1945
Allegiance
Nazi Germany
Branch
Wehrmacht (1941–1943) Waffen-SS (1943–1945)
Type
Infantry
Size
2,000 men (maximum strength) 7,000–8,000 men (total, 1941–1945) Battalion, brigade and later division, though never larger than brigade-strength.
Engagements
Eastern Front (World War II)
Anti-Partisan operations in Ukraine
Korsun-Cherkassy Pocket
Operation Solstice[1]
Battle of Tannenberg Line
Commanders
Notable commanders
Léon Degrelle (1944–45)
Military unit
The Walloon Legion (French: Légion Wallonie, lit. "Wallonia Legion") was a unit of the German Army (Wehrmacht) and later of the Waffen-SS recruited among French-speaking collaborationists in German-occupied Belgium during World War II. It was formed in the aftermath of the German invasion of the Soviet Union and fought on the Eastern Front alongside similar formations from other parts of German-occupied Western Europe.
Established in July 1941, the Walloon Legion was envisaged by Léon Degrelle's Rexist Party as a means of demonstrating its loyalty and political indispensability in German-occupied Belgium where it had been largely ignored since the German invasion of May 1940. A similar formation had already been created by Flemish collaborators as the Flemish Legion, preventing Degrelle from being able to establish the "Belgian Legion" he had originally intended. The formation, initially part of the German Army, was officially designated Infantry Battalion 373 (Infanterie Bataillon 373). Degrelle himself enlisted and increasingly saw the unit as a more important political vehicle than the Rexist Party. It participated in fighting on the Eastern Front from February 1942 but struggled to find sufficient recruits in Belgium to replace its persistently heavy losses.
The unit was integrated into the Waffen-SS in June 1943 as the SS Assault Brigade Wallonia (SS-Sturmbrigade Wallonien) and was almost destroyed by Soviet forces in the Korsun–Cherkassy Pocket in February 1944. It expanded slightly after the Allied Liberation of Belgium in September 1944 as Belgian, French, and Spanish collaborators were drafted into the unit. It was upgraded to the notional status of a division and re-designated as the SS Volunteer Grenadier Division Wallonia (SS-Freiwilligen-Grenadier-Division Wallonien) in October 1944. After heavy losses during the 1945 retreats, its remaining personnel surrendered to British forces in April 1945.
^Le Tissier, Tony (1996). Zhukov at the Oder: the decisive battle for Berlin. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 101. ISBN 0-275-95230-4.
The WalloonLegion (French: Légion Wallonie, lit. "Wallonia Legion") was a unit of the German Army (Wehrmacht) and later of the Waffen-SS recruited among...
(the WalloonLegion) and fought against the Soviets in Pomerania and Brandenburg. Under the command of Miguel Ezquerra, remnants of the legion defended...
Flemish Legion also forced the Rexist Party, a largely French-speaking group in Belgium, to recruit a "WalloonLegion" rather than the "Belgian Legion" it...
Feldgendarmerie. In contrast to the WalloonLegion, established in June 1941, which participated in fighting on the Eastern Front the Walloon Guard was used within...
Wallonia (/wɒˈloʊniə/; French: Wallonie [walɔni]), officially the Walloon Region (French: Région wallonne), is one of the three regions of Belgium—along...
nationalist symbol by the Carlists in favour of Francisco Franco and by the WalloonLegion fighting for Nazi Germany. The banner strictly speaking dates to the...
movement and political party founded in 1927 by Corneliu Zelea Codreanu as the Legion of the Archangel Michael (Legiunea Arhanghelul Mihail) or the Legionary...
deportation of Jews. Two separate units of the Waffen-SS, the Flemish Legion and the WalloonLegion, were recruited from Belgium during the occupation. Léon Degrelle...
The Silver Legion of America, commonly known as the Silver Shirts, was an American pro-fascist and pro-Nazi organization which was founded by William Dudley...
responsible for the Courcelles Massacre. Closely affiliated with Rex was the WalloonLegion, a unit within the German Army (Wehrmacht) and later the Waffen-SS raised...
from Flanders. WalloonLegion (French: Légion Wallonie), recruited among French-speaking volunteers from German-occupied Belgium. Légion française des...
the Soviet Union formed the Ostlegionen (literally "Eastern Legions"). The East Legions comprized a total of 175,000 personnel. These units were all...
Legion", preferring to support the creation of separate linguistic units. After a brief period of fighting, it became clear that the WalloonLegion suffered...
Nordland, the SS Division Langemarck, the SS Division Nederland, and the WalloonLegion. Roughly half of the infantry consisted of the personnel of the 20th...
numbers. Belgian Flemings joined Dutchmen to form the SS-Nederland legion, and their Walloon compatriots joined the SS-Wallonien. By the end of 1943 about...
companies of Spaniards, some "Doriot Milice" [sic] and more Spaniards from the Walloon Division. Since 1995, the remains of Ezquerra have rested next to those...
Global Information
Nazi Germany
Wehrmacht (1941–1943)
Waffen-SS (1943–1945)