LEON DEGRELLE
Born Bouillon 1906- Died Malaga 1994
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Leon Degrelle’s story is probably the most unique tale of courage and
determination to come from the ranks of foreign volunteers in the Waffen SS. He
worked his way up through the ranks from private to general in a very short
space of time and led a distinguished career, becoming the most decorated and
famous foreign volunteer in the entire German Army.
Leon Degrelle was born in 1906 in Bouillon, a small town in the Belgian Ardennes.
His family was of French origin. He studied law at the University of Louvain but
left University after two years. . As well as this he was also greatly
interested in political science, art, archaeology and Tomistic philosophy.
During this time his leadership qualities came to the fore. and it was apparent
that he possessed great academic skills, having published five books and running
his own weekly newspaper dealing with current issues, by the time he was twenty.
He was also a devout Catholic, being an active member of Belgium’s Catholic
Action Movement eventually becoming one of its leaders.
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His books and newspaper became very popular winning over many people and in 1936
his Rexist party won thirty-four electoral and senate seats. This led to
meetings with Hitler, Mussolini and Winston Churchill in London. He gradually
became greatly influenced by Charles Maurras the French Nationalist, Italian
Fascism and the German Nazi Party.
When war broke out and the Germans conquered Poland their attention turned west
and to the Low Countries. Before the Belgians were beaten. Degrelle was arrested
for sympathising with Hitler and endured weeks of brutal imprisonment in Belgian
and French jails, eventually being released due to German intervention.
Degrelle had reservations about the Wallonian areas of Belgium being
incorporated into the Reich, preferring to have an autonomous state for the
French speaking Belgians and in an attempt to gain sympathy for his cause from
Hitler he volunteered for the German Army in 1941 encouraging 1,000 Walloons to
join in the process.
At the age of thirty-five, married with two daughters, he was an unlikely
soldier. He had no previous military training at all.
In November 1941 he found himself, along with other Walloon volunteers fighting
small skirmishes with the Red Army around the Donets Basin during the advance
into the Soviet Union. His comrades who had supported his Rexist Party in
Belgium, were surprised at the humbleness of Private Degrelle the Rexist leader,
performing the lowly tasks of an infantryman and jokingly nicknamed him "Modest
the First, Duke of Burgundy".
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In February 1942 Degrelle got his first real taste of battle. With the German
supply lines over-stretched and exposed, the Russians attempted to exploit the
gaps in the German defences. The Walloons were thrust into these defensive
battles including the bitter struggle for the village of Rosa Luxembourg and the
defence of Gromovaya-Balka. These battles proved costly Degrelle and his
Walloons, losing a third of its strength and only two of its twenty-two Officers
being fit for duty. Degrelle was promoted after Gromowobajalka to the rank of
Feldwebel and later on May 1st 1942 he was promoted to Leutnant
Leutnant for his heroic actions at Gromovaya-Balka.
Degrelle’s knowledge of tactics were somewhat dubious but his ability to lead
and his unflinching courage were beyond question. He proved this time and time
again during the fierce mountain warfare that his Walloons were conducting.
During the summer and autumn Degrelle was involved in numerous battles with
considerable success capturing one objective after another and it was not long
before his Walloon brigade caught the attention of the officers of the Waffen
SS. Himmler was persuaded to incorporate the Walloons into the Waffen SS-a move
which proved popular among Degrelle’s men as well as Degrelle, who saw it as
another instrument for his post-war ambitions for an independent Walloon state.
In the spring of 1943 the Walloons were sent to various SS training camps and
were elevated to new heights of combat prowess. In November with training
complete, Sturmbannführer Luicien Lippert was appointed commander of the new
28th SS Freiwilligen Panzergrenadeir Division Wallonie with Leon Degrelle as his
chief of staff.
In January 1944 Degrelle was posted to a sector near the Cherkassy salient. In
January 1944 this salient was attacked by the Red Army and turned into a pocket,
trapping the German Forces which included the 5 Frw. Sturmbrigade Wallonien. It
was during this fighting that Sturmbannführer Lucien Lippert was shot dead
outside a Mouzhik’s hovel and Degrelle himself was wounded slightly from bullets
and mortar fragments. Lippert was promoted, posthulmously to Obersturmbannführer
and awarded the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold. Degrelle was awarded the Knights Cross
(he would later receive the Oakleaves too) for his part in the breakout of the
Cherkassy Pocket by Hitler who commended him on his bravery saying "If I had a
son I would want him to be like you."
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Against Hitler’s wishes Degrelle returned to combat on the Eastern Front,
fighting all the way back to Berlin in the face of the Russian onslaught. When
the war ended he escaped Russian captivity only to be condemned to death by the
new Belgian government. He eluded their grasp however by escaping to Spain and
was granted political asylum by Franco’s government.
He settled in Madrid and lived quite openly for years. A visiting Belgian
journalist once interviewed him and asked if he had any regrets about the war.
His quick reply was "Only that we lost!"
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