The Waffen Grenadier Brigade of the SS Charlemagne () was a Waffen-SS unit formed in September 1944 from French collaborationists, many of whom were already serving in various other German units.
Named after the 9th-century Frankish emperor, the Charlemagne Brigade superseded two units of French volunteers already serving within the German Army and Waffen-SS, namely the Legion of French Volunteers Against Bolshevism and SS-Volunteer Sturmbrigade France (SS-Freiwilligen Sturmbrigade "Frankreich"). The division also included French recruits from other German military and paramilitary formations and Miliciens who had fled ahead of the Allied Liberation of France (June–November 1944).
After training, the Charlemagne Brigade was reclassified as a division as the 33rd Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Charlemagne (1st French) (33. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS "Charlemagne" (französische Nr. 1)). It had 7,340 men at the time of its deployment to the Eastern Front in February 1945. It fought against Soviet forces in Pomerania where it was almost annihilated during the East Pomeranian Offensive within a month. Around 300 members of the unit participated in the Battle in Berlin in April–May 1945 and were among the last Axis forces to surrender.
Background
Legion of French Volunteers Against Bolshevism
The Legion of French Volunteers Against Bolshevism (Légion des Volontaires Français contre le Bolchévisme, or LVF) was a unit of the German Army (Wehrmacht) formed shortly after the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941 by a coalition of small far-right political factions within Vichy France. Although its supporters were more explicitly supportive of Nazi ideology and close collaboration with Nazi Germany than the Vichy regime itself, the German authorities remained skeptical of incorporating French soldiers and limited the unit's size significantly. Furthermore, it only succeeded in including 5,800 recruits between 1941 and its disbandment in 1944. It was also kept at arm's length by the Vichy regime. The LVF participated in the Battle of Moscow in November–December 1941 but suffered heavy casualties and performed poorly in combat. For most of its existence, it was confined to so-called "bandit-fighting" operations (Bandenbekämpfung) behind the front line in German-occupied Byelorussia and Ukraine. The Tricolour Legion (Légion Tricolore) formed in France with Vichy support was later also absorbed into the LVF. In early 1944, the unit again took part in rear-security operations. In June 1944, following the collapse of Army Group Centre's front during the Red Army's summer offensive, the LVF was attached to the 4th SS Police Regiment.
SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade France
The SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade France (SS-Freiwilligen Sturmbrigade "Frankreich") was formed in July 1943 as the first French formation permitted within the Waffen-SS. It was led by SS-Obersturmbannführer Paul-Marie Gamory-Dubourdeau who had formerly served in the Foreign Legion. It attracted around 3,000 applicants in German-occupied France, many of whom were existing members of the collaborationist paramilitary Milice or university students. The official requirements were that the recruit had to be "free of Jewish blood" and between 20 and 25 years old. The approximately 1,600 men of the Sturmbrigade were attached to the 18th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Horst Wessel and sent to Galicia on the Eastern Front. In heavy fighting against the Red Army, 7 officers and 130 men were killed, while 8 officers and 661 men were wounded.