Blue Legion

2025-01-13T10:32:00Z

2A02:8012:227B:0:1EA:D208:CDC:8585: Removed Category:Expatriate military units and formations as already in Category:Foreign volunteer units of the Wehrmacht which is a subcategory of the same

{{Short description|Unit of Spanish volunteers in the German Wehrmacht during World War II}}
{{Infobox military unit
| unit_name = Spanish Volunteer Legion
| image = Blue division.svg
| caption = Insignia of the Blue Legion, incorporating the [[flag of Spain]]
| image_size = 155px
| dates = {{Start date|1943|11|17|df=y}} {{en dash}} {{end date|1944|4|12|df=y}}
| country = {{flagcountry|Francoist Spain|1938}}
| allegiance = {{flagcountry|Nazi Germany}}
| branch = {{army|Nazi Germany}}
| type = [[Infantry]]
| size = 2,269 troops
| nickname = Blue Legion
| battles = {{tree list}}
* [[World War II]]
** [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]]
*** [[Leningrad–Novgorod offensive]]
*** [[Battle of Berlin]]
{{tree list/end}}
| notable_commanders = [[Antonio García Navarro]]
}}
The '''Blue Legion''' ({{langx|es|Legión Azul}}; {{langx|de|Blaue Legion}}), officially called the '''Spanish Volunteer Legion''' ({{langx|es|Legión Española de Voluntarios}}; {{langx|de|Spanische Freiwilligen-Legion}}), was a volunteer legion created from 2,133 [[Falangism|falangist]] volunteers who remained behind at the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]] after most of the Spanish [[Blue Division]] was withdrawn in October 1943 because [[Francisco Franco]] had started negotiations with the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]]. It officially consisted of two battalions. It was later estimated that the legion grew to over 3,000 Spaniards.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

A certain number of Spanish volunteers refused to return to Spain and remained on the Eastern Front, integrated into different German units. Some of them would continue to fight until the end of World War II. The '''101st SS Spanish Volunteer Company''' ({{langx|de|Spanische-Freiwilligen Kompanie der SS 101}}) of 140 men, composed of four rifle platoons and one staff platoon, was attached to the 28th SS Volunteer Grenadier Division ''Wallonien'' (the [[Walloon Legion]]) and fought against the Soviets in [[Province of Pomerania (1815–1945)|Pomerania]] and [[Province of Brandenburg|Brandenburg]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Julio |first=Rodriguez-Puértolas |date=2008 |title=Historia de la literatura fascista española |page=712 }}</ref> Under the command of [[Miguel Ezquerra]], remnants of the legion [[Battle of Berlin|defended Berlin]] against an overwhelming Soviet assault from April-May 1945. They fought in and around the central government district of Berlin (''Zitadelle'' sector), which included the [[Reich Chancellery]] and the [[Reichstag (building)|Reichstag]], being among the last defenders of the ''[[Führerbunker]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Childs |first1=David |title=We Were No Heroes |date=2009 |publisher=Grange BS |pages=76–80|isbn=9780956397201}}</ref>

The troops bore the word ''ESPAÑA'' and a red/yellow/yellow/red horizontally striped shield worn on the upper right arm, and a helmet.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Mil-unit-stub}}
[[Category:Anti-communism in Spain]]
[[Category:Foreign volunteer units of the Wehrmacht]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1943]]
[[Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1944]]
[[Category:Military units and formations of the Soviet–German War]]
[[Category:Military history of Spain]]
[[Category:Spanish collaborators with Nazi Germany]]

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Blue Legion