SS-Grenadier from Sturmbataillon ‘Charlemagne’ during heavy fighting in

Berlin. He is wearing an M40 uniform jacket, Erbsentarn trousers and mountain

boots, and is armed with a Stg44 assault rifle and two hand grenades M24 and
M43. The grenadier also has a combat knife attached to the flap of his jacket.

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SS-Oberscharführer (Oscha) wearing two-piece tanker uniform in Erbsentarn camouflage. He
is also wearing an M40 forage or side cap with old style pink piping for tank crews, private
tailored shoulder camouflage straps, gaiters and short boots. He is holding service binoculars
(Dienstglas) 6x30 made by Swarovski, cag code, in tan paint. The tanker is standing in
front of a Panzerkampfwagen V Panther (Sd.Kfz.171) Ausf. G in a late war paint.

(x)
An assault gun StuG III Ausf. G crewman, wearing polka-dot (Erbsentarn) camouflage trousers for
armoured personnel and leather jacket used by SS tank crews. The SS man is wearing an M43 cap
in late production style with trapezoid woven insignia and short service boots without nailed soles.

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 SS-Scharführer from SS-Panzer-Abteilung 11 ‘Hermann von Salza’. The NCO
wears a black wool service uniform and high boots. He holds an old style army
crusher cap with pink piping for panzer crew. The ‘Hermann von Salza’ cuff title
in bevo style is clearly visible on the left cuff of the Panzer wrap jacket.

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Note from Erik Hawarra regarding photos in the second half of the colour section
History is an important subject, a source of great passion, understanding of cultural and
social ancestry and a teacher to us all. A mutual interest in the events of the Second World
War brought myself and Mr Borowski together. We were engaged in a fascinating re-
enactment project that for its time was quite innovative. Numerous meetings and endless
nights of discussion fathoming and exploring our beloved subject brought us together again
for the work that you now hold in your hands. Through these pictures, I hope to illuminate
those darker days of our history and in doing so offer my personal and humble respects to all
those who participated in one of the largest and most dramatic conflicts in human history.
At this point I would like to offer my gratitude to Mr Tomasz Borowski for the
opportunity to contribute to this book; it has, as always, been a great pleasure and adventure.
Also to my wife, Carmen, for the boundless support, understanding and patience given
during the whole course of realising this appendix. Finally, a considerable thanks to my
great friends and confidants in the various ways you have assisted Alexander Haigh, Dieter
Huggins, Adam Gadalinski and Arek Jankowski. Without your help this couldn’t have been
done.

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French Waffen-SS Training Establishments
by Vincent Domergue
During the Second World War, French Waffen-SS volunteers were sent to various training
depots and schools. Below are some of the most famous establishments referenced in this
book. 

Headquarters of the ‘Ersatzkommando Frankreich der Waffen-SS’, located avenue du

Recteur Poincaré, 16th Arrondissement of Paris. The picture of Anger and Balestre was
probably taken on the roof of the building. Source: Vincent Domergue collection.

The Clignancourt barracks, located in the north of Paris. After a few days
here, the French volunteers travelled by train from the Paris railway station gare
de l’Est to Mülhausen (Mulhouse) and on to Sennhein (Cernay). The barracks
were demolished after the war. Source: Vincent Domergue collection.

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 L’ institut Saint-André (Saint-André Medical Institute) of Cernay, located 15 km to
the north-east of Mulhouse. It became the SS-Ausbildungslager Sennheim in which
thousands of Western volunteers in the Waffen-SS received basic military instruction
between January 1941 and November 1944. This aerial picture was taken in the early
1960s. Built in 1891, the Saint-André Medical Institute still takes care of people with
mental handicaps in its various departments. Source: Vincent Domergue collection.

Located 40 km to the south of München, the SS-Junkerschule Bad Tölz opened in

October 1937 and is the best known Waffen-SS officers’ school. From January 1944
to March 1944, twenty-six French volunteers, amongst them Henri Fenet, completed
their training course in Bad Tölz. After the war, the school was taken over by the U.S.
Army until the 1990s. It recently became a shopping area, which alteration included the
removal of the iconic entrance archway. Source: Vincent Domergue collection.

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 Opened in 1921, the Prosečnice sanatorium was located 25 km to the south of Prag (Praha). It
was requisitioned in early 1942 by the SS-Hauptamt to become the SS-Panzer-Grenadier-Schule
Prosetschnitz (Prosečnice) – its named was changed to Kienschlag in March 1944. Between May
1944 and April 1945, two classes of 41 French officer candidates completed their training course
in an annex of the school located in Neweklau (Neveklov, 15 km to the south of Prosečnice).
After ending its public medical service in 2006, the sanatorium reopened in 2014 as the Šarlota
Resort & Care, a luxurious nursing and retirement home. Source: Vincent Domergue collection.

The Trüppenübungsplatz Wildflecken, located in the Röhn Mountains, 25 km to the

south-east of Fulda. Opened in 1938, the training camp was used by both Wehrmacht and
Waffen-SS units. From October 1944 to March 1945, it was the main training camp for the
‘Charlemagne’ brigade/division. Used by the U.S. Army during the Cold War, the camp
was transferred to the Bundeswehr in 1994. Source: Vincent Domergue collection.

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