FREE INDIA LEGION and 1. GALICIAN Div. - 1945 Europa Woche Nr. 97 GERMAN NEWSREEL

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Episode 226

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EUROPA WOCHE Nr. 97
3.1.45

1:17 - Youth at an ice rink
2:17 - Figure skating event in Berlin
3:03 - Artistic gymnastics competition
4:13 - Girls working in a youth hostel
5:35 - Production of new leather goods
6:53 - Christmas presents for children
8:43 - Concert by a soldiers' choir (1. Galician Div. Waffen-SS)
9:24 - Use of armor-piercing weapons
10:54 - Bonus: Deutsche Wochenschau Nr. 686
10:54 - Bonus: Private footage, civilians digging anti-tank trenches with a Free India Legion soldier

THE INDIAN LEGION
The Indian Legion (German: Indische Legion), officially the Free India Legion (German: Legion Freies Indien) or 950th (Indian) Infantry Regiment (German: Infanterie-Regiment 950 (indisches)), was a military unit raised during the Second World War initially as part of the German Army and later the Waffen-SS from August 1944. Intended to serve as a liberation force for British-ruled India, it was made up of Indian prisoners of war and expatriates in Europe. Due to its origins in the Indian independence movement, it was known also as the "Tiger Legion", and the "Azad Hind Fauj". As part of the Waffen-SS it was known as the Indian Volunteer Legion of the Waffen-SS (German: Indische Freiwilligen Legion der Waffen-SS).

Indian independence leader Subhas Chandra Bose initiated the legion's formation, as part of his efforts to win India's independence by waging war against Britain, when he came to Berlin in 1941 seeking German aid. The initial recruits in 1941 were volunteers from the Indian students resident in Germany at the time, and a handful of the Indian prisoners of war who had been captured during the North African campaign. It later drew a larger number of Indian prisoners of war as volunteers.

Though it was initially raised as an assault group that would form a pathfinder to a German–Indian joint invasion of the western frontiers of British India, only a small contingent was ever put to its original intended purpose. A small contingent, including much of the Indian officer corps and enlisted leadership, was transferred to the Indian National Army in South-East Asia. The majority of the troops of the Indian Legion were given only non-combat duties in the Netherlands and in France until the Allied invasion. They saw action in the retreat from the Allied advance across France, fighting mostly against the French Resistance. One company was sent to Italy in 1944, where it saw action against British and Polish troops and undertook anti-partisan operations.
At the time of the surrender of Nazi Germany in 1945, the remaining men of the Indian Legion made efforts to march to neutral Switzerland over the Alps, but they were captured by American and French troops and eventually shipped back to India to face charges of treason. After the uproar the trials of Indians who served with the Axis caused among civilians and the military of British India, the legion members' trials were not completed.

1. GALICIAN

The 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Galician) (German: 14. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (galizische Nr. 1); Ukrainian: 14-та гренадерська дивізія СС «Галичина», romanized: 14-ta hrenaderska dyviziia SS "Galychyna"), commonly referred to as the Galicia Division, was a World War II infantry division of the Waffen-SS, the military wing of the German Nazi Party, made up predominantly of volunteers with a Ukrainian ethnic background from the area of Galicia, later also with some Slovaks.

Formed in 1943, it was mainly deployed in the Eastern Front of World War II in combat against the Red Army and in the repression of Soviet, Polish, and Yugoslav guerrilla partisans. Parts of the division were said to have taken part in several massacres, such as at Huta Pieniacka, Pidkamin, and Palikrowy. It was largely destroyed in the Lvov–Sandomierz offensive, reformed, and saw action in Slovakia, Yugoslavia, and Austria before being transferred to the command of the Ukrainian National Committee on 14 April 1945, a change that was only partially implemented amidst the collapse of Germany, and surrendering to the Western Allies by 10 May 1945.
The unit went by several names during its existence. It was originally known as the SS-Volunteer Division "Galicia" (German: SS-Freiwilligen-Division "Galizien", Ukrainian: Добровільна Дивізія СС "Галичина", romanized: Dobrovilna Dyviziia SS "Halychyna") from its creation until October 1943. It then became the 14th Galician SS-Volunteer Division, before being renamed again in June 1944 as the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division (1st Galician) until November 1944, when its designation was changed to 1st Ukrainian (German: 14. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (ukrainische Nr. 1)). In late April 1945 its name was changed to the 1st Division of the Ukrainian National Army for the rest of the war.