Belgians in Courland
The diorama shown in the photos is entitled "Kurland 10 Oct 1944". The photos were taken at the 12th International Modeling Festival Bytom 2015.
Apart from the mentioned title, the plaque attached to the diorama also features a coat of arms and the inscription: "28. SS-Freiwilligen-Grenadier-Division Wallonien ".
Wallonia is a region in the south of Belgium. Despite of the anti-Nazi underground existed in Belgium, some Belgians were joining in the German army. The Walloon Legion was formed from volunteers in 1941. Initially, it was part of the Wehrmacht, and the eastern front was the area of its operations (southern and central part of Ukraine). In 1943, it was attached to the Waffen-SS and transformed into an assault brigade. In July 1944, the Walloons were sent to Estonia, near Narva. In October, after the fighting, the survivors were withdrawn from Courland (eastern Latvia). Only now, after replenishing the soldiers, the unit was organized into the 28th Division, that was mentioned in the diorama's title.
After the reorganization, the Walloons were not sent back to Courland. At the beginning of 1945, they were sent to the Polish West Pomerania, in the region of Stargard. After the fighting, the remnants of the 28th Division, about 700 soldiers were withdrawn to Denmark, where they were to the end of the war.
Sources:
- http://www.dws-xip.pl/reich/waffen/28dgren.html
- https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/28_Ochotnicza_Dywizja_Grenadier%C3%B3w_Pancernych_SS_(1_walo%C5%84ska)_%E2%80%9EWallonien%E2%80%9D
- https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legion_Walo%C5%84ski
- https://opinie.wp.pl/bitwa-europejskiego-ss-walki-o-narwe-w-1944-roku-6126039167944833a
17 Nov 2018
Modeller: no data
Photographer: Ender
Illustration by Ender and the authors of OpenStreetMap
The cartographic data for the illustrations have been downloaded from the website www.openstreetmap.org based Open Data Commons Open Database License.
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