h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

i,ve read almost all of the said books,and the thing that has always intrigued me the most is the referance to british troops fighting for the germans. has anybody got any further details regarding this ?

There was indeed a Waffen SS unit composed of British nationals - mainly used for propaganda purposes, being photographed with a big Union Jack on their uniform sleeves etc.

There's extensive info at: [URL removed by moderator]

This does make sense. They may be British born but that does not mean they shared the political beliefs at the time. Even now there are British supporters of the SS. [email protected]

I,m asking about British Troops who having become P.O.W.s ,have taken the opportunity to serve with the Germans. This rather than spend the rest of the war as prisoners. Nothing to do with any political ideals. Also if this happened, were the individuals tried as traitors?

Well, the link I gave did have an extensive explanation of this situation - but it's been removed. I don't know why, as it is an historical site, non-political and non-biased. (Meanwhile, the H2G2 entry on Rommel happily contains quotes from David Irving, the famous Holocaust denialist and non-historian.)

Many of these British SS people were drawn from POW camps, mainly having German origins or pro-fascist beliefs. A LOT of Europeans joined the SS because of anti-Communist beliefs rather than pro-Nazi beliefs (particularly Russian Cossacks - a major story in its own right). Spain, despite being 'neutral' during the war, had a whole army fighting in Russia with the Axis.

Survivors of the British unit were indeed tried for treason and executed after the war, as were collaborators of many other nationalities. A search on the web for "British Free Corps" should provide more detail. Most articles are researched out of historical curiosity and without any neo-nazi nonsense.

DAN, many thanks for your help. Having now read the sites you suggested,I now know a lot more on the subject.

just to note that the "british free corps" did not do any fighting on any front during the second world war, this unit was used as propoganda only.

hope this of some help

I remember seeing a documentary some months ago on channel 5 that managed to track down one member of the frei corps to a small town in Australia. For some strange reason not much of a conversationalist on the subject!

I think his greatest book is the one when they retreat from Romania-'suflete ciuruite'