Ss: Wiking: The History of the Fifth Ss Division 1941-45 - The Waffen SS Divisional Histories Series (Paperback)

The divisions of the Waffen-SS were the elite of Hitler's armies in WWII. SS-Wiking is an in-depth examination of one of the most notorious, the Wiking division, which was largely recruited from foreign volunteers from German-occupied countries in Europe after 1940. Despite their non-Germanic background, the Norwegians, Dutch, Danes, Belgians, Finns, and other nationalities, often motivated by an extreme anti-Communist zeal and believing that the Soviet Union was their real enemy, fought hard on the Eastern Front for the Nazi cause, and won considerable praise for their bravery. SS-Wiking explores the background to the unit's formation during the war, its propaganda value to Nazi Germany, the men it recruited, the key figures involved in the division, and its organisation. It also looks at the specialist training of the Waffen-SS, and the uniforms and insignia that the members of the division wore. SS-Wiking also provides a full combat record of the unit during its existence. The book describes the unit's service in on the Eastern Front, including the invasion of Russia, the capture of Rostov, the hard-fought defensive battles of 1943, the breakout from the Cherkassy pocket, and the defence of Warsaw, to the fruitless attempt to relieve Budapest and the unit's effective destruction by the war's end. Illustrated with rare photographs, and with an authoritative text and detailed appendices, SS-Wiking is a definitive history of one of Germany's top fighting units of WWII.