Blue Division

The Blue Division (Spanish División Azul), also known as 250. Infanterie-Division, was a unit of Spanish volunteers that served on the German side of the Second World War, mainly on the Eastern Front.

Although generalissimo Francisco Franco did not officially enter the war on the side of Nazi Germany, he let volunteers join the German army. In this manner, he could maintain Spanish neutrality while simultaneously repaying Hitler for his support during the Spanish Civil War (see Condor Legion). Spanish foreign minister Ramón Serrano Súñer made the suggestion to raise volunteer corps, and at the commencement of Operation Barbarossa, Franco sent an official offer of help to Berlin.

Hitler approved the use of Spanish volunteers on June 24, 1941. Volunteers flocked to recruiting offices in all the metropolitan areas in Spain. Cadets from the officer training school in Zaragoza volunteered in particularly large numbers. Initially, the Spanish government was prepared to send about 4,000 men, but soon understood that there were more than enough volunteers to fill an entire division (more than 19,000 men) - according to an estimate of the German ambassador, they could have formed 40 divisions.

50% of officers and NCOs were professional soldiers, many of them being Falangist veterans of the civil war. General Agustín Muñoz Grandes was assigned to lead the volunteers. Because the soldiers could not use official Spanish army uniforms, they adopted a symbolic uniform comprising the red berets of the Carlists, khaki trousers used in the Spanish Legion, and the blue shirts of the Falangists - hence the nickname, "Blue Division". This uniform was used only while on leave in Spain; in the field, soldiers wore the Heer field gray uniform with a shield on the upper right sleeve bearing the word "España" and the Spanish national colors.

On July 13, 1941, the first train left Madrid for Grafenwohr, Bavaria for a further five weeks of training. There they became the Heer's 250th Infantry Division and were initially divided into four infantry regiments. Following the standard Heer model, one of these regiments was dispersed among the others, which were named after three of the Spanish cities that volunteers largely originated from - Barcelona, Valencia and Seville. Each regiment had three battalions of four companies. An artillery regiment of three batteries of 150-mm guns and one heavy artillery battery reinforced them. Aviator volunteers formed a "Blue Squadron" (Esquadrilla Azul) which, using Bf 109s and FW 190s, was credited with 156 Soviet aircraft kills.

After swearing, on August 20, a modified military oath to fight communism, the Blue Division was assigned to combat duties. The division was transported by train to Suwalki, Poland, from where it had to continue in foot. While marching towards the Smolensk front, the Spanish volunteers were rerouted from Vitebsk and deployed in Leningrad where they became part of German 16th Army.

The Blue Division remained on the Leningrad front where they suffered heavy casualties both due to cold and to enemy action. Franco dispatched more reinforcements, which in time included conscripts in addition to volunteers. Through rotation, as many as 45,000 Spanish soldiers served on the Eastern Front. They were awarded both Spanish and German military awards, and were the only division to be awarded a medal of their own, commissioned by Hitler.

After the collapse of German front following the Battle of Stalingrad, the situation changed and more German troops were deployed southwards. By this time general Emilio Estaban Infates had taken command.

Eventually, the Allies began to pressure Franco to withdraw his troops. Franco initiated negotiations in the spring of 1943 and gave an order of withdrawal on October 10. The Blue Division had suffered 3,334 dead, 8,466 wounded, 326 missing, and 321 captured.

Some Spanish soldiers refused to return and Franco gave his unofficial blessing as long as the number would stay below 1,500 - in reality, the total was closer to 3,000. Spaniards also joined other German units, mainly the Waffen-SS, and fresh volunteers slipped across the Spanish border in Lourdes, France. The new units were collectively called the Blue Legion (Legión Azul).

The Spaniards initially remained part of the 121st Infantry Division, but even this meager force was ordered to return home in March 1944 and was transported back to Spain on March 21. The rest of the volunteers were absorbed into German units.

Platoons of Spaniards served in the 3rd Gebirgs Division and the 357th Infantry Division. One unit was sent to Latvia. Two companies joined the Brandenburger Regiment and German 121st Division in Yugoslavia to fight against Tito's partisans. Fifty Spaniards entered the Pyrenees to combat French Resistance.

The 101st company Spanische-Freiwilligen Kompanie der SS 101 of 140 men, made up of four rifle platoons and one staff platoon, was attached to 28th SS Volunteer Grenadier Division Wallonien and fought in Pomerania. Later, as part of 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland and under command of Haupsturmführer der SS Miguel Ezquerra, it fought the last days of the war against Soviet troops in Berlin.

Battles in which the Blue Division (or its successors) was a primary participant

Siege of Leningrad

First Battle of the Volkhov

Battle of Udarnik

Battle of Smiesko

First Battle of Sitno

Battle of Muravji

Battle of Nikitkino

Battle of Possad

Second Battle of Sitno

Battle of Schevelevo

Second Battle of the Volkhov

Third Battle of the Volkhov

Battle of Maloye Samoshie

Battle of Poselok

Battle of Krasny Bor

Battle of Putrolovo

Battle of Pushkin

Battle of Berlin

Books

• Gerald L. Kleinfeld & Lewis A. Tambs - Hitler's Spanish Legion: The Blue Division in Russia

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Blue Division was also a nickname of Irish fascist volunteers who fought on Falangist side in the Spanish Civil War.de:Blaue Division es:División Azul