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Zebedee -> RE: Some are more SS than others... (2/16/2011 5:15:00 AM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: redmarkus4
I get my info from a range of sources, a lot of it from distant memory. I was attached to the Indian Army between 1977 and 1979 as a foreign student at the Indian Military Academy, where I trained alongside about 300 Afghan Army officers, and during my studies I read up on the Indian troops who sided with the Axis. One thing that stuck with me was that a large part of the Japanese force that attacked at Imphal and Kohima was made up of Indian volunteers.
I used to own a book (possibly Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by Shirer?) that included details of the attempt by Himmler to recruit Indian volunteers - I recall there being a photo of him standing alongside a formation of these men, but I can't find the book.
When I searched the web, I only found the item above - it seems that this story is not well known or publicized.
Was referring specifically to pulling chunks of texts from other websites really and not crediting the people responsible for collating it. :)
More generally, Bose and his Indian volunteers are not neglected in the history books - although perhaps British historians tend to pay more attention than American ones to such a footnote in the grand scheme of things. The SS in particular is overrepresented in the specialist literature of the war, with libraries of books devoted to the foreign volunteers of the SS. It's a strange fascination given the very marginal combat value of most of the units and the relative size of the forces being discussed - eg Handschar was barely capable of mounting 'anti-partisan' operations without losing significant portions of its supposed establishment strength through desertion.
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