Praire Dog
Well-Known Member
Hi guys, I have seen this video of the WW2 about the attack to the Soviet Union. It is told by a Spanish sergeant who participated in the siege of St. Petersburg. It may be of interest to some of you, because it talks about war and I think many of you served in the army. The description of the video has a explanation, and it's the following:
Although Spanish General Francisco Franco did not officially bring Spain into World War II on the side of Nazi Germany, he permitted volunteers to join the German Army (Wehrmacht) on the condition they would only fight against the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front, and not against the Western Allies or any Western European occupied populations. In this manner, he could keep Spain at peace with the Western Allies, while repaying German support during the Spanish Civil War.
The Blue Division was a unit of Spanish volunteers and conscripts who served (1941-1944) in the German Army on the Eastern Front during the WW2.
The Blue Division was the only component of the German Army to be awarded a medal of their own, commissioned by Hitler in January 1944 after the Division had demonstrated its effectiveness in impeding the advance of the Red Army.
Blue Division casualties throughout the Soviet-German conflict totaled 22,700 (3,934 battle deaths, 570 disease deaths, 326 missing or captured, 8,466 wounded, 7,800 sick, and 1,600 frostbitten). In action against the Blue Division, the Red Army suffered 49,300 casualties.
The Battle of Krasny Bor was part of the Soviet offensive Operation Polyarnaya Zvezda. It called for a pincer attack near Leningrad, to build on the success of Operation Iskra and completely lift the Siege of Leningrad, encircling a substantial part of the German 18th Army. The offensive near the town of Krasny Bor, formed the western arm of the pincer.
