SS Foreign Divisions & Volunteers of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, 1941–1945 (Paperback)
Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives
Imprint: Pen & Sword Military
Series: Images of War
Pages: 128
Illustrations: 250 black and white illustrations
ISBN: 9781399012980
Published: 3rd November 2021
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Drawing on a superb collection of rare and unpublished photographs SS Foreign Divisions & Volunteers of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia 1942 - 1945 describes how the occupying Nazis recruited Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian conscripts into the Waffen-SS. Unlike her Latvian neighbour, Lithuania had no plans to provide Germany with a National Legion. Although volunteers came forward, the majority did not. This was not the case for Latvia and Estonia, which undertook huge recruitment programmes, and thousands of men were drafted into their own foreign legion of Waffen-SS Grenadier divisions. After intensive training, these divisions saw action on the Eastern front, around Leningrad, in the Ukraine, before vicious defensive operations as the Red Army smashed its way through the Baltic States in 1944. Even in the last dying weeks of the war, what was left of the Baltic soldiers of the 15th, 19th and 20th Waffen-SS Grenadier Divisions, continued to fight alongside their Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS counterparts until they were either destroyed or surrendered.
The story of these divisions is graphically told with detailed captions and text together with many contemporary images in true Images of War style.
"The author has done a very good job of selecting photos that are both interesting and informative."
IPMS/USA, August 2022
"...makes a reasonable contribution to the scholarship of World War II, particularly through the revealing of previously unpublished photographs."
Campaigning: The Journal of the Joint Forces Staff College May 2022
"...the impromptu foxhole-to-bunker entrenchments offer a few ideas for terraining."
Historical Miniatures Gaming Society, April 2022
An interesting read and a high proportion of the photos I had not seen before. The story of the three Baltic states made for a different aspect of the war on the Eastern Front, and one that is often overlooked I think.
Military Model Scene
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An interesting and informative book packed with photographs (but no maps) and accompanied by a decent narrative.
Arrse
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"...will be of great interest to modelers and Military historians alike."
IPMS/USA
The Images of War book series, usually appeal to me greatly and this offering is no different. The short written sections provide a background prior to the photographic sections, with the photographic sections and captions adding the meat to the bones. While the photographs are black and white, details such as uniforms, insignia and equipment are well highlighted, and it shows troops doing what they did most often, which was waiting and preparing for the next fight, rather than fighting all the time, which would have been the case in the last months of the war - where as a general rule it was a case of kill or be killed.
Armorama
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As featured in
History of War
The mainstay of this outstanding book is undoubtedly the images, and they are exceptional. I am confident that anyone interested in these Waffen SS formations will learn a huge amount by closely considering the photos in this book. They will assist a wide audience from re-enactors, museum specialists, film crews, modellers and many others. The author deserves a “well-done” and a thanks for producing this useful volume.
Dr Stuart C Blank, Military Archive Research
Another excellent book by the author in a compelling series of images and overview narrative.
Michael McCarthy
Michael McCarthy. Battlefield Guide
About Ian Baxter
Ian Baxter is a much-published author and photographic collector whose books draw an increasing following. Among his many previous titles in the Images of War Series are Hitler’s Boy Soldiers, Nazi Concentration Camp Commandants, The Ghettos of Nazi Occupied Poland, German Army on the Eastern Front – The Advance, German Army on the Eastern Front – The Retreat, The Crushing of Army Group (North) and the SS Waffen Division series including SS Leibstandarte Division, SS Totenkopf Division At War, Waffen SS of the Baltic States, Waffen SS at Arnhem and Waffen SS in the Ardennes. He lives near Chelmsford, Essex.
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