Indo-Chinese troops

[Peter]

I have a reference from a British POW to Indo-Chinese troops with their officers in German occupied Thüringia in March 1945. I assume that these must have been conscript labour rather than fighting troops serving with the German army? Am I right?

Thanks in advance

[panzermahn]

Hello Peter

Not sure about Indochinese (the only Indo-Chinese I knew off was Lucien Kemarat who served in the French LVF as well as the Waffen SS "Charlemagne" Division), but if I am not mistaken, Kapitan sur Zee Bernhard Rogge, the captain of the merchant raider, Atlantis mentioned there were 3 Chinese serving on board (laundry mate) although he didn't mentioned how they were recruited

Apart that you have Leutnant Chiang Wei Kuo serving in a Gebirgsjaeger division (pre-war), and Hauptmann Tithawat, a Royal Thai Army officer who was sent to the Wehrmacht before the war to learn signal communications and served in a signals unit during the war..

Panzermahn

[Peter]

Thank you. I think I'll go with French POWs with their officers and working on farms or in industry.

Many thanks

[nino]

An Indo-Chinese volunteer from Antonio J. Munoz "East came West" book

[Peter]

Thanks everyone, but since all the refs are to odd individuals not complete units. Which makes me think the ref I have is to POWs.

[Loïc L.]

Thuringe march 1945 probably,
-after the fall of France Indochinese (and others colored colonial soldiers) POW's were mainly in the Frontstalag of northern occupied France because the Nazis didn't want them on the german soil, of course perhaps we can find a small number in Germany too

-in southern free Zone the Indochinese soldiers were in the Repatriable Colonial Indigenous Military Companies (MICR), due the war and the lack of communications with Indochina France was unable to send them back home, so these companies of colonial military workers were raised for Senegalese Malagasy and Indochinese soldiers
after the invasion of the southern zone Germans didn't disband these companies and used them as manpower for the Organisation Todt (especially the Südwall) and others duties, I remember a book about the D-Day who the author described "Vietnamese" who accompanied german troops, I don't know if one of these companies reached Germany

Regards
Loïc

[Peter]

Thank you. My records are from Allied POWs near Mühlhausen on 2 April. I think I'll stick with the inference that they were POWs. The quote is, "Saw some shot up transport yesterday near some Indo-French troops so possibly the road is not too healthy."

Many thanks

[IrishMatt28]

There is a reference is Stephen Ambrose's book on D-Day that states that an American paratroop Lieutenant captured two Asians in German uniforms on Utah Beach. They were taken back to a ship and interrogated. Apparently, they were Koreans, and fought against the Russians as a member of the Kwantung army, and was captured. Apparently they were conscripted into the Russian Army, captured in 1943 by the Germans, conscripted into the German Wehrmacht.