German officer serving in regular French army after WW2

[philippe_jehl]

I have heard of German ww2 veterans serving the French after WW2 but usually it was in the foreign legion.
A few months ago I found paper work showing my grand father servering in the French army from 1946 to 1949.
He served in the German army from 1916 to the end of WW1
from 1939 until the french surrendered in the French army but did not want serve so had a doctor friend make arrangements for him to stay on medical leave (bed rest), though he was not sick.
1940 after the French capitulate he re-enters German military service.
I know nothing of his WW2 service except that he was captured by American troups wearing civiliian clothes he had stollen from a cloth line.
He claims he was a French forced laborer sent to Germany and he is released by the Americans (I have pictures of him in civilan clothes at the end of March 1945 in at a family reunion in Alsace so know for sure by March 1945 he was back home).
Then from 1946 to 1949 he served in the French army according to claims he filed for retirement. In 1946 he would have been 49 and I can not see him volunteering to serve in the French miltary because he very much hated the French not to mention his age. He also waited until the mid 50's to even fill out reintergration paper work to give him French citizenship yet he could have done so after ww1. Then in the 60's the French tried him for war crimes but charges were dismissed. Like many famillies no one wants to talk about the war years and few are left to even be able to tell me about those years. So I am left wondering maybe some of you can shed some light on this. In some ways I can see why the French would want to recruit a former German officer that was fluent in German and French but I am sure there would have been better candidates than a man nearly 50. Besides what use would he have been to the French since the war was over unless it had to do with handling of German prisoner of war or related to the French occupation zone in Germany.

[philippe_jehl]

thought i would revive this post as I know nothing further today than i did when i originally posted this post. Perhaps some newer members might have some light to shed on this

[phylo_roadking]

Philippe have you any idea of the nature of his service in the French Army after the war? If he had been a tanker or something with the Wehrmacht during the war, he may have had essential skills - for example - France still using a lot of German equipment for a time after the war.

[philippe_jehl]

I know very little of his service during WW2. No one ever talked about it and now there are few family members that could remember as most of the remaining one were little kids during that time. I know during his service in WW1 he was in the cavalry. There are absolutely no pictures of him from 1939 to late march 1945. Either none were taken or they were destroyed. I know part of the war he was stationed in France and in Nancy he commanded a garrison there. Other tid bits I have is that my mother had talked about watching soldiers practice skiing on grassy hills, not sure if that is of any relationship. He had close family friends that were in high french police postions during and after the war. I also know of an incident in which he ordered his troops to water down an SS comandeered train convoy loaded with civilians. It was hot and the train had stopped to seek shelter from enemy aircrafts. It was hot and they were suffocating from the heat. Those in charge of the convoy were furious. They threathened my grand-father and he in turn threathened to shoot them on the spot for
assaulting a superior. It then escalated to his soldiers pointing weapons at those escorting the convoys and they pointing weapons at his troops.
how it was defused I don't know. But I remember this incident be brought up during his trial but being 6 or 7 I did not understand much of what was going on. So maybe part of his service had to do with trains not sure. My guess his service was probably in the infantry more likely than anything else.
He was however also fluent in French, German, Alsatian and English which is why my first thought were that his service could be related to either the French occupation zone of Gemrany or in the dealing with German pows.
Like I said no one to shed any light on this in my family but figure he probably was not the only German officer service with the French army during the years immediately after the war.

[bf109 emil]

does anyone know the total number of former wehrmacht and SS whom served with/under the French at Diem Bien Phu

Prison camp was even worse. The French troops, many of them not even French, were constantly starved, beaten and heaped with abuse. Many died. The Viet Minh used the presence of veteran World War II Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS soldiers serving under the Foreign Legion as propaganda against the French cause.

http://www.bambooweb.com/articles/B/a/B ... n_Phu.html

The Viet Minh used the presence of veteran World War II Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS soldiers serving under the Foreign Legion as propaganda against the French cause. About 3,300 malnourished, defeated prisoners were released in 1958.

http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Bat ... id/1928525

[panzermahn]

Hi Phillipe

Was your grandfather an Alsace-Lorrainer? (It changes hand between France and Germany a couple of times ever since the Franco-Prussian War) He might be one of the malgre-nous during the period 1939-1945..

I think the best bet is too look back at the trial of your grandfather in the library archives. From there probably you would get to know more about your grandfather and the military unit he served during 1939-1945. I am pretty sure during the trial, the French government would know of your grandfather's unit. How else if they could bring charges to your grandfather without even knowing which unit he served, his rank, his serial number etc? Once you get hold on these infos, probably you can send a request to Bundesarchiv for more information regarding your grandpa's service the Wehrmacht from 1939-1945

Good luck!

Panzermahn

[philippe_jehl]

Yes he was born in Alsace while it was part of Germany (1897 to be specific), served in the 1st world war as a German officer. Here comes to mind another thing, since he was born while Alsace was part of Germany he would have been a German citizen but until he completed the "réintégration" paper work which he could have completed any time after France took control of Alsace (1919) until the late 50"s (he had refused up to that point but had to in order to get his retirement benefits) would he have remained as far as Germany was concerned a German citizen until that time ? Likewise his wife also did not complete the paperwork until the time my grand-father did.
My mother was born in Nancy which is in Lorraine and where my Grand-father was stationed during the war or rather should i say where his wife and children lived as I do not know where he was during the war except at one point he was stationed in Nancy and lived there before the French surrender in 1940. I know by the end of the war he was in Germany and captured by the Americans for a short period of time as by Easter 1945 he is in a photograph in civilian clothes and with relatives in Alsace. Between 1939 to Easter 1945 there are no pictures in which he is included at all.
As for his trial I can not remember hardly anything except that he was always well liked and it was more a witch hunt by the French than anything else. I also remember there was a Jewish Rabi that testified in his defence and who had brought described the incident at the train station that i mentioned earlier and had been a witness to it and one of people in the rail cars from what i gather from my memories.

[Patrick]

I've heard/read about anti-Bolshevik Germans working for the West during the Cold War providing intelligence about Russian equipment and tactics that might be useful in the "next" war.

Perhaps he had specialized knowledge in a technical field or former work in an intelligence section? That would make him more valuable for his brains, so his age would not be a limitation.