The Indians of the German SS: Free Indian Legion

The Free India Legion (Legion Freies Indien) was also known as the Indian Legion (Indische Legion). It was brained by Indian Nationalist Subhas Chandra Bose, one who aimed to rid India of British rule by any means necessary. Not only would we create the Free Indian Legion, he would also be instrumental in the creation of the Indian National Army in SE Asia, and today, we will delve into this forgotten piece of history. ______________________ Support The Channel: Second Channel ► ♥Patreon ► ♥PayPal ► Facebook ►: Have a topic you want to suggest? Say so in the comments below. Subscribe if you enjoyed the video as well, would be super appreciated The Axis Powers attempted to use any pre-existing unrest to try and advance their own goals. Here, the unrest from sections of the populace would be exploited in the crown jewel of the British Empire, India. India had a rather active independence movement, one which had been already exploited to some degree during the first World War, with Germany giving funding and support to an armed mutiny of Indian nationals across Asia. As WW2 drew on, the same plan would be implemented by all major axis powers, with them giving support in some fashion to uprisings against the British, which included raising dedicated Indian military units. Here, the Axis would see support from a few members of the Indian National Congress, the lead organization leading the struggle for Indian independence. The British had declared India as a co-belligerent against the Axis Powers without consulting the Indian people or the Congress first. While most members would later signal conditional support for the war against Fascism, others such as former president Subhas Chandra Bose, were outraged, and would stage anti-British protests around the nation, as he had long held views that more direct action should be taken against British Imperialism. For his protests, he would be arrested in June of 1940 and kept under strict house watch. He would escape in early January of ’41, heading north into the Soviet Union where he hoped that he could drum up support to start a pro Indian, anti-British radio broadcast, with the goal of eventually creating an army to fight against the British. Reaching no agreements with Moscow, Bose would go to Berlin in April of 41 with the same plea, and somewhat surprisingly to Bose, both foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop and Hitler signaled their support for his idea, giving him funds and logistical support to put his plan into motion. From here, he would establish the Azad Hind Radio station, which commenced broadcasting on shortwave frequencies, reaching tens of thousands of Indians. Soon after, Bose would get the go ahead to start forming an Indian legion that he hoped could be used to trigger the downfall of the British Raj. The first men of this new legion came from POW’s taken after the battles surrounding Tobruk in North Africa. 27 POW’s would be recruited as potential officers and flown to Berlin in May of ’41, primarly to act as recruiters from the thousands of prisoners that were being transferred to Germany. While the turnover rate was very low, over 20,000 Indians would become prisoners Germans, and the number of defectors gradually grew. As the Legion grew, they would be transferred to Königsbrück to get their training and their official uniforms. They would be issued the standard Wehrmacht uniform, on their right upper arm was a badge in the shape of a shield with three horizontal stripes of saffron, white, and green, featuring a leaping tiger. Additionally, Freies Indien was inscribed in black above the tricolor. Sikhs in the legion were permitted to wear a turban as dictated by their religion instead of the usual peaked field cap as well.