The message reads: "We win! Join the Norwegian Legion´s Ski Ranger Battalion".This poster is on display in the amazing Svolvaer War History Museum on Lofoten.
As neither the ski hat (looks almost like a postwar one) nor Norwegian national insignia on it were worn in the field by any Norwegians in the Waffen-SS one wonders if these posters were on display for long? Also note the absence of any German insignia.
This is a recruitment poster for a unit that never came to be: Den Norske Legions Skiløperbataljon.
ReplyDeleteThe unit must not be confused with the later SS-Skijegerbataljon Norge.
DNL was promised by the Germans that they were to be set up as a Norwegian unit that would be helping Finnish brothers in their fight against Soviet Union, and the DNL was supposed to enlist 2 battallions strength, one a Skiløper-bataljon.
Now that never came to be, they were not recruiting enough people and their battallion-size unit was transferred to Germany and set up under German W-SS command and sent to the Leningrad front....
However DNL did use the Norwegian flag on the arm of their SS uniforms, and instead of the SS-runes they wore a Norwegian lion.
Many thanks, Tor-Helge,
ReplyDeleteHow many of these posters are still around do you think?
Cheers,
Lars