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Author, film researcher and member of the Swedish Military History Commission.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Norwegian SS Fantasy Uniform

Another Norwegian WWII poster I would like to read some comments about is this one:

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.

2 comments:

  1. This is a recruitment poster for a unit that never came to be: Den Norske Legions Skiløperbataljon.
    The 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.

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  2. Many thanks, Tor-Helge,
    How many of these posters are still around do you think?
    Cheers,
    Lars

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