What was the Blue Division and why did Spain send it to fight in World War II?
The Blue Division (División Azul) was a unit of Spanish volunteers who fought within the German Army on the Eastern Front from 1941 to 1943, officially designated the 250th Infantry Division. Spain remained non-belligerent in World War II, but Francisco Franco sympathised with the Axis and agreed to let Spaniards enlist privately after Foreign Minister Ramón Serrano Suñer proposed the idea hours after the German invasion of the Soviet Union on the 22nd of June 1941.
How many men served in the Blue Division?
Through rotation, as many as 45,000 Spanish soldiers served on the Eastern Front over the course of the campaign. Initial recruitment opened on the 27th of June 1941 and 18,373 men had volunteered by the 2nd of July 1941.
What happened at the Battle of Krasny Bor?
In February 1943, the Soviet 55th Army attacked Spanish positions at Krasny Bor near the main Moscow-Leningrad road. The attacking force outnumbered the Spanish volunteers seven to one and was supported by tanks. Despite very heavy casualties, the Blue Division held its ground and the siege of Leningrad was maintained for another year.
Why is the Blue Division called the Blue Division?
The unit earned its nickname from the blue shirts of the Falangist movement, which formed part of the symbolic composite uniform volunteers wore while on leave in Spain. In the field, soldiers wore standard German army field grey with a sleeve badge marked "España".
When did the Blue Division withdraw from the Eastern Front?
Franco issued the withdrawal order on the 10th of October 1943 following Allied political pressure. The Spanish government ordered all troops to return home on the 3rd of November 1943. Close to 3,000 men refused to leave; a smaller follow-on unit, the Blue Legion, was itself ordered home in March 1944 and transported back to Spain on the 21st of March 1944.
What happened to Blue Division prisoners of war after World War II?
372 members of the Blue Division and its successor units were captured by the Red Army. Because Francoist Spain and the Soviet Union had no diplomatic relations, the prisoners were not repatriated after 1945. In 1954, after the death of Stalin, the French Red Cross arranged for the ship Semiramis to return those who wished to go home to Barcelona; 286 men arrived back in Spain on the 2nd of April 1954.