page_title: Indian Legion
section_title: Netherlands and France
hierarchical_section_title: Indian Legion / Operations / Netherlands and France
caption_attribution_description: This is a retouched picture, which means that it has been digitally altered from its original version. Modifications: recolored. The original can be viewed here: Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-263-1580-05, Atlantikwall, Soldaten der Legion &#34;Freies Indien&#34;.jpg&#58;&#160;. Modifications made by Ruffneck88. Atlantikwall, Soldaten der Legion "Freies Indien" Photographer WetteArchive description Description provided by the archive when the original description is incomplete or wrong. You can help by reporting errors and typos at Commons:Bundesarchiv/Error reports. Frankreich (Atlantikwall), bei Bordeuax.- Soldaten der Legion "Freies Indien mit I. MG 34; PK 696Title Atlantikwall, Soldaten der Legion "Freies Indien" Depicted place AtlantikwallDate Taken on&#160;21 March 1944Collection German Federal Archives &#160;&#160;Native nameDas BundesarchivLocationKoblenz (headquarters)Coordinates50°&#160;20′&#160;32.71″&#160;N, 7°&#160;34′&#160;21.22″&#160;E Established1946Web pagewww.bundesarchiv.deAuthority control : Q685753 VIAF:&#8201;137346469 ISNI:&#8201;0000 0004 0555 2728 LCCN:&#8201;n92025526 NLA:&#8201;36455393 Open Library:&#8201;OL55798A WorldCat institution QS:P195,Q685753Current location Propagandakompanien der Wehrmacht - Heer und Luftwaffe (Bild 101 I)Accession number Bild 101I-263-1580-05 Source This image was provided to Wikimedia Commons by the German Federal Archive (Deutsches Bundesarchiv) as part of a cooperation project. The German Federal Archive guarantees an authentic representation only using the originals (negative and/or positive), resp. the digitalization of the originals as provided by the Digital Image Archive.
context_page_description: The Indian Legion, officially the Free India Legion or 950th Infantry Regiment, was a military unit raised during the Second World War initially as part of the German Army and later the Waffen-SS from August 1944. Intended to serve as a liberation force for British-ruled India, it was made up of Indian prisoners of war and expatriates in Europe. Because of its origins in the Indian independence movement, it was known also as the "Tiger Legion", and the "Azad Hind Fauj". As part of the Waffen-SS it was known as the Indian Volunteer Legion of the Waffen-SS.
  Indian independence leader Subhas Chandra Bose initiated the legion's formation, as part of his efforts to win India's independence by waging war against Britain, when he came to Berlin in 1941 seeking German aid. The initial recruits in 1941 were volunteers from the Indian students resident in Germany at the time, and a handful of the Indian prisoners of war who had been captured during the North Africa Campaign. It would later draw a larger number of Indian prisoners of war as volunteers.
context_section_description: The legion was transferred to Zeeland in the Netherlands in April 1943 as part of the Atlantic Wall and later to France in September 1943, attached to the 344th Infantry Division and later the 159th Infantry Division of the Wehrmacht. From Beverloo in Belgium, the 1st Battalion was reassigned to Zandvoort in May 1943 where they stayed until relieved by the Georgian Legion in August. In September 1943, the battalion was deployed on the Atlantic coast of Bordeaux on the Bay of Biscay. The 2nd Battalion moved from Beverloo to the island of Texel in May 1943 and stayed there until relieved in September of that year. From here, it was deployed to Les Sables-d'Olonne in France. The 3rd Battalion remained at Oldebroek as Corps Reserve until the end of September 1943, where they gained a "wild and loathsome" reputation amongst the locals.
caption: Troops of the Indian Legion at the Atlantic Wall near Bordeaux, France, March 1944.
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