27th SS Volunteer Division Langemarck The 27th SS Volunteer Division " Langemarck " was a German Waffen - SS volunteer division comprising volunteers of Flemish background . It saw action on the Eastern Front during World War II . The formation started as the 6th SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade " Langemarck " and in September 1944 the Sturmbrigade was raised in status to a division , but its strength never reached more than a brigade . History and concept . After the success of Germany ' s blitzkrieg attacks on Poland and in the West in 1939 – 1940 , many European fascists saw Germany as an answer to the Bolshevik problem . Heinrich Himmler , head of the SS , with the support of Adolf Hitler , began a campaign in late 1940 to recruit those European fascists of sufficiently Aryan stock into a series of " Legions " , under the control of the Waffen - SS . The SS Volunteer Standarte " Nordwest " was formed to cater for volunteers from the Low Countries . In April 1941 , volunteers began arriving in Hamburg . They were quickly processed and signed up for service in the " Nordwest " . Flemish volunteers were assigned to the 1st , 6th and 8th companies . The recruits went through basic training , and were sent to Radom and Dębica in occupied Poland for further training . By July 1941 , the number of recruits meant that the " Nordwest " could be dissolved and several separate units formed . The Flemings were organized into SS Volunteer Verband " Flandern . Flemish volunteers , many members of the VNV ( Flemish Nationalist Front ) continued to sign up for the unit , and by September 1941 the formation was the size of a reinforced infantry battalion , and boasted five fully motorized companies . The unit was again redesignated , this time as SS Volunteer Legion " Flandern . Its strength was 1 , 100 men , of who 1 , 000 were Flemings , including 14 officers . On 10 November 1941 , the division was ordered to the front near Novgorod , under the overall command of Army Group North . The legion was to be subordinated to the 2 SS Infantry Brigade , an international unit composed of Dutchmen , Norwegians and Latvians . Battles around Leningrad . Arriving at the front late in November , the " Flandern " was immediately thrown into combat in the Volkhov region attempting to halt the Soviet attacks . In heavy fighting , the legion proved itself capable in combat , and executed a fighting withdrawal to the Volkhov River line . On 13 January 1942 , the Soviets launched an offensive aimed at the relief of Leningrad . The " Flandern " found itself in the Soviet line of advance , and saw heavy defensive fighting against relentless attacks which lasted until late February . At the end of February , the Soviet assault petered out , and the Germans went on the offensive , attempting to encircle the extended Russians . For the next few months , the " Flandern " was engaged in efforts to complete the encirclement of the Soviet forces , and on 21 May 1942 , the encirclement was closed . Over the course of the next month , the legion took part in the reduction of the pocket , being heavily engaged until 27 June 1942 , when the exhausted unit was pulled out of the line for a rest and refit . After two months as reserve , the legion was sent back into the line south of Lake Ladoga , manning trenches which were under attack by Soviet forces intent on relieving the Siege of Leningrad . The men of " Flandern " saw heavy fighting defeating two major Soviet attacks towards the city . On 31 March 1943 , the legion was ordered back to the SS Training Area at Dębica to be reformed . SS - Sturmbrigade Langemarck – Ukraine . Soon after arriving at Dębica , the legion was ordered to move on to Milowitz in Bohemia . On 31 May 1943 , the legion was dissolved and reformed as SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade " Langemarck " . The allocation of the title " Langemarck " , in memory of the bloody First World War battle fought at Langemarck , Belgium in 1914 , was intended to represent Flemish - German camaraderie . However , the Flemings themselves didn ' t understand why they had been given a title which represented the losses suffered by German soldiers trying to take over their country in 1914 . The Flemings felt a jealousy that their French speaking countrymen , the Walloons , were granted as a title their home region for the 5th SS - Volunteer Sturmbrigade Wallonien . Despite this , large numbers of Flemings continued to sign up for service with the Waffen SS . In addition to the veterans of " Flandern " , the Sturmbrigade now gained a contingent of new Flemish volunteers , an anti - tank " Panzerjäger " company , an assault gun battalion equipped with StuG ' s and a FlaK battalion . In October 1943 , the brigade was renamed 6th SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade " Langemarck " . In December 1943 , the " Langemarck " was ready to be sent to the front . The total unit strength was 2 , 022 men . On 26 December 1943 , " Langemarck " was sent to Ukraine to act as a part of Army Group South . Fighting alongside the 2nd SS Panzer Division " Das Reich " , the brigade acquitted itself well in the heavy defensive battles in the region of Kiev and Zhitomir . In January , 1944 the " Langemarck " and elements of " Das Reich " were encircled by Soviet forces near Zhitomir . Despite this , they fought their way out of the " kessel " ( cauldron ) , suffering heavy casualties and losing the majority of their heavy equipment and vehicles . By early March , the brigade had been reduced to 400 men . At the end of April , the shattered " Langemarck " was ordered back to Bohemia for reforming . Narva and the Battle of the European SS – Kurland Pocket . In Bohemia , 1 , 700 new recruits were waiting to join the division , and soon it was back up to strength . On 19 July 1944 , Kampfgruppe Rehmann was formed , commanded by SS - Hauptsturmführer Wilhelm Rehmann . KG Rehmann , consisting of the " Langemarck ' s " 2nd battalion was sent to the Narva front to become a part of Felix Steiner ' s III ( Germanic ) SS Panzer Corps which was defending the Tannenberg Line . The Tannenberg Line was anchored on three strategic hills . Running west to east , these were known as Hill 69 . 9 ( " 69 . 9 - Höhe " ) , Grenadier Hill ( " Grenadier - Höhe " ) and Orphanage Hill ( " Kinderheim - Höhe " ) . From Orphanage Hill , the rear side of the town of Narva could be protected . KG Rehmann was tasked with defending Orphanage Hill . Fighting alongside men of the 11 . SS - Freiwilligen - Panzergrenadier Division " Nordland " , the 5th SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade Wallonien , the 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS ( 1st Estonian ) , the 4th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Brigade Nederland and several German formations , the " Langemarck " was engaged in very heavy combat against the Soviets . An example of the fighting spirit and tenacity of the " Langemarck " men can be seen by the actions of the Flemish NCO Remi Schrijnen . During the fighting , Schrijnen singlehandedly knocked out more than a dozen enemy tanks while wounded and cutoff from his unit . In a period of 48 hours , Schrijnen personally halted several Soviet tank attacks which threatened to encircle the " Langemarck " and the Estonian SS men fighting alongside them . He even destroyed two T - 34 ' s with one shot from his PaK anti - tank gun . For his actions , Schrijnen was awarded the Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross . Over the next few months , " Langemarck " , along with the remainder of Steiner ' s Corps , executed a fighting withdrawal into the Kurland Pocket , the brigade being in combat for much of the retreat . In September 1944 , the remains of KG Rehmann were evacuated by ferry over the Baltic to Swinemünde and joined the rest of the Brigade . Following the allied invasion of Belgium , many Belgian fascists fled the country to Germany . The result of this was that both the " Langemarck " and the 5th SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade " Wallonie " were redesignated as divisions on 18 October 1944 . Pomerania – Oder Front . The new " Langemarck " division was to be designated 27th SS Volunteer Grenadier Division " Langemarck " . While the influx of displaced Flemings meant that the division had a solid base to be formed on , it also meant that more training was required . It was not until 1 January 1945 that the division was ready to be sent back into the line . The " Langemarck " was once again attached to III . ( Germanic ) SS Panzer Corps , now a part of Steiner ' s newly formed XI . SS Panzer Army located on the lower Oder near Stettin . On 16 February , the division was ordered on the offensive as a part of Operation Sonnenwende , the operation to destroy a Soviet salient and to relieve the troops besieged in the town of Arnswalde . The offensive had been conceived by Generaloberst Heinz Guderian as a massed assault all along the front , but had then been reduced by Hitler to the level of a local counterattack . Despite initial gains , the attack soon bogged down after III . ( Germanic ) SS Panzer Corps , with " Nordland " " Langemarck " and " Wallonie " in the vanguard , reached Arnswalde . Heavy Soviet counterattacks threatened to encircle the corps , and so after evacuating all civilian survivors , Steiner canceled the operation and ordered the corps back to the area around Stargard and Stettin . The Soviet offensive of 1 March pushed " Langemarck " along with the rest of the depleted III . ( Germanic ) SS Panzer Corps before it . In a desperate fighting withdrawal , the " Langemarck " along with the rest of III corps inflicted heavy casualties on the Soviets , but by 4 March , the division was falling back to the area around Altdamm , the last defensive position east of the Oder itself . During the next two weeks , " Langemarck " and the rest of the corps grimly held to the town , inflicting and suffering high casualties . On the 19th , the battered defenders fell back behind the Oder , the " Langemarck " had fought itself to virtual extinction . As a part of Steiner ' s XI SS Panzer Army , the " Langemarck " , now reduced to a Kampfgruppe , began falling back towards Mecklenburg where it surrendered to the Russians on 8 May 1945 .