Luxemburg Volunteers in the German Wehrmacht WWII

The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Belgium’s tiny southwestern neighbor, wasinvaded by the Germans on May 10th, 1940, and overrun in a mostly bloodlessconquest. After the Campaign in the West ended, on June 28th, 1940,Luxemburg was formally linked to Gau Koblenz-Trier. Gau Koblenz-Trier was a politicaldistrict of the German Reich, of which there was 42 total during WWII locatedthroughout Germany and parts of the occupied and annexed regions of Europe.In February of 1941 Gau Koblenz-Trier was renamed Gau-Moselland.

The German Wehrmacht mounted an intense recruiting campaign inLuxembourg shortly after their victory in the West in June of 1940.Perhaps it was the wake of their recent spectacular conquest that made their recruitmentso successful. They were able to initially raise in the region of 1,800-2,000volunteers from among the tiny Grand Duchy. In August of 1942Luxembourg was officially made a part of the German Reich and all of itscitizens were thereafter subjected to the call-up for the German Wehrmacht. Subsequently, all theclasses of 1920-1926 were immediately drafted. From August 1942 until theliberation in late 1944, conscription in Luxembourg produced 12,035 men,of whom 2,752 fell in action, died of wounds or were postedmissing-presumed-dead. A further 1,500 were severely wounded ordisabled, and 3,516 deserted.

Since Luxembourg was regarded by the Germans as an integral part of theReich, there was no Luxemberger Legion, but it is withoutthe question that Luxembourg volunteers and conscripts served throughout WWIIin various units of the Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, and Waffen-SS withoutany acknowledgment as to their national origin.

See also, Collaborationist Forces in Luxemburg during WWII