5.ϟϟ-Freiwilligen-Sturmbrigade „Wallonien“ subordinated to „Wiking“

5.SS-Freiwilligen-Sturm-Brigade Wallonien

SS Assault Brigade Wallonien trapped in the Cherkassy pocket

At the conclusion of the fighting in the West Caucasus in the winter of 1942-43, the Légion Wallonie was returned to Belgium to be reconstituted as a mechanized formation and to recruit new members. The 5.SS-Freiwilligen-Sturm-Brigade Wallonien was declared combat-ready in November 1943 and was rushed to the middle Dnieper River sector on the Eastern Front. Its commander, SS-Sturmbannführer d.R. Lucien Lippert, was a career officer and Lieutenant Colonel in the Belgian Army, who had graduated from the Military School in Brussels at the top of his class. It was placed under the command of the 5.SS-Panzer-Division Wiking near Cherkassy by Nov. 19 1943. The day before the Wiking's commander SS-Gruppenführer Herbert Otto Gille ordered Wallonien into action, skeptical Wiking veterans posted signs around the assembly area: The Wallonia Circus. Free Shows tomorrow from 06:00 to 08:00. These Walloon volunteers proved their worth and fitted well into the division. The last act of the Battle of Cherkasy would soon begin. From December 1943 to February 1944 most of brigade Wallonien and the Wiking, along with a number of Wehrmacht divisions, were surrounded in what has become known as the Korsun-Cherkassy pocket. The Wiking Division's manpower strength was 14,647 officers and men in Dec. 1943. Credit: Peter Straßner: European Volunteers. Top image: SS-Unterscharführer Desire Lecocq of the Wallonien, he made SS-Untersturmführer in 1945 while serving in SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 70. PD. Bottom image: Belgian Léon Degrelle, promoted SS-Hauptsturmführer on Jan. 1 1944, with some Walloons in the Cherkassy Pocket. After Lucien Lippert was killed by a sniper on Feb. 13 1944, Degrelle took command of the Brigade. FU.