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SS-Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 11 Nordland |
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SS-Unterscharführer Markus Ledin and some Estonian Coastal Swedes |
On September 17 1944, Panzergrenadier-Kompanie 3 of the battle-hardened Nordland Division's armoured reconnaissance battalion received orders to withdraw to Pernau in southwestern Estonia for evacuation. During the retreat the company was involved in rearguard battles and had two of its SPW half-tracks destroyed by air attacks. On the morning of September 21 1944, the company column was still on the road to Pernau when the Swedish Wiking veteran SS-Unterscharführer Markus Ledin's SPW was cut off behind enemy lines. Ledin and two fellow Swedes, SS-Sturmmann Sven Alm and SS-Rottenführer Ingemar Somberg, finally reached the Pernau suburbs only to discover it was already occupied by the Soviets. They turmed around and tried to reach Tallin. In the darkness of night they ran straight into two Red Army trucks, killing at least four soldiers, and were fired upon as they approached the suburbs of Tallin. The town was also occupied by the Soviets. They then made their way to Haapsalu on the west coast. During the journey, they had several skirmishes with the Soviets but escaped without their vehicle being hit. They manage to reach Haapsalu, only to find out the Soviets were already there. On September 23 1944, they reached the village Noarootsi near Haapsalu after three nights through enemy territory. According to various accounts, they run into some 15 Soviet soldiers who were busy looting and murdering the local inhabitants near or in Noarootsi, the Soviets made it a policy to loot and rape civilians in Soviet occupied territories. The Swedes surprised the Red Comrades. After the attack, some civilians began to kill the still surviving, but wounded Soviets in revenge. The Waffen-SS trio managed to leave Estonia together with some 140 Estonian refugees in a fishing boat on September 26 1944. When they reached the Finnish coast, they met patrols of the Finnish Coastal Guard (Finland was at this point no longer in war with the Soviet Union). Ledin and Alm had both served in the
Swedish Volunteer Corps during the
Russo-Finnish Winter War and their Finnish medals earned them all a quick release. The overloaded vessel reached the Swedish town Norrtälje north of Stockholm on October 4 1944. The Baltic crossing had not been without difficulties and dangers and six of the Estonian passengers had been washed overboard and drowned. Source:
The Swedish SS-platoon in the Battles for the Baltics, Pomerania and Berlin 1943-45 and the author
Lars T. Larsson. Top image: Swedish volunteers of the Nordland's recon unit checking for lice. Second man from the left is Ledin's commander SS-Untersturmführer
Hans-Gösta Pehrsson. Middle image: sitting in front is the Swede SS-Rottenführer Karl-Olof Holm and the NCO behind him is Ledin. Both photos taken in Estonia in the summer of 1944. Lars T. Larsson Archives. FU. Bottom image: the deserter Markus Ledin is seen here on the boat deck leaving his comrades behind in Latvia when the war seemed to be lost. He had served in the Waffen-SS since January 1942. Screenshot from a private film. PD.
The village (Noarootsi) they ended up in is actually literally translated “knife Sweden”. It is an area inhabited by the Swedes since centuries. In 1944 when the Soviet liberators arrived the inhabitants' contacts with their relatives in Sweden were cut off and the coastal areas become military zones. Hopefully the Finnish commander allowed these so-called Coastal Swedes to continue their escape as well. Great historical stuff.
ReplyDeleteThey still teach Swedish in the school in Noarootsi (Nuckö in Swedish) and have strong connections with Sweden. Thanks for an awesome site with a great variety of info!
DeleteSomberg told the Swedish police in 1944 that they had actually agreed they would desert and intentionally abandoned their unit during the retreat in order to make their own way to the coust. This story is substantiated by another Swedish volunteer named Erik Wallin who, during a post-war interview, claimed he had been approached by Ledin who informed him of their plan and urged him to join them, which he has refused.
ReplyDeleteBengt Markus Ledin was my grandfather, but I never had the pleasure to meet him. He passed away back in 1968 at the age of 47. Markus survived severe gunshot wounds on the Eastern Front, among others, one in his liver. He had bullet wounds all over his body according to other relatives. He also met with the famous Swedish singer and actress Zarah Leander during a convalescence in Nazi Germany. She even gave him a signed photo. Greetings from Stockholm!
ReplyDeleteI'm interested of the screenshot from a film, from which film? Im trying to identify the boat the 140 refugees came with to Sweden
ReplyDeleteノルトラント師団ですか❗あの部隊はベルリン脱出失敗したでありますか❗
ReplyDelete