British Free Corps

In World War II, the British Free Corps (BFC) or Britisches Freikorps was a unit of the Waffen-SS consisting of British and Dominion prisoners of war who had been recruited by the Nazis. Despite the notoriety of this unit, it was tiny: Adrian Weale's research has identified about 59 men who belonged to this unit at one time or another, some for only a few days, and at no time did it reach more than 27 men in strength — smaller than a contemporary German platoon.

Deployment

On March 1, 1945, a truck loaded with the tiny BFC travelled to the headquarters of III.(gemanisches) SS-Panzerkorps. During the journey, most members removed their BFC insignia. Upon arrival, the HQ staff was rather shocked at getting a British unit. Being unsure of how to employ the new force, they put the BFC in billets on the western edge of Stettin pending orders on their deployment. While waiting, the BFC came under some brief Soviet mortar and artillery fire but no injuries were reported. However, the manpower was again reduced when one man came down with a severe case of gonorrhoea and was sent away to a military hospital.

Related Topics:
March 1 - III.(gemanisches) SS-Panzerkorps - Stettin - Gonorrhoea

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On March 22, 1945, orders came in from the HQ that the BFC should move to the headquarters unit of the 11.SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division Nordland, located at Angermunde. From there, they would be placed with the divisional armoured reconnaissance battalion (11.SS-Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung) which was stationed in Grussow. Once there, the BFC were assigned to the 3rd Company, equipped with a single Sd.Kfz.251 half-track and a "Schwimmwagen", and received orders to prepare trench lines within the company's perimeter. While the "Nordland" division was currently being held in reserve, the BFC, from their positions, could clearly see the Soviets. The BFC remained in the line for a month, but this shared combat experience failed to unify them and discord was so rampant that Mardon was pressured into seeing if the BFC could be pulled out.

Related Topics:
March 22 - 11.SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division ''Nordland'' - Grussow - Sd.Kfz.251

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About this time Cooper returns to the story. Having being told he was being transferred to the III.(gemanisches) SS-Panzerkorps, Cooper packed a suitcase with civilian clothing and reported to the Corps HQ in Steinhoeffel on the Oder. There he learned to his surprise, that "ten Britons were somewhere near the front." SS-Obergruppenführer Felix Steiner, commander of IX.SS-Panzer-Armee, then took Cooper to inspect the BFC troops. During the journey, Cooper informed Steiner about the BFC, and advised that this tiny unit had little combat worth, was morally unstable and thus possessed dubious combat value. Steiner agreed, mainly over the post-war legalities of using POWs in combat. After inspecting the BFC, Steiner ordered that the BFC be pulled from the line.

Related Topics:
Steinhoeffel - Felix Steiner - IX.SS-Panzer-Armee

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The next day, the BFC left the front and reported to Corps headquarters, where they were issued with rations and travel orders to Templin. There, they would join the transport company of Steiner's headquarters staff. They arrived on April 16, 1945. In the meantime, Wilson, who was supposed to be sending the BFC men their Red Cross parcels (the

Related Topics:
Templin - April 16 - 1945

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BFC were still classified as POWs, and thus still received the parcels), chose to hoard them

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instead and deserted to Berlin on April 9, 1945. To calm the rumblings, Cooper and four

Related Topics:
April 9 - 1945

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BFC men travelled to Berlin on the 17th, to try and locate the parcels. Returning after two days, they found a Hauptsturmführer, in SS panzer uniform, sporting BFC insignia, waiting to take them back to the front.

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The officer, Douglas Berneville-Claye, had a penchant for fraud, theft, embellishment and the

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ability to pass himself off as something he wasn't. Having been booted out of the RAF, he ended up as a commander with the SAS in the Middle East where he was branded as "useless" and "dangerous" by his comrades, and eventually refused to conduct operations with him. He was captured in 1942 by units of the Deutsches Afrikakorps and taken to an Italian POW camp, which he claimed to have broken out of four times. He was then sent to Oflag 79 in Brunswick until removed for his own safety since the POWs had correctly identified him as a German informer. From that point until his appearance in Templin in March 1945, his record is a blank. Standing before the BFC, Berneville-Claye launched into a speech saying he was an earl's son, a captain in the Coldstream Guards, and would collect two armoured cars to take the BFC into battle — even making the claim that the BFC would have no problems with the British authorities and that Great Britain was going to declare war on the Soviet Union in a few days. Cooper called Berneville-Claye's bluff; the officer took one of the BFC men with him as a driver and drove away. Berneville-Claye eventually changed into a SAS uniform while the driver took up farmers clothing, and they surrendered to the Allies.

Related Topics:
Deutsches Afrikakorps - Earl - Coldstream Guards

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There is a persistent rumor that one BFC member, Reg Courlander, took part in the Battle of Berlin, and destroyed a Soviet tank. By this time, Roy Courlander was far behind Allied lines, and the movements of the other members of this unit are clearly known. The only person who can be proved to have seen combat in the uniform of the BFC was their translator "Bob" Rossler, who remained with the Nordland division when it went into battle in Berlin, to fight alongside the Volkssturm, Hitlerjugend, and the other mixed bag units defending the city.

Related Topics:
Battle of Berlin - Volkssturm - Hitlerjugend

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The few remaining BFC members followed Steiner's headquarter unit to Neustrelitz. There they drove trucks, directed traffic, and assisted the evacuations of civilians from the Neustrelitz and Reinershagen area until, on April 29, 1945, Steiner ordered his forces to break contact with the Soviets and make for the western lines to surrender to the US or British. On May 2, Cooper and the men with him surrendered to unit of the US Ninth Army near Schwerin.

Related Topics:
April 29 - 1945 - May 2 - US Ninth Army - Schwerin

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Meanwhile Hugh Cowie had organized other former BFC men and seized control of their isolation camp. Heavily armed, they made their way west and also surrendered to the Ninth Army at Schwerin.

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