miRS-tonpon - Sturmpanzer.com

*** "'•••"'ft; 5: >.At the time when TOOT was busy on the West Wall, his youngerrival SHEER had already created and was using an organisationcalled Baustab Speer in projects involving the remodeling ofBerlin and the building of aerodromes in the Reich. Tte NSKK unitsemployed in these projects were organised into the NSKK-BauatabSPEER which, at the beginning of World War II had been amplifiedand renamed NSKK-Motortransportstandarte SPEER and then furtheraugmented into NSKK-Motortransportbrigade SPEER. In contrast to theelastic organisation of the NSKK-Transportbrigade TODT, the NSKK-Transportbrigade SPEER was set up along rigid military lines. Theunits employed were those of the Wehrmacht, i.e. Regimenter, Abteilungen,Kompanien and ZtSge. NSKK-Transportbrigade SPEER served chiefly theGerman Air Force and to a lesser degree the German Array, It wassubsequently widely employed by the OT in Russia, the Balkans, inItaly and Norway, but unfortunately it is not known exactly how theindividual transport units were assigned to the various OBL's. Theranks in this particular branch of the NSKK are not known for certain,but it is suggested by certain evidence that they are identical withthose of the NSKK-Transportbrigade TODT. The uniform was usually thegrey-blue of the German Air Force; soraetimes, however, the brownuniform of the NSKK-Baustab SPEER was also worn.71. Legion SPKKR.As the NSKK organisation is a f Gliederung' (formation) of theNazi Party, it could only employ personnel of German nationality.To satisfy the growing requirements for transportation personnelwithin the OT, SPEER, when he became Reichminister in TODT's place,entrusted Gruppenftthrer NAG-EL with the formation of the Legion SPEER.This organisation originally consisted of Russian emigrants but wassoon greatly expanded by the inclusion of some 250,000 Russianprisoners of war. In Sept. 1942, the leadership of the Legion SPEERwas placed in the hands of NSKK-Gruppenftthrer JOST who then obtainedthe rank of Generalkapitan and the title of Kommandeur der Legion SPEER.In its early inception the Legion SPEER was called the transport andconstruction formation of the Generalbauinspektor fttr die Reichshauptstadtwho was, in fact, Reichsminister SPEER*The original plan of including Russian prisoners of war evidentlynever took any real form. Instead, the Legion SPEER was organised alongvoluntary lines and was open to all persons of any nationality as wellas those who did not possess any nationality at all (Staatenlose).Only the leadership of the Legion SPEER remained in German hands.The oath taken by the legionaries was a personal oath of allegianceto HITLER:H I swear by God the Almighty, this holy oath that I willexercise unconditional obedience to the Pfthrer of the German Reich,Adolf HITLER, and that I am ready at any time to sacrifice my life tohonour this oath,"The uniform originally prescribed for all non-German personnel ofthe Legion SPEER was of black material. Later (in April 1943), when itwas found out that the durability of the material was impaired by theblack dyes, the olive green uniform was introduced for the legionaries,the result creating such a confusion of uniforms that in 1944 themembers of the Legion SPEER were found attired in black, olive green andeven brown uniforms, jresumably taken over from the NSKK-Baustab SPEER,The directives concerning the employment of foreigners prescribedthe following areas for different nationalities: In the West, Russians,Ukrainians, Latvians, Estonians and Lithuanians; in the North,Norwegians, Swedes, Danes, Dutch aruLBemings; 'in the South-West,(Balkans), French and Walloons; in Germany, Dutch and Flemings; inthe Eastern Military Zone, Bulgars, Serbs, French, Walloons, Norwegians,Swedes, Denes, Slovaks, Croats and Czechs. The above prograram, however,- 78 ­