Interview with Olaf Lindvig

Norwegian officer served with 23rd SS Panzergrenadier Regiment 'Norge', 11th SS Panzergrenadier Division 'Nordland', III (Germanic) Panzer Corps in Yugoslavia and Soviet Union, 9/1943-1/1944; served with Germanic SS in Norway, 1944-1945

REEL 1 Aspects of period on company commanders course, Company Commanders School, German Army, Versailles, France, 1943: contrast between German Army and Waffen-SS Officer's attitudes and traditions; opinion of Austrian commander; composition of course; course syllabus; relaxed atmosphere; content of lecture by General Heinz Guderian; style of lectures; level of tactical training; his previous experience in defensive actions in Soviet Union; emphasis on new 'stormtroop tactics' including new formations for attack, use of file instead of line in attack, concentration on attack in depth, question of controversial nature of tactics. REEL 2 Continues: further details of emphasis on new 'stoemtroop tactics' including companies reorganised into assault groups and covering companies, use of machine guns and mortars and size of groups; character of exercises; duration of course; written examination at end of course; presenting lecture on 1940 campaign in Norway and reaction of audience; noticing impact of defeats during Battle of Stalingrad and Battle of El Alamein on older officers and NCOs on return to unit in Yugoslavia; accommodation in Versailles; officers clubs in Paris; opinion of France and relations with French civilians; attitude towards German actions against criminals in Marseilles; Recollection of operations as officer with 23rd SS Panzergrenadier Regiment 'Norge', 11th SS Panzergrenadier Division 'Nordland', III (Germanic) Panzer Corps in Yugoslavia, 9/1943-11/1943: lack of briefing on Yugoslavia before return to unit; briefing in Konstajnica; condition of III (Germanic) Panzer Corps; situation in operational area; necessity of maintaining security against Yugoslav Partisans; taking command of company. REEL 3 Continues: company deployed in defensive positions in hills; Yugoslav armed groupings and their political groupings; strength of company; size of tactical area; sporadic Yugoslav Partisan attacks and difficulty of assessing threat; question of civilian religious faith and attitudes to 23rd SS Panzergrenadier Regiment 'Norge'; sources of intelligence; motorcycle accident; Yugoslav Partisan attack on leave train; question of Serb atrocities; terrain around Konstajnica; operational role of company to protect village; regimental and battalion headquarters in village; no offensive operations against Yugoslav Partisans; little contact with Yugoslav Partisans and question of false reports of atrocities against civilians; state of alert; shortage of wire and mines and reliance on machine guns; night security measures; lack of contact with Italian forces and local friendly forces; personal quarters. REEL 4 Continues: lack of reinforcements; evacuation to Sisak; German concern for rehabilitation including ban on drinking; move to Vienna, Austria; return to Konstajnica; orders to regiment to return to Soviet Union; changes in unit; Norwegian troops anxious to join Norwegian Battalion operating in Finland; doubts about commanding officer; number of Norwegians in company and filling ranks with Volksdeutsche; question of General Felix Steiner favouring mixed units; fate of Norwegian Ski Battalion; Romanian origins of Volksdeutsche; attempts to retain Norwegian troops in Regiment 23rd SS Panzergrenadier Regiment 'Norge'; quality and opinion of Volksdeutsche troops; improvement in quality of troops; mixing Volksdeutsche with Norwegians. REEL 5 Continues: causes of friction between personnel in company; no active religious life in unit; chaplain officiating during funerals; Waffen-SS policy on religion; how he remained with in Church of Norway during Second World War and reasons for departure; question of imposed Waffen-SS idealogy and membership of churches being tolerated; question of Waffen-SS racial policy developed to build up morale; question of Waffen-SS troops not being aware of Holocaust; being relieved by Cossacks and entrainment at Kostanica; journey to Soviet Union via Austria and Baltic States, 12/1943. Recollection of operations as officer with 23rd SS Panzergrenadier Regiment 'Norge', 11th SS Panzergrenadier Division 'Nordland', III (Germanic) Panzer Corps in Soviet Union, 12/1943-1/1944: unit becoming corps reserve; previous 'stormtroop' training in Yugoslavia for return to Soviet Union; issue of new equipment and skis at Oranienbaum; issue of new anti-tank weapons and rifles. REEL 6 Continues: battalion role in corps reserve; intensive training in ski for offensive and raiding operations; tactics employed based on Norwegian Army tactics; terrain around Oranienbaum; use of mortars; general situation Christmas period, 12/1943; Christmas entertainment provided for General Felix Steiner, 25/12/1943; accommordation in Oranienbaum; relations with civilian population; nature of forest training; machine gun ranges; General Felix Steiner's view of prospective Soviet attack; defensive positions; beginning of large scale Soviet attack; lack of German reserves. REEL 7 Continues: orders to hold ground; unit not in defensive positions and role to counter-attack; orders to stand to; drawing ammunition; move to village to meet German Air Force Field Units; opinion of German Air Force Field Units; transport used in move to front; halt in forest; conference with battalion commander disturbed by large explosion in forest; nature of pine forest; arrival in village; meeting with confused German Air Force colonel; sight of German Air Force troops fleeing in rout; attitude of regiment's commanding officer towards German Air Force colonel; advance through woods in tactical formation; positions of battalion's companies; use of forest tracks; nature of Soviet fire; commanding leading company; company formation advancing on sides of forest tracks. REEL 8 Continues: orders not to reply to fire; use of camouflage clothing; loss of contact between companies; taking cover in ditch from machine gun fire; battalion commander's belief fire was from regiment's 2nd Coy; establishing fire was Soviet; battalion deployed to attack Soviet Army positions; sight of village on fire; allocation of self-propelled guns to battalion; sight of Soviet Army troops advancing in columns; orders for unit to take village; range of engagement with Soviet Army column; heavy weapon support for attack on village; shortage of seasoned troops for attack; plan for attack on village. REEL 9 Continues: incident of unreliable signals detachment being sent to rear; results of reconnaissance patrol including destruction of Soviet tanks; decision to indirectly attack village; confused nature of fighting under intense fire in which he was wounded in shoulder; wounding of regiment's second in command; second wounding in leg while being pulled out on sleigh; joking with battalion commander Major Vogt, receiving first aid; evacuated by ambulance; condition caused by loss of blood and transfusion; field hospital hit by artillery fire; history of Russian nurse serving in hospital; medical treatment; move to rear area. Recollections of hospitalisation and recuperation in Stettin, Germany and Oslo, Norway, 1944: medical treatment and surgery in Stettin, Germany; infections; move to Oslo, Norway by air; persistent high fever; successful reconstructive surgery to leg; recovery from wounds; cousin's assassination by resistance; attitude to Communism. Aspects of period as officer with Germanic SS in Norway, 1944-1945: role as instructor to company of panzer grenadiers for defence of Norway; Vidkun Quisling's idea of 'Alarm Units' to defend Norway against Communists; appointment as battalion commander of an 'Alarm Unit'; promotion to chief of staff of Germanic SS in Norway; question of liquidation of NS members; recruitment to Germanic SS; determination to prevent Soviet occupation of all Europe; question of Prime Minister Winston Churchill planning attack on Soviet Union; question of no personal benefits received from service; lack of anticipation of treatment as traitor; question of loss of life during Second World War being justified.