Signal 1944 Nr 5 PART 1 - Leon Degrelle - S-Boot - E-Boat - Wallonian Brigade - Tscherkassy Pocket

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Today I’m introducing the German color illustrated photo journal and Wehrmacht propaganda tool that was published bi-weekly and was meant specifically for audiences in allied, occupied, and neutral countries in 30 languages. A German edition was distributed in Switzerland, Axis countries, and German-occupied Europe, but Signal was never distributed in Germany itself. In was published from 1940 - 1945. The color photographs are beuatiful and today they are widely collected. The 1945 editions can cost upwards of $200.

Here we’re looking at Signal Journal Nr. 5 from 1944. When I look at an original like this my mind wanders off on all kinds of historical tangents. On the cover we see the infamous Belgian personality Leon Degrelle who lead the volunteer SS Brigade Wallonien. I could introduce him and the fascist, collaborationist organization that he belonged to, or talk about the Wallonien Brigade’s role in the battle of the Korsun-Tscherkassy pocket which took place in early 1944. But this is only the front cover of the journal and I’d like to show a bit more. So what we’ll do is peer down various rabbit holes that we can jump down in future productions. Sound good?

Here we see Leon Degrelle and the Wallonian Brigade arriving back in Bellgium after breaking out of the Tscherkassy Pocket. He’s accompanied by SS Obergruppenführer Sepp Dietrich and they’re presenting decorations to soldiers.

This footage is from the Descheg Monatsschau Nr. 26 from 1944 that has a runtime of 20:46. One of the things you’ll notice if you become a serious collector of WW2 footage is that much of the material was shared among the different news reel series. At first this is annoying as you end up with doubled material. Over time you’ll realize that it’s quite difficult to get good quality footage that the best often comes from more obscure series. To the serious collector getting better quality material is just about as good as getting new material.

The sign reads - If you stir up dust you’ll get one from above.
This particular footage is from a Dutch language Ausland Tonwoche from 1944. As we see the trucks are camouflaged with tree branches and on the side of the road are wrecks showing the result of earlier air attacks can be seen. Being in fast moving and maneuverable vehicles was an advantage and someone was always scanning the sky for enemy planes. Whenever possible moving around during the day was avoided and in certain instances in fact prohibited.

This is a good example of finding great quality footage from an obscure source. The original German film is called Asse zur See or Aces (refering to flying asses) at sea. For years it wasn’t possible to get a good quality version of this important film in the original German language. Luckily this 1943 Dutch version was located.

The film shows the German Schnell-Boots or S-Boats. They were fast, highly maneuverable and well armed with torpedoes. After 1943 having lost a majority of the Kriegsmarine’s large surface vessels, they relied heavily on these smaller craft. They commonly went on offensive operations in the dark of night harassing British vessels. More than 200 of them saw service during the war.

We’re going to wrap up the first part of this presentation of the Signal journal showing a clip from a Wehrmacht training film, Lehrfilm nr. 314, for training soldiers how to ski. The original has a runtime of 15:12 seconds. If you like this material please remember to subscribe to the channel and hit the bell icon. Thanks for watching.