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unlike many of the Danes serving Germany in WW2 they seemed more soldiers than state sponsored terrorist meant to suppress decent among the Danish population, or at least at first look given their service on the western front and high casualties. As opposed to other units largely stationed in Denmark who racked of civilian body counts.
Free Corps Denmark (Danish: Frikorps Danmark , German: Freikorps „Danmark“ ) was a unit of the Waffen-SS during World War II consisting of volunteers from Denmark. It was established following an initiative by the National Socialist Workers’ Party of Denmark (DNSAP) in the immediate aftermath of the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941 and subsequently endorsed by Denmark’s government which authorised officers of the Royal Danish Army to enlist in the unit. It participated in fighting on the Eastern Front and was disbanded in 1943. During the course of the war, approximately 6,000 Danes joined the corps, including 77 officers of the Royal Danish Army.
With about 1,000 recruits, the corps was sent to Langenhorn barracks in Hamburg for basic training in late July 1941. It was considered ready for action by 15 September and sent to Owińska in Poland.
Commander Kryssing was dismissed in February 1942 for insufficient ideological adherence to Nazism. He was transferred to the artillery where he ended his career as a general.
Christian Frederik von Schalburg replaced Kryssing as the leader of Frikorps Danmark; von Schalburg was a Danish-Russian aristocrat, anti-communist, and member of the DNSAP who had been raised in Russia and had seen the aftermath of the Russian revolution in 1917.
On 8 May 1942, the corps was ordered to the front line where it engaged in fighting near Demyansk, south of Lake Ilmen and Novgorod. Schalburg was killed during the night of 2 June. His German replacement, Hans Albert von Lettow-Vorbeck, was killed only a few days later. On 11 July, the Danish officer Knud Børge Martinsen took command of the corps.
The corps returned to Denmark from August to October 1942 and met with much hostility from the civilian population. On 13 November, the corps was redeployed to Jelgava in Latvia. Originally intended for anti-partisan activities, the corps was then moved up to the front line. In December, the corps engaged in intense fighting at the Battle of Velikiye Luki alongside Germany’s 1st SS Infantry Brigade.
The Free Corps was withdrawn from the front line in April 1943 and sent to the Bavarian town of Grafenwöhr, near Nuremberg. It was formally disbanded on 6 May 1943.[4] It was reformed as SS-Panzergrenadier Regiment 24 “Denmark” (SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 24 “Danmark”) and integrated into the recently formed 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland.[4] Returning to Denmark in February 1943, Martinsen established the Schalburg Corps, a paramilitary formation affiliated to the Germanic SS which carried out violent attacks and murders on perceived political dissenters in Denmark. It drew particularly on former soldiers who had served in the Eastern Front and its creation weakened the DNSAP.[5]
Madsen 1945
Madsen M1945 Without the buttstock
Type Submachine gun
Place of origin Denmark
Service history
Used by See Users
Production history
Designer Dansk Industri Syndikat
Designed 1945
Manufacturer Dansk Industri Syndikat
Specifications
Mass 3.15 kilograms (6.9 lb)
Length 800 millimetres (31 in) Fixed Stock, Folding Stock. 550 millimetres (22 in) Folding Stock retracted
Caliber 9×19mm Parabellum
Action Blowback
Rate of fire 850 rounds/min
Feed system Magazine 50 round casket magazine
Sights Fixed Front sight and folding rear sights set for 100 m (110 yd) and 200 m (220 yd)
References
The Madsen M1945 or M45 is a submachine gun introduced in 1945. It was produced by the Danish company Dansk Industri Syndikat of Copenhagen, Denmark. The Madsen M1945 was only produced for a short period of time before being replaced in production by the Madsen M1946 which was simpler and more inexpensive to produce compared to the Madsen M1945. The latter used older more expensive methods of manufacturing, included the milling and machining of steel and the use of wood as opposed to the simpler, more modern techniques of stamping and welding.
Overview
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The Madsen M1945 is a 9mm submachine gun that fires from the open bolt and only in fully automatic. It feeds from 50-round casket-type magazines similar to the Finnish Suomi submachine gun of WW2.[1] The design of the M45 is unusual as the breechblock is attached to a slide cover and not a charging handle. The slide cover extends over the barrel and has serrations at the front. The entire “slide” must be cocked back and pulled to the rear, making the submachine gun similar in function to a giant automatic pistol. The mass of the slide keeps the rate of fire down but interferes with aim (the sights are on the “slide”) and weakens the spring over time due to the spring being confined in the slide and wrapped around the barrel. [2]
Visually similar results
Danish Madsen 1945 submachine gun