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| Military Art Collecton - Leon Degrelle |
Leon Degrelle was born in 1906 in the Belgian Ardennes. He studied law and was interested in political science, art, archaeology, and Tomistic philosophy. At the outbreak of the war he was arrested for sympathising with Hitler and was eventually released when Germany took over Belgium. He volunteered for the German Army in 1941 and encouraged some 1,000 Walloons to join him. Degrelle was involved in numerous battles with considerable success capturing one objective after another. It was not long before he came to the attention of officers of the Waffen SS. Himmler incorporated Degrelles Walloons into the Waffen SS and they were sent to various SS training camps. The most famous foreign volunteer in the entire German army, Degrelle worked his way up through the ranks from private to general and became a close friend of Hitler. In 1944 he received the Oak Leaves to the Knights Cross, becoming Germanys most highly decorated foreign volunteer. As Berlin was falling, Degrelle had his final meeting with Hitler. They shared a last supper together and Hitler served him, cut his bread and poured him a glass of wine. Degrelle escaped from Germany to Norway, where he boarded a single-engine plane and flew over Allied occupied Europe to crash land on the Spanish border as his craft ran out of fuel. He suffered multiple injuries in the landing, including several broken bones. He spent a year in hospital recuperating. The Belgian government condemned Degrelle to death in absentia on charges of treason, but General Francisco refused to extradite him. The Catholic Church and the Belgian government spread his children across Europe and gave them new identities. He spent ten years looking for them and finally found all of them. He settled in Madrid and lived openly and in prosperity until his death in 1994. A visiting Belgian journalist once interviewed him and asked if he had any regrets about the war. His quick reply was – Only that Germany lost! Died 1st April 1994. A scarce signature, all of the signatures we have were signed during an interview in the early 1980s. |
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This website is owned by Cranston Fine Arts. Torwood House, Torwoodhill Road, Rhu, Helensburgh, Scotland, G848LE Contact: Tel: (+44) (0) 1436 820269. Email: cranstonorders -at- outlook.com |
