American SS Renegades - The George Washington Legion

[Music] american citizens serving in germany's notorious ss fact or fiction well a little bit of both actually during the war the germans particularly the ss recruited very widely and from all of the occupied territories they conquered they also recruited from amongst their enemies and it's well known that the ss formed a renegade unit of british called the british free corps from among allied prisoners of war that fell into german hands but this unit amounted to just 58 men so what about the americans tens of thousands were captured particularly during the arden offensive of the winter of 1944-45 and many americans have german ancestry did the ss succeed in luring some into what came to be called the george washington legion firstly let's clear something up there was never a unit called the george washington legion it's a fiction perpetrated by excellent thriller writers like jack higgins not enough americans volunteered to bother forming a dedicated unit but americans most certainly served in german uniform and some turned sides in the most spectacular fashion in the united states before the war there was a fairly large nazi party organization a handful of americans living in europe when war broke out in 1939 joined the german armed forces some had a german parent which classified them as fox deutsche or ethnic germans others were ideological recruits most americans either went home to enlist to serve in the u.s forces or were interned after hitler declared war on america in december 1941. joining the german military after germany's declaration of war on the united states in early december 1941 was a treasonable offence one of the most spectacular examples of an american traitor was saint louis born pilot martin james monty born in 1921 monty's father was a swiss italian who'd emigrated to the united states while his mother was of german ancestry like many men who later joined the ss monty was virulently anti-communist he enlisted in the us army air corps in october 1942 and by early 1944 had qualified as a pilot with the rank of second lieutenant he was qualified on the p-39 era cobra and the p-38 lightning fighters sent to u.s forces in india monty now first lieutenant was attached to the 126th replacement depot at karachi in modern-day pakistan he then did a very strange thing he went absent without leave hitched a ride on a c-46 transport to cairo in egypt and from there made his way via tripoli to the italian front appearing at the airfield at the 354th air service squadron near naples the 354th task was to prepare aircraft for assignment to frontline squadrons monty noticed an f5e lightning which was a photo reconnaissance version of the p-38 requiring a test flight following repairs he stole the f5e and flew the aircraft north into german occupied italy and landed at milan on the 13th of october 1944 where he was taken prisoner his aircraft was captured perfectly intact and was given to circus rosarius a special luftwaffe unit that tested captured allied aircraft as for monty he managed to convince his captors that he had defected to the axis such renegades had their uses to the germans and many were used to broadcast german propaganda over the radio to allied forces in 1944 monty made a radio test in berlin but he wasn't very good he worked briefly at the reich's roonfunk gesellschaft the german state radio alongside axis sally another american traitor whose real name was mildred gellers instead of becoming a radio broadcaster monty joined the ss being inducted as an ss understand fuhrer or second lieutenant into the ss standard kurt eggers a special propaganda unit of war reporters in uniform the provided correspondence to frontline units this was dangerous work and many were killed in action others worked in the rear areas writing for the ss newspaper or broadcasting monty served alongside another american this man was a louisiana-born ss halpsterm fuhrer or captain called peter delaney who was believed to have previously served in the french foreign legion and may have been instrumental in getting monty into the unit in the ss monty used his mother's german maiden name vitopt the unit also contained at least three britons and one new zealander some of whom later served in the british ss unit the british free corps monty's job in the ss was to write a leaflet for distribution to allied pows urging them to join the fight against communism he was serving with the ss standarta kurt eggers in northern italy when germany surrendered and went into u.s captivity still dressed in his ss officers uniform on the 10th of may 1945. punishment followed court-martialed in 1946 for desertion and stealing an aircraft he was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment but his service in the ss was overlooked his prison sentence was suspended and incredibly monty was able to re-enlist in the army air forces in february 1947 as a private by the time of his honorable discharge in january 1948 monty had been promoted to sergeant his traitorous past finally caught up with him just minutes after his discharge from the armed forces when he was arrested by the fbi charged with treasonous acts under the name martin vitopt he was indicted on 21 acts of treason the 17th of january 1949 monty pleaded guilty he was sentenced to 25 years and fined ten thousand dollars paroled from leavenworth in 1960 monty lived in obscurity until his death in 2000 age 78. thanks for watching please subscribe and share and also support my channel at paypal and patreon details in the description box below you

Channel: Mark Felton Productions

Views: 3,296,036

Keywords: American SS Traitors, The George Washington Legion, Mark Felton Productions, Martin Monti, P-38 Lightning, British Free Corps, Traitors

Id: T_y71_XhQqA

Length: 6min 52sec (412 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 24 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/Frum3ntarii]

Were these guys part of the Business Plot that Major General Smedley Butler exposed? It's been a long time since I've read about the subject.

[u/abouticeland]

What is shocking is that the pilot hasn't been hanged for desertion or treason. The brits werent as lenient.