Today while reading a copy of the Ellensburg Daily Record dated June 12, 1944 I found a very interesting (AP)news article. It featured an invasion update by General Montgomery stating that there was 7,000 Beachhead Prisoners, including Japanese soldiers that were fighting alongside the Germans in France. He went on to say that they are "Regular Soldiers-Not Observers."
I don't recall ever hearing that before now...have you? I'm glad that I decided to keep all of the newspapers I bought at the last estate sale. Back then the local newspapers included the names of every little town and village where our troops were fighting.
Its another little known fact and not much has been published on the ethnic groups that served in the German Army. Japanese, Chineese, Korens a7 other asian groups, Black Africans, Indians, Russians, and many other nationalities all servrd in the german army. Many of these groups were formed into their own ethnic battalions called Ost Battalions, Most fought on the Russion front, and many were later transferred to France to build or defend the Atlantic Wall.
Ost Battalion 43 was one of the asian battalions that fought at Normandy. There was also many Koreans killed and captured at Normandy that had been captured by the russians in Manchuria and pressed into service in the russian army, then later captured by the Germans & pressed into service for the German Army & sent to France to bulid the Atlantic Wall.