Gerry Villani - The Crusade of a Walloon Volunteer: August 8, 1941 - May 5, 1945

It was a total surprise and a great honour when Gerry asked me to write the foreword to his latest book. I think my reply was Me? Seriously? He was indeed serious, and I remember saying I would get on with it immediately. Gerry laughed and said I had several months before it was required.

Therefore, may I welcome you to the latest offering from Gerry Villani. I have studied the Waffen SS for nearly 40 years and I am still learning, looking for new information, and reading the tales of those men who served in the Waffen SS. Even now nearly 80 years since the beginning of World War 2, new information comes to light and sometimes old information is discovered to be incorrect.

I came across Gerry and his work through a friend when he sent me a picture of Gerrys book Voices of the Waffen SS, having never heard of the author before I was pointed to his page on Facebook and ordered a copy. I was impressed with what I found in his book; here was a young author with a passion, who obviously had researched his subject and written a great book. Soldiers of Germania, then Germanias Assault Generation followed, again both superbly well written books. Gerrys writing style is free flowing and easy to read, he takes you to the side of the men he is writing about.

The Waffen SS: for most people those words evoke images of atrocities and slaughter. Through his books, Gerry looks beyond those old outdated stereotypes and brings us the stories of the ordinary men who found themselves in extraordinary situations. He gives unknown men a voice, the chance to tell their stories before they are lost forever, and for this we should be grateful. It is easy for an author to revisit the same personalities and re-tell the same stories. Gerry does not do that - he searches for the tales that have never been told and brings them into the public domain.

In this his latest work he brings us the story of a Walloon, a man of Belgium who took up arms for Rex and Belgium. This man was not a Nazi, but he was a patriot. He fought not just for Wallonia but for all of Belgium to protect it from Bolshevism. Like the vast majority of European volunteers in the Waffen SS, he did not fight for Germany he fought to stop the spread of Communism. When the Second World War ended and Europe was divided, the world then endured the Cold War. This must have been a slap in the face for those who fought trying in their view to protect Western Europe.

Whenever Wallonia is mentioned with regard to the Second World War, one name immediately springs to mind: Lon Degrelle. However, there was more to Lgion Wallonie than Lon Degrellewhat about the ordinary men? Men who served alongside Degrelle? Gerry once again has done some amazing research and gives us the story of just one such man.

A man who was one of the first to join Lgion Wallonie with his father. A man who took part in actions on the Eastern Front that have been largely forgotten. As you will read, he was wounded several times and suffered personal loss as the war progressed before finally becoming an officer in the Waffen SS. Gerry tells us this mans story. He has spoken to his family and been given access to letters and records so that now we can hear this remarkable story too.

So please pour yourself a glass of Single Malt, sit down and travel with this man as his story unfolds before you.

I give you The Crusade of a Walloon Volunteer.

Martin Ridgway - East Yorkshire 2018