CAN Enhanced (Permanent?) Fwd Presence in Latvia

[Kirkhill]

And all that without the 2nd amendment? Amazing....

D&B:

What do you reckon impact on recruiting and retention would be of "Free Bullets Every Saturday!"?

 

[MarkOttawa]

Canadian-led Latvia battalion looks a bit of a dog's breakfast:

NATO: “Albania, Italy, Poland and Slovenia will contribute to the Canadian-led battalion in Latvia”
https://cgai3ds.wordpress.com/2016/10/26/mark-collins-nato-albania-italy-poland-and-slovenia-will-contribute-to-the-canadian-led-battalion-in-latvia/

Edit--the map:

Mark
Ottawa

 

[George Wallace]

Albania, Italy, Poland and Slovenia will contribute to the Canadian-led battalion in Latvia

That is an interesting mix. 

 

[daftandbarmy]

D&B:

What do you reckon impact on recruiting and retention would be of "Free Bullets Every Saturday!"?

They would likely have less recruits, and fewer innocent bystanders too

 

[The Bread Guy]

That is an interesting mix.

Eclectic, but there's potential for access to some decent wine, sausage and plum brandy, though ...

 

[Lightguns]

Canadian-led Latvia battalion looks a bit of a dog's breakfast:

Edit--the map:

Mark
Ottawa

Well, we picked a good spot for quick evacuation!  GerBat and USBat could be quickly cut off. 

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Well at least we aren't sitting on the relief route for Kalingrad

 

[MarkOttawa]

George Wallace:

That is an interesting mix. 

Indeed--Italy invaded Albania in April 1939 and occupied it until 1943; Italy also invaded Yugoslavia in April 1941 and occupied much of Slovenia until 1943 (when Italy surrendered to the Allies and the Germans took over Italian-occupied territories).

Mark
Ottawa

 

[Altair]

That is an interesting mix.

I'm just curious as to why they decided to make some nations pull double duty.

The French are supporting two separate battalions and the Brits are leading one and supporting another.

 

[Journeyman]

The French are supporting two separate battalions ....

France is supporting only one battalion at a time; hence the dates.

 

[Altair]

France is supporting only one battalion at a time; hence the dates.

Makes sense.

 

[Jarnhamar]

Is Latvia nicer than Estonia?

 

[Lightguns]

Is Latvia nicer than Estonia?

Estonia celebrates their short NAZI past as freedom fighters, Latvians not so much.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Estonia celebrates their short NAZI past as freedom fighters, Latvians not so much.

That's an interesting read - the same could be said about some Ukrainians, too.  Both EST & LVA had pro-German auxiliaries and Waffen SS units, so how do you see the difference now?

And if you mean these guys, here's how the EST info-machine plays that out...

... The Erna Raid commemorates the actions of the Erna long-range reconnaissance group in the summer of 1941. The Erna group, consisting of Estonian volunteers, had participated in the Finnish-Russian Winter War of 1939-1940, helping their Finnish “cousins” to fight against Soviet aggression. The members of this reconnaissance unit had sworn allegiance to Finland and its military commander, General Mannerheim. Despite German pressure, they refused to swear allegiance to Hitler, and were not part of the Nazi armed forces. In the summer of 1941, the Erna reconnaissance group landed behind Soviet lines on the northern coast of Estonia. At the end of July they held a fierce battle against numerically superior Soviet forces, in the process helping thousands of local civilians to avoid falling victim to Soviet persecution ...

 

[Lightguns]

There is a granite memorial to the 23th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS in Navria I believe.  The plaque is an German type soldier in helmet, M43 tunic, German Infantry Assault badge carrying an MP40, missing is the runes on the helmet and the eagle on the right breast but the Estonian SS collar dog is there.  Also all Estonia SS veterans dying recently received a military funeral.  Latvia on the other hand is more low key about it, with private funerals and banning expositions of their NAZI past. 

Those guys of which you speak are celebrated as well but equally with the later SS units and the post war Forest Brothers who were made of SS and SS police units that stayed behind. Read an interesting book published by SS Estonian Veterans living in ..... Canada.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Read an interesting book published by SS Estonian Veterans living in ..... Canada.

Any reading recommendations welcome - thanks for the further backgrounding.

Living in a community with a lot of post-WW2 immigration from Ukraine and Croatia, I get a sense of what you mean there.

 

[Lightguns]

Any reading recommendations welcome - thanks for the further backgrounding.

Living in a community with a lot of post-WW2 immigration from Ukraine and Croatia, I get a sense of what you mean there.

The big thing to remember with the occupied territory SS units and police is that they started out as Foreigner units recruited and equipped under the Army.  In 1943 Himmler ordered that all occupied territory ethnic units under the Army and the Field Police would be converted to SS control.  The Estonia military units became Waffen SS BUT refused to wear runes, wearing the old Estonian Army "Armoured Arm with raised Sword" in place. The police unit came under the Regional SS Police Commander, they had a less stellar reputation.  The 23th division was never off the frontline until parts of it evacuated to Germany.  It surrendered to the Americans and because the Yanks diplomatically refused to recognize Soviet control of Estonia, they got to be treated as refugees instead of SS.   

 

[MarkOttawa]

So a company of Italians for the Canadian-led Latvia "battle group"--what about Poles, Slovenes, Albanians (platoons from last two?  ):

...
Canada will deploy 450 troops as well as light armoured vehicles and other military equipment to the force while Italy has said it will send 140 soldiers.

It wasn’t immediately clear what the other countries will contribute, though media reports have indicated the Polish contribution will include tanks...
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/four-countries-promise-to-join-canadian-led-battle-group-in-latvia/article32547760/

Plus:

...
NATO's plan is to set up four battle groups with a total of some 4,000 troops from early next year, backed by a 40,000-strong rapid-reaction force, and if need be, follow-on forces.

As part of that, U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter announced a "battle-ready battalion task force" of about 900 soldiers would be sent to eastern Poland, as well as another, separate force equipped with tanks and other heavy equipment to move across eastern Europe.

"It's a major sign of the U.S. commitment to strengthening deterrence here," Carter said.

Britain's Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said Britain would send an 800-strong battalion to Estonia, supported by French and Danish troops, starting from May. The United States wants its troops in position by June.

London is also sending Typhoon fighter aircraft to Romania to patrol around the Black Sea, partly in support of Turkey...
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-nato-russia-idUSKCN12P31W

Mark
Ottawa

 

[rmc_wannabe]

Good thing we've been working with the Poles for the past 2 yearsl... Seems like it was planned or something  ;D

 

[The Bread Guy]

A small, yet brightly (shrill?) glowing splinter, of the Russian info-ops machine pipes in from separatist Ukraine on the announced deployment:

Terrorist Organization NATO And It’s Military Massing On The Russian Border, Including Albanian And Croatian Ustashi Forces !

A day after reports terrorist organization NATO was soliciting even more ground troops for their deployment into Eastern Europe, officials are reporting “progress” in recruiting more troops from more member nations to participate in the deployment, intended to be around 40,000 troops along the Baltic states, near Russia’s border.

Fascist NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg claimed to have been “very inspired” by the response of nations he sought troops from, after yesterday’s report quoted diplomats as saying the deployment was meant to both “confront” Russia and to undercut Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s complaints NATO isn’t participating enough in its own defense.

The new participants in the deployment include Albania, Slovenia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Croatia (Ustashi) , Belgium, and Norway. The size of individual deployments from different nations is unclear, but there will be four battalions, and the US is expected to provide the majority.

With all these troops headed to the Baltic coast, reports out of Russia’s media suggest that they are planning some new warship deployments into their Baltic Fleet, with an eye toward enhancing their targeting capacity along the shore.

These guys use a lot of exclamation points in their headlines ...