Edgar Puaud

Edgar Joseph Alexandre Puaud (29 October 1889 – 5 March 1945) was a French army officer, who, in 1945, briefly became commander of the Charlemagne Division, a French unit of the Waffen-SS in the service of Nazi Germany.

World War I Puaud was born in Orléans, and joined the French Army as a private soldier in 1909. By 1914 he was a sergeant, and was selected to attend the military academy at Saint-Maixent for petty officer training. On the outbreak of World War I, however, he and fellow "aspirants" were immediately given commissions. During the course of the war he was promoted from Sub-Lieutenant to Captain, and won the Croix de Guerre and the Legion of Honour. In 1942, the remaining men were assigned to Bandenbekämpfung ("bandit-fighting" against partisan supporters and Jews), first around Bryansk and then in Ukraine.

Appointed commander In September 1943 Puaud, promoted to Général de Brigade (brigadier), was appointed commander of the LVF. The formation was named after the Frankish king and German Emperor Charlemagne. Puaud was given the Waffen-SS rank Oberführer. Although Puaud was the official commander, actual control was exercised by SS-Brigadeführer Gustav Krukenberg, who spoke fluent French.

After spending late 1944 training, the Charlemagne Brigade was upgraded to a division, with the title 33 Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS "Charlemagne" (französische Nr 1), Krukenberg was appointed to command the division, while Puaud was the nominal French commander.

1945 In February 1945 the division was sent into combat against the advancing Red Army in Pomerania. It saw action around Hammerstein (Czarne), Köslin (Koszalin) and Kolberg (Kołobrzeg) on the Baltic coast. The Soviet forces split the French force into three pockets. One group commanded by Krukenberg survived. It was evacuated from the coast by the German Navy to Denmark and later sent to Neustrelitz for refitting; the second group with Puaud was destroyed by Soviet artillery and the third group tried fighting its way back westward, but by 17 March all had been captured or killed in action. Puaud was severely wounded in the fighting. He was taken to Greifenberg (Gryfice), where he was left in an inn with other wounded soldiers. His exact fate is not known.