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Texel island

The Georgian Uprising of Texel (Dutch: Opstand der Georgiërs) (April 5, 1945 – May 20, 1945) was an insurrection by the 882nd infantry battalion of the Georgian Legion stationed on the German occupied Dutch island of Texel (pronounced Tessel). The event is sometimes described as Europe's last battlefield.

Georgian Legion on Texel before the mutiny.

The heavily fortified island was a pivotal point in the German Atlantic Wall system of defense. The men of the rebellious battalion were soldiers from the Soviet Republic of Georgia captured on the Eastern front. They had been given a choice rarely offered by the Germans: the captured soldiers could choose either to remain in the POW camps, which would mean almost certain death, or to serve the Germans and be allowed a degree of freedom. The battalion was formed of men who chose the latter option.

On the night of April 5 – 6, 1945, the Georgians rose up against the German garrison and initially gained control of nearly the entire island. Approximately 400 Germans lost their lives in the initial assault. The rebellion hinged on an expected Allied landing, which did not occur.

Georgian officers, Texel.

Because the assumed allied help did not materialize, and because they had failed to secure the naval batteries on the southern and northern coasts of the island, the rebels were soon faced with a German counter-attack. German reinforcements arrived from the Dutch mainland and, after several weeks of intense fighting, retook the island.

During the Russian or Georgian war (as it is known on Texel) approximately 800 Germans, 570 Georgians, and 120 natives of Texel were killed. The destruction was enormous; dozens of farms went up in flames. The bloodshed lasted beyond the German capitulation in the Netherlands and Denmark on May 5, 1945, and even beyond Germany's general surrender on May 8, 1945. Not until May 20, 1945 were newly arrived Canadian troops able to pacify "Europe’s last battlefield".

The fallen Georgians lie buried in a ceremonial cemetery at the Hogeberg near Oudeschild. The survivors faced the same fate as most Soviet POWs: forced repatriation, under the terms of the Yalta Conference, often followed by incarceration and occasionally - execution. Stalin considered anyone captured by the enemy to be a traitor, subject to appropriate punishment.

The final resting places of Allied flight crews can be found in the community cemetery in Den Burg.

A permanent exhibition dedicated to this event exists in the Aeronautical Museum at the island's airport.

• Texel's Official Website (in Dutch)
• Georgian uprising article