However, recruitment remained poor and struggled to recruit more than 3,000 men in its initial phase. Attempts were made to recruit former soldiers from among the large numbers of prisoners of war in Germany but this was complicated by the German authorities. The Vichy regime provided no direct support to enlistment, although removed existing laws prohibiting French citizens from enlisting in foreign armies. In some contexts, Vichy officials may even have hindered recruitment in the "free zone" it controlled and there were few volunteers from Vichy's own army. The number of recruits was disappointing and reflected the additional limitations imposed on the LVF in comparison to other foreign volunteer units in light of France's political importance within German-occupied Europe. As Davey noted: Despite racialised admission criteria, the unit included several non-white colonials most notably the Algerian future nationalist Saïd Mohammedi. There were also a number of White Russian émigrés. The first contingent of recruits was assembled at Versailles for a public parade on 27 August 1941 to mark the LVF's creation. At the ceremonies, Pétain's deputy Pierre Laval and Déat were shot and wounded in an attempted assassination by a follower of Deloncle. The following day, German Army doctors rejected almost half of the LVF's recruits on medical grounds. The recruits had been promised that they would fight in French uniforms but, amid continuing Vichy hostility, were folded into the German Army ("Wehrmacht"). Contrary to promises that it would be an independent French formation, its soldiers were given ordinary "Wehrmacht" uniform with an LVF shield on the right arm in the colors of the French flag. It was designated the 638th Infantry Regiment ("Infanterieregiment 638") and was sent for basic training in October 1941 at Deba, near Warsaw, in the General Government. By October 1941, there were two battalions of 2,271 men which had 181 officers and an additional staff of 35 German officers. The internal cohesion of the unit was poor and significant internal rivalries existed, losing 400 men to desertion and disease before ever seeing action. They were sent into combat near Moscow in November and December 1941 as part of the 7th Infantry Division. The LVF lost half their men in action or through frostbite and some individual soldiers deserted to the Red Army in frustration. In 1942 the men were assigned to "Bandenbekämpfung" (so-called "bandit-fighting" against partisans, their supporters and killing Jews) in German-occupied Byelorussia (modern-day Belarus).