initially, most of the volunteers came from the cadres of rex and in particular its paramilitary militia, the "formations de combat". in propaganda, rex emphasised the anti-communist nature of the conflict and argued that collaboration was compatible with belgian nationalism. initially, the unit encountered various internal problems with some volunteers being unwilling to swear allegiance to adolf hitler and others being classed as medically unfit: almost a third of the volunteers were repatriated before october 1941. over the winter of 1941–1942, it participated in training and anti-partisan operations near donetsk in the ukraine.