He was the most highly decorated Estonian military officer during World War II, serving in various Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS units of Nazi Germany.

[1] After World War II Rebane joined the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) where he played a key role in assisting the armed resistance to Soviet rule in Estonia and other Baltic countries.

In February 1944 Rebane's unit was transferred to the Narva Front and attached to the Wehrmacht's 26th Army Corps on 2 March.

Rebane, after initially refusing, was forced to join[4] the newly formed 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian) of the Waffen-SS, eventually becoming colonel of the 47th Waffen-Grenadier Regiment.

[5] With most of the Estonian forces captured by the Soviet Army in Czechoslovakia, Rebane managed to reach the British Occupation Zone with a number of his men at the end of the war.

According to Carlos Jurado, an expert on non-German units,[6] and Nigel Thomas: Rebane was "the most decorated and probably the most talented and charismatic Baltic soldier during WWII".

Rebane was also decorated with the silver Close Combat Clasp, awarded for hand-to-hand fighting by unsupported infantry for a total of 30 days.

[11] According to a 2005 report published by the Estonian State Commission on the Examination of the Policies of Repression, investigations conducted by the KGB after World War II found no documents confirming the accusation against Rebane and his "army unit".

[12] The return and reburial of Rebane's ashes with military honours at a national cemetery in 1999 in Estonia sparked a controversy.

[13] A tombstone to Rebane, unofficially erected in 2004 but unveiled before Pärnumaa District Parliamentarian and former Foreign Minister Trivimi Velliste, was protested by Russia's Chief Rabbi, Berl Lazar and the Russian Jewish Congress.