The focus of this book is purely the main armoured operations of the waffen-SS during the latter half of the Second world war. It offers a graphic snapshot of the dramatic tank battles fought by the waffen-SS panzer and panzergrenadier divisions during 1944–1945 on both the eastern and western Fronts. By this stage these units were at the height of their powers and were involved in major operations in France, russia, the netherlands, Poland and Germany. Most notably the waffen-SS’s panzers prolonged the war by staving off defeat, briefly stabilising both the eastern and western Fronts at highly critical points in the fighting.
It is worth highlighting that reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler’s Schutz-Staffel (SS) had a huge variety of units with differing functions. The front-line combat troops of the waffen-SS (Armed SS), with their grey uniforms, should not be confused with the men of the Allgemeine-SS (General SS), with their distinctive ceremonial black uniforms, who were the ‘general service’ militia of the nazi Party. The latter over the years came to epitomise the SS but they were a separate entity from the waffen-SS.
Similarly, the Sicherheitsdienst (Sd – Security Service) security police wore grey, while the Gestapo secret police worked in plain clothes. In addition, the SS-Totenkopfverbände (death’s Head Units) responsible for running the concentration camps in Poland and russia also dressed in field-grey uniforms. The latter oversaw Hitler’s Final Solution and the wholesale murder of europe’s Jewish population. Then there was a vast range of other police and security units raised within occupied europe and controlled by the SS.
Over the years the waffen-SS has been elevated to a largely undeserved elite status by a series of military historians. The result is that its units are often mentioned in the same breath as Spartan hoplites, Persian immortals, roman Praetorian Guard, Vikings, Japanese Samurai, delta Force and the SAS, to name but a few. This reputation is mainly derived from the performance of a handful of tough SS panzer divisions that fought on the eastern and western Fronts with, it has to be said, some distinction.
In fact, many of these divisions consisted of little more than boy soldiers recruited from the Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth) and the reich Labour Service. while some of the early waffen-SS field units proved consistently reliable, this was as a result of a selection and training process deeply rooted in nazi ideology. This politically motivated fanaticism spilled over into their conduct and regularly resulted in wholly unjustifiable war crimes and atrocities.
The waffen-SS grew from the SS-Verfügungstruppen (SS-VT – SS dispositional Troops), the military wing of the Schutz-Staffel – the Führer’s personal protection squad. Ironically, after his experiences with the powerful pre-war Sturmabteilung (SA: Storm detachment) of the national Socialist German workers’ Party (nSdAP or nazi Party), Adolf Hitler was not in favour of large private armies. However, the SS was used to decapitate and take control of the SA, ensuring it posed no threat to Hitler’s steady rise to power.
The deployment of SS units during the invasions of Poland and the west were simply designed to allow reichsführer-SS Himmler’s power base to share in Germany’s military triumphs. Himmler had assumed control of the SS in 1929 and immediately set about empire building. The premier formation, Leibstandarte-SS Adolf Hitler, evolved from Hitler’s pre-war bodyguard commanded by ‘Sepp’ dietrich. Likewise Das Reich, formerly the SS-VT division, evolved from the remainder of the pre-war armed SS. From these units grew Himmler’s autonomous army of over half a million men, fully equipped with tanks and artillery.
In total, the waffen-SS, a very distinct and independent entity from the regular German Army, raised (on paper at least) a total of thirty-eight divisions during the Second world war. of these, seven were panzer divisions and another eight were panzergrenadier divisions. The most famous – or perhaps infamous – armoured formations were the 1st SS Leibstandarte-SS Adolf Hitler, the 2nd SS Das Reich and the 12th SS Hitlerjugend. The 5th SS Wiking, the 9th Hohenstaufen and the 10th SS Frundsberg also gained reputations as fierce and brutal fighters. The least well known was the 3rd SS Totenkopf, which was initially raised from concentration camp guards.
The panzergrenadier divisions comprised the 4th SS Polizei, the 16th SS Reichsführer-SS, which gained an unsavoury reputation in Italy, the 11th SS Nordland, the 17th SS Götz von Berlichingen which fought in normandy, the 18th SS Horst Wessel, the 23rd SS Nederland, the 28th SS Wallonien and the 38th SS Nibelungen. The latter was recruited from teenage SS cadets in March 1945 and never even reached regimental size. Most of these units included single panzer and assault gun battalions.
The emergence of Himmler’s panzer divisions was not just a political vanity project; there were sound strategic reasons for upgrading them from the early motorised units. The expansion of German strength in 1943 had clearly accelerated after rommel’s defeat at el Alamein in november 1942, the Allied landings in French north Africa that same month and by the destruction in early 1943 of the German forces trapped at Stalingrad. Liebstandarte-SS Adolf Hitler, Das Reich and Totenkopf were transformed into panzergrenadier units for the spring 1943 counter-offensive in the Soviet Union, each with an integral tank battalion. This increase in combat power had been authorised in early 1942 but was not implemented until the second half of the year. notably, the Wiking division was also allocated a tank battalion but stayed in the line instead of being withdrawn to France to re-equip.
Equally important was the appointment of General Heinz Guderian as Inspector-General of Armoured Troops in February 1943. Answering directly to Hitler, he was responsible for recruiting, training, organising and equipping the panzer divisions of both the regular German Army and the waffen-SS. working alongside Armaments Minister Albert Speer, Guderian concentrated on centralising weapons production. This put an end to the private industries the SS had created in the face of the army’s intransigence over supplying modern equipment.
The result of this was that the armoured waffen-SS divisions began to be given priority with new tanks and self-propelled guns. when the fully fledged SS panzer divisions appeared in 1943–1944 they had stronger tank establishments than their army counterparts. They also had priority with the new Tiger and Panther tanks when they appeared, even though these were in short supply.
By 1944 a waffen-SS panzer division consisted of up to 15,000 fighting men and up to 6,000 support personnel, such as administrative staff, clerks and medics. The basic organisation comprised a panzer regiment, two panzergrenadier regiments and a panzer artillery regiment, plus anti-tank, assault gun, flak, pioneer, reconnaissance and signals battalions. each SS panzer regiment had an established strength of up to 2,000 men. It consisted of two battalions, each with four companies, with an average of fifteen panzers (Mk IVs and Vs) per company. The regiment was also issued with about a dozen self-propelled anti-aircraft guns equipped with Möbelwagens, wirbelwinds or ostwinds. The latter had become an increasing necessity in light of the waning power of the Luftwaffe. In addition, there was a supporting pioneer company, plus up to 400 motorcycles, cars and trucks.
In comparison, the assault gun battalions were rather weak, being issued with about twenty StuG III/IVs in three companies totalling just 300 personnel. The antitank or panzerjäger battalions had three companies, two of which had fifteen selfpropelled tank destroyers; these were normally Jagdpanzer IVs. The third company was armed with towed 75mm PaK40 anti-tank guns. The reconnaissance and pioneer battalions were stronger, with almost 1,000 men. notably, the reconnaissance units were equipped with a dozen 75mm self-propelled guns (usually mounted in armoured cars for mobility) and had integral anti-tank and anti-aircraft guns. Such forces proved a scourge for the Alllies at Arnhem and nijmegen.
The mechanised armoured infantry or panzergrenadier regiments were normally organised into three battalions plus supporting units numbering up to 4,000 personnel. each had five companies equipped with SdKfz 251 armoured half-tracks. For mobile fire support they had six 150mm self-propelled Hummels and twelve 105mm self-propelled wespes, plus twenty-four flamethrower vehicles and twelve 120mm mortar carriers. The anti-aircraft battalions were formed from five companies, three 20mm light and two 88mm heavy, each with six guns.
An SS panzer artillery regiment comprised twelve batteries in four battalions. one battery in each battalion was equipped with self-propelled guns, whilst the rest were towed weapons. From September 1944 nebelwerfer rocket launcher battalions were added to SS panzer divisions. each had four companies, three with 150mm weapons and one with 210mm weapons. These were either on wheeled trailers or mounted on half-tracks.
Although the powerful Tiger I and II tanks fought alongside the SS panzer divisions, they did not form part of the divisional organisation and were formed into three independent Heavy (Schwere) panzer battalions. In 1944 the 1st SS Panzer Corps in the west was allocated Schwere SS Panzer Abteilung 101 as its Tiger I battalion. The Tigers bore crossed keys within a shield with flanking oakleaves insignia to reflect their links with Leibstandarte, although they fought with Hitlerjugend. Schwere SS Panzer Abteilung 102 was assigned to support the 2nd SS Panzer Corps, while 103 was sent to the eastern Front as part of the 3rd (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps.
The subsequent Tiger II was then allotted to Schwere Panzer Abteilungen 501 (formerly 101), 502 (102) and 503 (103); these tanks were similarly considered corps level assets and deployed at divisional level as and when they were needed. 501 took part in the Ardennes offensive, 502 was destroyed in the defence of Berlin and 503, after fighting alongside Nordland, surrendered after being decimated in east Prussia.
What really made the waffen-SS visually distinctive and therefore perhaps brought them more notice than they deserved was their disruptive pattern camouflaged smocks and helmet covers. There were four basic patterns, all reversible. The waffen-SS employed spots while the regular army and the Luftwaffe used patterns of angular segments. The waffen-SS units were also issued with M43 and M44 camouflaged uniforms that consisted of jackets and trousers. The tank and self-propelled gun crews wore one-piece non-reversible camouflage overalls during the latter half of the war.
It is important to highlight that reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler was not a military man but a civilian, despite wearing a uniform. Unlike many of his nazi contemporaries, he was not a veteran of the First world war. His main ability was choosing skilled subordinates who made the SS look good. In addition, he was a highly efficient administrator.
While the waffen-SS on the whole proved to be a highly competent fighting machine, Himmler by contrast had no flair for military operations. Towards the end of the Second world war he was appointed to command Army Group Upper rhine and then Army Group Vistula. Both roles required skills far beyond his abilities and both commands were short-lived. Indeed, placing him in charge of Army Group Upper rhine was a political move to keep him away from Hitler’s Ardennes offensive, which involved the SS panzer divisions. In the case of Army Group Vistula, Himmler was not only removed but also beforehand was prevented from directing operation Solstice.
Once manpower became an issue, Himmler was increasingly forced to rely on ‘ethnic’ Germans and foreign ‘volunteers’ from the occupied territories. At this point quality and discipline often became an issue. The better known mixed-nationality foreign units, such as the danish and dutch 5th SS Panzer division Wiking, the Austrian and romanian 7th SS Freiwilligen Gebirgs division Prince Eugen, the Austrian and Slovenian 16th SS Panzergrenadier division Reichsführer-SS and the Belgian 28th SS Panzergrenadier division Wallonien, were all equipped with armoured fighting vehicles.
The so-called waffen-SS foreign ‘volunteer’ cavalry, grenadier, mountain and panzergrenadier divisions were a motley crew, many of whom were of extremely dubious fighting value. Most were employed in security duties and anti-partisan sweeps which frequently resulted in the deaths of innocent civilians. Considerable elements of the SS were morally bankrupt, representing an organisation that had little regard for humanity, and committed some of the worst atrocities in history. The SS einsatzgruppen and concentration camp guards were the main culprits, but the waffen-SS combat divisions were also guilty of such crimes. Tough fighting men, they were responsible for a whole series of massacres carried out across europe. The worst of these was perpetrated during the warsaw rising in 1944, when the SS murdered tens of thousands of civilians.
War crimes and politics aside, Hitler’s SS panzer divisions proved particularly adept at conducting rescue and defensive operations, and Hitler became increasingly reliant on the waffen-SS to extricate his armed forces from tricky military situations. Their finest moments during 1944–1945 came at Arnhem, wolomin and the Ardennes, where significant Allied advances were stopped dead by a handful of veteran waffen-SS divisions. The German Army greatly respected the waffen-SS panzer divisions and fought side by side with them, until they became largely one and the same.
As the war came to a close, it became apparent that the waffen-SS’s once impressive offensive capability had been all but exhausted, though morale never waned or crumbled. At the very end they were the main strike force for Hitler’s final counter-offensives in Belgium and Hungary. when the waffen-SS failed to secure a victory or come to the rescue of Berlin, Hitler felt personally betrayed by them. one of his final futile gestures was to order them to remove their SS insignia.
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