The 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte-SS Adolf Hitler dated back to 1925 and the creation of Hitler’s SS protection squad, building on the nazi’s short-lived Sturmabteilung (SA) Stabswache (Headquarters Guard). In March 1933 Joseph ‘Sepp’ dietrich established the SS-Stabswache Berlin, consisting of 120 men, who, along with the SS-Verfügungstruppe, were the forerunners of the waffen-SS. Initially the unit was based at Berlin’s Alexander Barracks but later moved to Berlin-Lichterfelde.
The SS-Stabswache Berlin was redesignated SS-Sonderkommando Zossen and in September 1933 merged with the newly raised SS-Sonderkommando Jüterbog to form the SS-Leibstandarte (Bodyguard) Adolf Hitler (LAH). The following year it was redesignated as the Leibstandarte-SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH) and grew to regimental strength.
The LSSAH took part in the Austrian Anschluss as part of 16th Corps under General Heinz Guderian and later in the annexation of Czechoslovakia. during the invasion of Poland it served with Army Group South under the leadership of SSoberstgruppenführer ‘Sepp’ dietrich and later took part in the invasion of France and the Low Countries, where it was mainly held in reserve, although it saw some action against the retreating British troops at dunkirk. The LSSAH was attached to 14th Corps during the second and final phase of the invasion of France.
Formed in october 1939 from the Deutschland, Germania and Der Führer regiments, the SS-VT-Division Reich was placed under the command of SSoberstgruppenführer Paul Hausser. It was also involved in the campaign in the west in 1940 and after a period spent guarding the border with Vichy France was transferred to the netherlands. The division then took part in the campaign in the Balkans, where a small detachment led by SS-Hauptsturmführer Klingenberg managed to get the Mayor of Belgrade to surrender the city without a fight.
Still under the command of Hausser, SS-VT-division Reich took part in the invasion of the Soviet Union and fought on the front line until August 1941, when it was withdrawn for refitting. It was sent back to the front in September and a few months later, commanded by SS-obergruppenführer wilhelm ‘willi’ Bittrich, it took part in the failed winter offensive against Moscow.
The idea to create a Hitler Youth or Hitlerjugend division was initially suggested by Gruppenführer Gottlob Berger in early 1943. His plan envisaged the drafting of all 17-year-old Hitler Youth members born in 1926 and assigning them to a combat formation. Hitler liked the proposal and ordered Berger to commence organising such a division, the official order being issued on 10 February 1943.
Berger nominated himself to be the first Hitlerjugend divisional commander, but Himmler gave the job instead to a former Hitler Youth member, oberführer Fritz witt, as he had been commanding one of the 1st SS Panzer division’s panzergrenadier regiments. witt had won the Iron Cross and Knight’s Cross in Poland and France respectively. In the Balkans his men from the 1st SS were instrumental in opening the Klidi pass to the heart of Greece. He then fought in russia, seeing action at rostov and Kharkov.
Hitler issued a number of additional decrees in April 1943 regarding the formation of the Hitlerjugend Panzergrenadier division. on 1 May the first batch of 8,000 volunteers reported for six weeks’ training, although in the event they only received four. At the beginning of July the graduating class was released for service, while a second batch of 8,000 was inducted for training. By 1 September 1943 the 16,000 trained recruits were listed on the rosters of the newly formed Hitlerjugend division and were assembled at an SS training facility located at Beverloo, Belgium.
Under the direction of ‘willi’ Bittrich, the 9th SS Panzer division Hohenstaufen was also formed in early February 1943, mainly from conscripts, many of them from the Reichsarbeitsdienst (rAd or reich Labour Service). Bittrich, an able tank commander, controlled the Deutschland regiment during the fighting in Poland and France in 1939–1940; he then assumed control of the 2nd SS Panzer division Das Reich for just three months in late 1941.
Under the command of SS-Standartenführer Michael Lippert, the 10th SS Panzer division, like the 9th SS, was raised in February 1943 from conscripts drawn mainly from the Reichsarbeitsdienst. Again they were just teenagers; according to Himmler, the average age of the recruits was 18 years old. The division was redesignated the 10th SS Panzer division on 3 october 1943 and named after Georg von Frundsberg (1473–1528), who had served the Hapsburg Monarchy during its many wars.
The LSSAH was upgraded to brigade strength in August 1940 for the planned invasion of Britain. when this was called off, the LSSAH was transferred to romania for the attack in the Balkans. Its troops fought their way through Yugoslavia and Greece, chasing the Allied troops to Kalamata, from where they took flight by sea to Crete. Kurt Meyer, commanding Liebstandarte’s reconnaissance battalion, attacked the Klussura Pass and captured some 11,000 men; the LSSAH as a whole took the surrender of at least sixteen divisions before the Greeks capitulated.
In June 1941 the LSSAH, expanded into a full motorised infantry division, took part in the invasion of the Soviet Union as part of Army Group South and was involved in the fighting at Kiev and rostov. The division was sent to France for refit in 1942 and upgraded to a panzergrenadier division. Sent back to the eastern Front in 1943 under SS-Brigadeführer Theodor wisch, it fought at Kharkov and Kursk. After the German defeat at Kursk, the LSSAH was sent to Italy on anti-partisan duties, but it was soon deployed back to the eastern Front as a panzer division.
After suffering heavy losses on the eastern Front, on 18 April 1944 the remains of the 1st SS under wisch were sent by train to northwest France and established its headquarters at Turnhout in Belgium, where it became part of the 1st SS Panzer Corps. More than 2,000 men from the 12th SS were transferred to the division and in early May Hitler ordered that it should get new equipment, much of it straight from the factory floor.
A month later the 1st SS was still far from combat ready. In the week before d-day the division stood at 19,620 strong, although many of the new recruits were untrained and more than 1,000 men, mainly drivers and vital technicians, were still in Germany. wisch was still awaiting replacement Panzer Mk IVs and Vs and these did not arrive until the weeks after d-day. Motor transport was lacking: the division had less than half its authorised number of trucks and more than a third of those they did have required maintenance. none of the panzergrenadiers’ armoured halftracks was operational.
The SS-VT-division Reich was sent to France in March 1942, with the exception of a small Kampfgruppe, where it was upgraded to become SS Panzergrenadier division Das Reich. It was sent back to the eastern Front in January 1943, where, under the leadership of SS-Obergruppenführer George Keppler, it took part in the capture and recapture of Kharkov, as well as fighting at Kursk.
In April 1944, under SS-Gruppenführer Heinz Lammerding, some 2,500 men from Das Reich were transferred back to the Bordeaux area in France, this time to be upgraded to a full panzer division designated the 2nd SS. Lammerding had served as an infantry officer and was involved in anti-partisan operations on the eastern Front. The subsequent actions of his division during its march north through France may be partly attributed to Lammerding’s brutal experiences in the east.
In late 1943 Lammerding took command of those 2nd SS units on anti-partisan duties and on 25 January 1944 assumed full command of the division, based around Montauban. There were whisperings that he had been over-promoted. It has been argued that he owed his appointment to his relationship with Himmler, and indeed it was felt that Lammerding’s position had more to do with his political allegiance to the nazi Party rather than any real military aptitude. one of his first priorities was to absorb about 9,000 new recruits, as well as replenish his vehicle fleet. on 16 May 1944 the division took receipt of fifty-five Panzer IVs and thirty-seven Panthers towards a complement of sixty-two of each, to supplement the existing thirty Sturmgeschütz. By 10 June 1944 Lammerding found his command scattered across the Lot, Corrèze and Haute-Vienne, with broken-down panzers and StuGs dotted about between Tulle and Montauban. Frustratingly for Lammerding and his men, the actions of the French Maquis ensured that what should have been a three-day journey to normandy took the 2nd SS a fortnight. The situation came to a head at oradour-sur-Glane, 12 miles northwest of Limoges, where 646 people were killed by members of Panzergrenadier regiment Der Führer under Sturmbannführer otto diekmann. (diekmann would be killed in action on 30 June.)
Before the 9th SS had finished training, it was placed under ‘Sepp’ dietrich’s 1st SS Panzer Corps, along with the remains of the 1st SS and the newly raised 12th SS Panzergrenadier division. However, in early 1944, along with the 10th SS, Panzer Lehr and the 349th Infantry divisions, it became part of 2nd SS Panzer Corps under Paul Hausser. At the end of March 1944 the red Army had surrounded the 1st Panzer Army and 2nd Panzer Corps had been despatched to rescue it.
The 9th SS first saw action in early 1944 at Tarnopol, where it took part in rescuing German troops from the Kamenets-Podolskiy pocket. Placed into reserve with Army Group north in Ukraine, the 9th SS was refitting when the Allies landed in normandy. Hitler immediately ordered the division to join Panzergruppe west. Under Bittrich, it was sent to normandy on 12 June, though it was to have a series of commanders during the normandy campaign.
Led by SS-Gruppenführer Karl Fischer von Treuenfeld, the 10th SS Panzer division likewise first saw action at Tarnopol. In mid-June Hitler ordered the division to be switched to the west to help bolster the situation in normandy. Under SS-Gruppenführer Heinz Harmel it was sent to France on 12 June, along with the 9th SS, to counter the Allied landings.
On 1 June 1944, on paper at least, the 12th SS Hitlerjugend was an extremely powerful armoured formation with a reported strength of 20,500 men; however, some 2,400 of these troops were stationed at Arnhem in the netherlands. It has been estimated that the 12th SS arrived in normandy with about 17,000 men. SS Panzer regiment 12, under SS-obersturmbannführer Max wünche, had an authorised strength of 101 Panzer IVs and 79 Panthers. A further thirteen Panthers were despatched to the division the day after d-day.
Josef ‘Sepp’ dietrich seen here as an SS-obergruppenführer. He is wearing the Knight’s Cross with oakleaves and Swords. dietrich was one of the waffen-SS’s most highly decorated soldiers and was only one of two to gain the oakleaves with Swords and diamonds. He helped Himmler create the waffen-SS, first commanding the Leibstandarte-SS Adolf Hitler.
SS-obergruppenführer Paul Hausser was another of the most successful generals in the waffen-SS. He started the war commanding the SS-VT division Reich. Hausser was one of the few SS generals prepared to disobey Hitler.
Hitler in Nürnberg in 1935 with the brown shirt SA to the left and black-clad SS to the right. That year field-grey uniforms the same as the black service uniform were issued to members of the Leibstandarte-SS Adolf Hitler and SS-VT for everyday wear.
Waffen-SS troops of the Leibstandarte being awarded Iron Crosses by ‘Sepp’ Dietrich in the summer of 1940. Hitler allowed Himmler’s forces to share in Germany’s early military victories.
Men of the Leibstandarte-SS Adolf Hitler involved in the invasion of the Balkans in early 1941. As a motorised infantry division, it took part in the attack on the Soviet Union that summer. It was then progressively upgraded from a panzergrenadier to a panzer division.
Waffen-SS soldiers act as a ceremonial guard for one of their dead comrades lost during the invasion of Poland in the summer of 1939. Note the SS runes on their collars.
Members of a Waffen-SS unit. The initial divisions started life as motorised infantry divisions and were steadily upgraded to panzergrenadier and then full panzer divisions during 1943–1944.
What made the Waffen-SS visually distinctive was their ground-breaking disruptive pattern camouflaged smocks and helmet covers. There were four basic patterns that were all reversible. The Waffen-SS was also issued with M1943 and M1944 camouflaged uniforms that consisted of jackets and trousers.
Mounted Waffen-SS troops in camouflaged smocks. The invasion of the Soviet Union triggered the rapid expansion of the Waffen-SS, including the 8th SS Cavalry division Florian Geyer, which was destroyed during the fighting for Budapest in 1945.
This Panzer IV Ausf F2 belonging to the 1st SS Panzer Division was photographed in occupied France in the summer of 1942, shortly after the division was issued with this upgunned variant. note the lack of camouflage at this stage of the war; the vehicle is painted in dunkel grau (panzer grey), which was the standard colour at the time and remained so for vehicles on occupation duty.
A Panzer IV Ausf J with the 2nd SS Das Reich in France. Das Reich was upgraded to a full panzer division in Bordeaux early in 1944. SS panzer divisions had a battalion of Mk IVs and a battalion of Panthers, as well as an assault gun detachment. At the beginning of June 1944 Das Reich had only forty-five Panzer IVs; another twenty-four were delivered in the middle of the month.
The Tiger I was first blooded in the winter of 1942. It served with the Waffen-SS and the German army’s independent heavy panzer battalions on both the Eastern and Western Fronts.
A Tiger I bearing the corps badge of the 1st SS Panzer Corps: crossed keys within a shield above two oakleaves. This reflected Heavy SS Panzer Battalion 101’s close links with Leibstandarte. The corps in the summer of 1944 consisted of the 1st and 12th SS Panzer Divisions and the 17th SS Panzergrenadier division.
Tiger 331 of Heavy SS Panzer Battalion 101 pictured in normandy. This unit, alongside the 12th SS, helped oppose the Allied landings in 1944. Afterwards the unit was re-equipped with Tiger II and supported Kampfgruppe Peiper, drawn from the 1st SS.
The Panther Ausf D went into service in mid-1943. The army’s 1st Panzer Division was the initial recipient, followed by Leibstandarte and Das Reich. The third and final model, the Ausf G, went into production in March 1944.
A StuG III Ausf G belonging to a Waffen-SS assault gun battalion on the Eastern Front. These units were rather weak compared to the panzer battalions and had only twenty StuGs in three companies.
The SdKfz 251 half-track was used to transport SS panzergrenadiers. The smaller vehicle to the left with the radio antenna is a SdKfz 251/3. each SS panzer division had two panzergrenadier regiments.