SS Defenders

DIVISIONS TRAVELLED FROM ACROSS FRANCE AND BEYOND TO OPPOSE THE ALLIED INVASION

12Th SS Panzer Division hitlerjugend 21,300 troops; 229 tanks and self-propelled assault guns

In early 1943 the nucleus of the 12th SS Panzer Division was formed around a cadre from the First SS Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler. The emphasis was on recruiting young men of the Hitler Youth. After months of training in Belgium, the division was transferred to the vicinity of Caen in Normandy in the spring of 1944. Although it had yet to see actual combat, the division soon gained a reputation for brutality. After participating in the Ardennes Offensive and fighting in Hungary, it surrendered in Austria.

17Th SS Panzergrenadier Division götz von berlichingen 17,321 troops; 88 tanks and self-propelled assault guns

When it was transferred to Normandy in June 1944, the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division was not yet fully combat ready. Formed in France in the autumn of 1943, its transport was inadequate, and much of its armour consisted of Sturmgeschütz assault guns rather than Pzkpfw. IV tanks. After retreating from Normandy to Metz in August 1944, the division fought at the Moselle River in France, in defence of Metz, and in Operation Nordwind in Alsace-lorraine in early 1945. It surrendered in Germany on 6 May.

FIRST SS Panzer Division leibstandarte adolf hitler 19,000 troops; 168 tanks, self-propelled assault guns and other armoured vehicles

Originally formed in the 1920s as Hitler’s personal bodyguard, the Leibstandarte grew to regimental and divisional strength with the Waffen-ss, participating in major campaigns on three fronts, including the invasions of Poland, France and the Low Countries, Operation Barbarossa, the occupation of Greece, the fighting in Italy and Normandy, the Ardennes Offensive and the defence of Berlin. One of the most experienced Waffen-ss divisions, the Leibstandarte surrendered to US forces at Steyr, Austria, on 8 May 1945.

Second SS Panzer Division DAS reich 15,000 troops; 209 tanks, self-propelled assault guns and armoured vehicles

The oldest of the initially designated Waffen-ss armoured divisions, Second SS Panzer was formed in the autumn of 1939, originally as the Ss-verfügungstruppe. Renamed Reich in 1941 and Das Reich the next year, the division participated in the invasion of France and the Low Countries in 1940, the Balkan invasion of 1941, Operation Barbarossa and major battles on the Eastern Front, including Kharkov and Kursk, extensive combat in Normandy and during the Ardennes Offensive in late 1944, finally surrendering to US forces in Czechoslovakia in 1945.

ninth SS Panzer Division hohenstaufen 18,000 troops; 154 tanks and self-propelled assault guns

In February 1943 the SS Division Hohenstaufen was raised primarily from conscripts of the Reich Labour Service. In October it became a panzer division, and it was activated in December. Its first action occurred at Tarnopol on the Eastern Front in March 1944, and it was transferred to Normandy within days of the Allied landings. The Ninth was instrumental in defeating British airborne troops at Arnhem, Holland, during Operation Market Garden. It later fought in the Ardennes Offensive and surrendered in Austria.

Tenth SS Panzer Division Frundsberg 13,552 troops; 142 tanks and other armoured vehicles

Comprised mainly of conscripts, the Tenth SS Panzer Division Frundsberg was raised in January 1943 and became operational 13 months later, seeing its first combat in Ukraine in the spring of 1944 alongside the Ninth SS Panzer Division. After retreating from Normandy into Belgium, Tenth SS Panzer was ordered to refit near Arnhem, Holland, and participated in the repulse of British airborne forces during Operation Market Garden. After fighting in Alsace in early 1945, the division returned to the Eastern Front and surrendered in Czechoslovakia.

“FORMED IN THE 1920S AS HITLER’S PERSONAL BODYGUARD, THE LEIBSTANDARTE GREW TO REGIMENTAL AND DIVISIONAL STRENGTH”