The 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend ("Hitler Youth") was a German Waffen SS armoured division of World War II. It was one of only two German divisions to carry Hitler's name and was formed as an extension of 1st SS Panzer Division "Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler".
The 12th SS was remarkable because the motorized infantry of its two Panzergrenadier regiments were drawn entirely from members of the Hitler Youth born in 1926.
Formation and Training
Hitler decided to create a Hitlerjugend division in 1943. It was initially created as a Panzergrenadier (mechanized infantry) division, but was upgraded to a Panzer division almost as soon as its formation was complete. 8,000 HJ recruits entered basic training on May 1st 1943. The Division's officers, NCOs and specialists were taken from the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, a highly experienced formation with a good record on the Eastern Front.
Advanced training took place at Beverloo in Belgium. Instructors, most of whom were LSSAH veterans, adopted an unusual training regime. Drill was almost totally replaced by realistic combat exercises, and physical training took the form of games and sport. This, combined with the HJ's fanatical commitment to the Nazi cause, meant the Division had exceptionally high morale.
Normandy Campaign
At the start of June 1944, the Division was declared ready for combat operations. SS-Brigadeführer Fritz Witt , an LSSAH veteran, was the Commanding officer. The Division's tank strength at complement was 81 Panther ausf A / G and 104 Panzer IV ausf H / J tanks. The Division was also equipped with Jagdpanzer IVL70 tank destroyers, 3 prototype Wirbelwind flak vehicles, along with a number of 20mm, 37mm and 88mm flak guns, Hummel, Wespe and sIG 33 SP guns and regular tube artillery.
However, its tank destroyer unit, SS-Panzerjägerabteilung 12, was not ready for action and was understrength in Jagdpanzer IV.
The 12th's Panzer Regiment was one of the first Panzer units into action, attacking British and Canadian units landed at Gold, Juno and Sword beaches shortly after D-day.
On 14 June, Witt was killed by a British naval bombardment, and command of the division passed to SS-Standartenführer Kurt Meyer, a veteran of LSSAH and the youngest divisional commander of the war.
Meyer led the division in its defense of the Carpiquet Aerodrome and the villages of Authie and Buron . After a month's fighting, he withdrew the remnants of the division behind the Orne river, abandoning Caen. During the month of fighting north of Caen, the HJ had suffered horrific casualties, being reduced from 22,000 down to just over 5,000 men. The division's armour was virtually wiped out.
Despite a further stand against the Poles and Canadians advancing on Falaise, the HJ was cut off and trapped in the Falaise pocket. Meyer led the pitiful remnants of the division out of the pocket.
The division then joined in the retreat from the Seine and reformed in Belgium - Meyer being captured by Belgian partisans in the process.
Battle of the Bulge
The Hitlerjugend Division was part of the 1st SS Panzer Corps, the lead German formation in the Battle of the Bulge.
The 1945 Lake Balaton Offensive
The Hitlerjugend Division took part in the spring 1945 offensive along Lake Balaton in Hungary, Operation Frühlingserwachen.
See also
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