'The Waffen SS in Normandy 1944'

This week's excerpt describes how Hitler had to switch his most loyal forces between East and West

Soldiers of the 9th SS-Panzer-Division Hohenstaufen hitching a lift on board a StuG.Ill while operating on the Eastern Front. The division had taken part in the relief operation of German forces trapped in the Kamenets- Podolsky Pocket in March 1944. Three months later its units found themselves being withdrawn from Russia and ordered back to the West on trains in June for operations in Normandy.

The Waffen SS in Normandy 1944 - Rare photographs from the Wartime Archives is part of the popular Images of War series. Combining a wide selection of contemporary images with knowledgeable text and captions, this series provides the background and context to different aspects of the war. This volume adopts a factual approach and does not fail to address the various atrocities that the SS were responsible for in France in the summer of 1944.

This excerpt focuses on the situation for the Waffen SS as D-Day approached:

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SS-Hauptsturmführer Michael Wittmann can be seen here standing in the turret of his Tiger tank belonging to Schwere SS-Panzerabteilung 101 as it negotiates a narrow road en route to Morgny. This battalion was assigned to I SS Panzer Corps and was never permanently attached to any division or regiment. Wittmann was appointed commander of the battalion's second company.

Prior to the Allied Normandy invasion in June 1944, the military situation for the German war machine had deteriorated. The first six months of the year for the German soldier were very gloomy. On the Eastern Front they had fought desperately to maintain cohesion and hold their meagre positions that often saw thousands perish.

As Waffen-SS and Wehrmacht forces established defensive lines in the face of the advancing enemy, commanders looked to the aggressive and loyal striking force of the SS to be counted on to snatch victory from defeat, but even the elite divisions of the Waffen-SS were severely worn down by constant fighting. Most of these premier Waffen-SS divisions would soon find themselves shifted from the Eastern to the Western Front.

The redesignated 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler had been ordered back to Russia in November 1943 where the division saw heavy fighting in the Zhitomir area. Its units were assigned to XLVIII Panzer Corps, a part of 4th Panzer Army, which had lost considerable numbers of men and armour around Zhitomir. By the end of January 1944, the division was pulled out of the line and shifted to the Cherkasy region, where it was assigned to the III Panzer Corps, part of the 1st Army. As part of the Corps, the division became heavily embroiled in fighting to help in the relief attempt of German forces of Army Group South encircled in what was known as the Korsun Pocket. Losses were high, and in order to recuperate the bulk of the division, the majority of its units were pulled out of the battlefront and withdrawn to Belgium for rest and refit, leaving behind a Kampfgruppe to fight on.

On 25 March, the 1st Panzer Army became encircled in the Kamenets-Podolsky Pocket. The battlegroup then took part in fighting to escape the encirclement, forming part of the spearhead that linked up wit

SS-Oberstgruppenführer und Generaloberst der Waffen-SS Sepp Dietrich. Dietrich had been the commander of the Leibstandarte throughout the campaigns in both Greece and Yugoslavia before being promoted to command of the 1st SS Panzer Corps on the Eastern Front. He later scored sizable successes in Normandy with the Corps where it was assigned the Leibstandarte, Hitlerjugend, Panzer-Lehr and Götz von Berlichingen divisions.

In the West, the Leibstandarte Division was quickly re-formed in Belgium and was at full strength by 25 April 1944. However, with growing reports of a possible Allied landing in the Pas-de-Calais area the division was not sent back to Russia. Instead it was transferred again as part of I SS Panzer Corps, which at this time consisted of the 101 SS Heavy Panzer Battalion, SS Division Hitlerjugend, known as the 'Baby Division', SS Division Gotz von Berlichingen and the Panzer Lehr Division. It shifted its men and heavy armour north of the River Seine to counter any possible attack in and around Calais.

Another Waffen-SS premier division that would see action on the Western Front in the summer of 1944 was the newly redesignated Das Reich Division. As with the Leibstandarte, Das Reich saw extensive fighting on the Eastern Front. In January 1944 its units were rushed to the Korsun Pocket, where more than 35,000 Wehrmacht troops had become encircled and were consequently trapped. The SS were determined to wrench open the pocket and allow as many troops as possible to break free. As a result of this sacrifice Das Reich suffered heavy casualties, but enabled some 33,000 troops to escape with their lives.

Following the break-out in the Korsun Pocket, Das Reich Division, now totally depleted with most of its armour lost in battle, was withdrawn from the front and sent to France for rest and refitting. A Kampfgruppe from the Das Reich Division under the command of SS-Oberfuhrer Heinz Lammerding remained in southern Russia to continue German attempts to try to hold back the Red Army.

In April 1944, a battered and badly depleted Das Reich was withdrawn from the front and sent to the West for a rest and refit. Of the 2,500 soldiers ofthe Das Reich Kampfgruppe, only around 800 soldiers reached Toulouse in the south-west of France to rejoin the rest of their division.

While Das Reich recuperated in the warm climate ofthe south of France, other SS divisions were also pulled out of the front and sent to the West. The 9th SS Panzer Division Hohenstaufen that had taken part in the relief operation of German forces trapped in the Kamenets-Podolsky Pocket in March 1944 was ordered back to the West on trains in June. The division had formed into II SS Panzer Corps and saw heavy action near the town of Tarnopol. The division’s actions helped prevent the encirclement of the 1st Panzer Army, but it came at a heavy price and during these battles Hohenstaufen suffered 1,011 casualties. The division would not see its transfer order to the West until after the Allied invasion when both surviving elements ofthe division and the powerful II SS Panzer Corps were transported to the Caen area.

The Hohenstaufen's sister formation, the 10th SS Division Frundsberg, also saw heavy fighting in the Ukraine. Its first action was at Tarnopol in April 1944 and, like the Hohenstaufen Division, it later took part in the relief of German troops cut off in the Kamenets-Podolsky Pocket. Two months later, before the division was completely destroyed, Frundsberg was pulled out of line west of the River Bug and ordered to the West in June.

Two Hitlerjugend soldiers converse. For months prior to the invasion of Normandy, the Allies had ridiculed the Hitlerjugend as the 'baby division', but to the soldiers that fought against the 12th SS, this was far from a division of badly-trained teenagers. It was an elite division that inspired fear and, at the same time, fought a battle that inspired even its enemies. In front of Caen soldiers of the Hitlerjugend took up positions, stalking the enemy tanks with their deadly Panzerfaust and destroying several of them. Many of the Allied soldiers were shocked at seeing teenagers in SS uniforms. It was their first encounter with the Hitlerjugend generation.

Another Waffen-SS division to be sent to the West was none other than the newly-created 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend. The majority of its junior enlisted men had been drawn from the Hitler Youth, while the senior NCOs and officers were from other Waffen-SS divisions. The division had more than 16,000 recruits on its roster and was fresh and eager to fight. They had been undergoing fierce intensive training at Beverloo Camp in Leopoldsburg, Belgium. By March 1944 the 12th SS was attached to I SS Panzer Corps and weeks later ordered to Caen in Normandy. At the beginning of June, the division had more than 150 tanks.

The last division to see action in the West was the 17th SS.Panzergrenadier-Division Gotz von Berlichingen. The division was raised near Poitiers in France as the Panzer- Grenadier-Division Gotz von Berlichingen in October 1943. It was initially formed from a cadre of replacement units and conscripts, many of whom were Romanian Germans and French volunteers. In January 1944 Gotz von Berlichingen was placed under LXXX Army Corps, a part of Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt's Army Group D.

By early 1944 the division was retitled the 17th SS-Panzer-Grenadier-Division Gotz von Berlichingen. In February 1944 the division still lacked vehicles and began rounding up French vehicles in an attempt to complete its mobilization. By March most of the major combat formations were fully motorized, although two of the six infantry battalions were still on bicycles. By 1 June, Gotz von Berlichingen was moved to Thouars in France. Although it had no Panzers, there were armoured units fully equipped with the forty-two Sturmgeschutz IV assault guns.

In a defensive position here is an MG 42 heavy machine gun on the sustained fire mount. This lethal weapon was, in 1944, regarded as more than enough to keep open the flanks for attacking infantry. Many successful engagements were made by the SS using both the MG 34 and MG 42 machine guns.

© Ian Baxter 2022, 'The Waffen SS in Normandy 1944 - Rare photographs from the Wartime Archives'. Reproduced courtesy of Pen & Swords Publishers Ltd

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