Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler
The Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler was Adolf Hitler’s personal Bodyguard SS Regiment. In 1939 the Leibstandarte SS became a separate unit of the Waffen-SS aside the SS-VT and participated in combat during the Invasion of Poland (1939) as an independent unit. In September 1941, after Operation Barbarossa had been launched, the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler was increased in size from a Regiment to a Panzer Division.
In March 1933, Josef "Sepp" Dietrich organized the Sonderkommando Berlin, a 120-men unit, which consisted of the most faithful and fittest SS men. In November 1933, the Leibstandarte was an 800-men strong regiment which swore allegiance to Hitler at a remembrance ceremony in Munich for the tenth anniversary of the Munich Putsch. In January, 1934, the SS commander in chief, Heinrich Himmler, renamed it Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler.
As the SS began to swell with new recruits, the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler was the pinnacle of Hitler’s Aryan ideal. Strict recruitment regulations meant that only those deemed sufficiently Aryan, as well as being physically fit and National Socialists, would be admitted. The Leibstandarte was the honor guard at many of the Nuremberg Rallies and in 1935 took part in the reoccupation of the Saarland.
During the Invasion of Poland, the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler was attached to the 17th Infantry Division and assigned the task of providing flank protection for the southern pincer. As the Polish campaign wore on, this SS regiment got involved in several fierce battles against Polish cavalry brigades that attempted to penetrate the flanks of the German advance.
During the invasion of France, in May 1940, the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler crossed the Dutch border and secured a crossing over the IJssel River near Zutphen after the bridge had been destroyed. Over the next four days’ fighting, the Leibstandarte SS covered over 180 miles. When they got to Rotterdam, an SS man accidentally shot and wounded Generaloberst Student. After the Netherlands surrendered on May 14, 1940, the regiment became part of Army Group B reserve. After the counterattack carried out by the British at Arras, the Leibstandarte SS, along with the SS-Verfügungs-Division was moved to the front lines to hold the perimeter around Dunkirk and reduce the size of the pocket containing the encircled British Expeditionary Force and French forces.
After the Battle of France, the Leibstandarte SS was expanded to brigade size. In April, 1941, it took part in Operation Marita, the invasion of Greece, attached to the German Army 9th Panzer Division. Due to its outstanding performance during Operation Marita, Heinrich Himmler ordered that it should be upgraded to divisional status. As such, the Regiment, already the size of a reinforced brigade, was redesignated SS-Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler. But there was no time to refit the division to full divisional status before the launch of Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union, and so the new ‘Division’ was attached to the LIV Army Corps. In August, it was transferred to Ewald von Kleist‘s 1rst Panzer Group. The Leibstandarte SS was involved in the Battle of Uman and the subsequent capture of Kiev, fiercely fighting against the Soviet forces.
In 1942, the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler was refitted as a panzergranadier division and was attached to the Waffen-SS Panzer Corps, under the command of Paul Hausser. Between February 8 and February 9, 1943, the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler 1rst SS Panzer Grenadier Division, under the command of SS-Sturmbannführer Fritz Witt, fought a bitter delaying action near the town of Merefa and halted a major Soviet attack. Under the command of Sepp Dietrich, the division fought in many desperate defensive battles over the next few weeks as they were gradually being pushed back into the city of Kharkov itself.
On February 15, Hausser ignored Hitler’s orders to hold the city at all costs and ordered the SS-Panzer-Korps to abandon the city and withdraw towards Krasnograd. Over the next week, the SS-Panzer-Korps destroyed the Mobile Group Popov. The Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler participated in a series of hard fought battles, destroying several Soviet divisions and inflicting heavy losses in the process. Along with Das Reich and Totenkopf formed the spearhead of an attack to capture Kharkov. It was launched on March 2. The Leibstandarte took part in the ferocious battles to take the city. Kampfgruppe Meyer, under Panzermeyer‘s command, penetrated to Red Square before being cut off.
In July 1943, the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler fought tenaciously at the Battle of Kursk. In January 1944, one of the Leibstandarte’s 101 SS Heavy Panzer Battalion Tiger commanders, Michael Wittmann, was decorated with the Oakleaves to the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross for his actions in halting the attack of two Soviet armored brigades.
In May, 1944, the Leibstandarte was transferred to the Western Front, attached to the 1rst SS Panzer Corps. It was deployed north of the River Seine to counter any possible landing in the Pas de Calais, but they saw action during the defence of Carpiquet village and aerodrome in what was known to the Allies as Operation Windsor. On 12 July the Leibstandarte was in charge of the Caen south sector from Maltot in the west to the Caen – Falaise road in the east.
From July 18 to July 20, 1944, the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler fought fiercely against three British armored divisions during Operation GoodWood in which the British sustained heavy losses. Attached to the I SS Panzer Corps, the 1rst SS Division Leibstandarte participated in the Ardennes counteroffensive, fighting against American units. On January 30, 1945, the Leibstandarte was transferred to Hungary along the I SS Panzer Korps to bolster the crumbling situation there.
After participating in Operation Spring Awakening (Frühlingserwachen), the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler moved to Zossen, near Berlin, and from there, to the area of Mürwik, in northern Germany, near Denmark, where they surrendered to the advancing British forces in May 1945.
[...] ← Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler [...]
[...] Waffen-SS officer (SS-Brigadeführer) who fought during World War II, serving with the 1rst SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler and was the last commander of the 12.SS-Panzer-Division [...]
[...] was numbered with the "Germanic" divisions of the Waffen-SS. These included also the SS-Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, SS-Panzer Division Das Reich, and SS-Panzer Division [...]