LSSAH
Infantry and a Tiger I of the SS Panzer Divisions
The German SS Panzers divisions interested me for a while now and of late my favourite is the LSSAH which stands for Leibstandarte Schutzstaffel Adolf Hitler translated its Lifeguard protection squad Adolf Hitler. When it was formed it was an infantry unit and saw action in Poland, just before the invasion of France it as expanded to a motorized Infantry Regiment and received a battery of assault guns. From the end of the invasion of France to 1942 and the conquest of Russia the unit was reshaped and reformed no less than three times into a panzer grenadier division and received their first tigers. The LSSAH fought various battles across Russia including Kursk one of the largest tank battles ever. In 1944 they were rushed to the western front and attached to the 12thSS Panzer Division to form the 1st SS panzer Corps. Finally in 2 May 1945 most of the unit surrendered to the British in the north of German near Denmark.
The SS Panzer Divisions were fame for fighting to the end and being one of the toughest opponents of the war, this could be due to the fact that, like the Heman Goring Pioneer Divisions, their political ties could get them some of the best equipment available, although they were always short on vehicles. Also it was a voluntary unit but it did receive a small supply of drafted men. SS Divisions organization was different to its Heer (army) counterparts as most of it infantry was motorized and the unit had a greater number of equipment thus making the unit far superior to the standard Heer divisions.
By Andrew
The SS Panzer Divisions were fame for fighting to the end and being one of the toughest opponents of the war, this could be due to the fact that, like the Heman Goring Pioneer Divisions, their political ties could get them some of the best equipment available, although they were always short on vehicles. Also it was a voluntary unit but it did receive a small supply of drafted men. SS Divisions organization was different to its Heer (army) counterparts as most of it infantry was motorized and the unit had a greater number of equipment thus making the unit far superior to the standard Heer divisions.
By Andrew