Waffen-SS: Rebuilding the Panzer Divisions, 1944

Background

From the hedgerows of Normandy to the icy valleys of the Ardennes, the Waffen-SS panzer divisions proved to be the toughest opponents the Western Allies faced during the final year of the war. By 1944 the premier Waffen-SS divisions were among the strongest and best-led formations in the German order of battle, and proved to be tenacious foes.

New Waffen-SS panzer divisions

Buoyed by the success of the Waffen-SS at Kharkov in 1943, Hitler wanted more Waffen-SS panzer divisions. Hausser's corps headquarters, now dubbed II SS Panzer Corps, was itself pulled out of Russia after the failed Kursk offensive and moved to France to begin raising another two Waffen-SS divisions, the Hohenstaufen and Frundsberg. In the autumn of 1943 a new designation system was introduced, with the panzergrenadier divisions officially being renamed panzer divisions. For example, the premier Waffen-SS unit became the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte-SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH).

Although it was not affiliated to the two Waffen-SS panzer corps, the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division Götz von Berlichingen was also formed at this point, and it would later go on to play a prominent part in the battles on the Western Front during the following year.

The new Waffen-SS panzer units were initially slow to take shape, with new recruits and equipment arriving in dribs and drabs. As winter approached, and it became clear that the British and Americans would soon launch their invasion of France, the pace of training and equipping increased. Soon new tanks, armoured halftracks and other weapons were flowing to the Waffen-SS in France.

The Hitlerjugend Division

The Hitlerjugend Division received the highest priority for men and equipment. Its cadre of Leibstandarte instructors was soon whipping the young 17- and 18-year-olds of the division into shape. Lack of time meant the division concentrated on battlefield skills, not parade drills. Tactical exercises with live ammunition were the norm. Panzer crews were sent to tank factories in Germany to help build the vehicles they would soon drive into battle.

The Hitlerjugend Division was soon conducting complicated battalion, then regimental, and finally divisional, exercises. By the spring of 1944, the division boasted nearly 20,000 soldiers and an almost complete inventory of vehicles and equipment, as well as a high standard of training.

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