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The Bitter Struggle: 1939-45

After war had been declared in September 1939, the Leibstandarte was ready - and willing - to be thrown headlong into the heat of battle. The unit played a significant role during the invasion of Poland, and as a reward for its success was expanded further during the latter part of 1939 and the first half of 1940. Prior to the invasion of France and the low countries in the late spring of 1940, the Leibstandarte had been upgraded to a fully-fledged motorised infantry regiment, and was equipped with the latest Pz. Kpfw. IV tanks.

In spite of their reputation as a show force (a thought more than likely motivated by jealousy on the part of their counterparts in the regular SS-VT) the Leibstandarte were quick to jump into the breech, and it was indeed a member of the unit's 3rd battalion, SS-Obersturmbannführer Hugo Kraas, who was awarded the first Iron Cross of the Netherlands campaign following his swift advance and subsequent capture of a significant number of enemy prisoners.

The picture was not all one of guts and glory, however. During their first forays in Poland, men of the Leibstandarte had found themselves embroiled in an incident concerning the massacre of fifty Jews in a synagogue, and the following year the 7th Company of the 2nd Battalion were responsible for the shooting of a number of British prisoners near the northern French town of Wormhoudt. As quickly as the unit picked up its reputation for ferociousness on the field of battle, it was also to become notorious for its zealous fanaticism. In addition, the unit had suffered a high casualty rate, no doubt due to overenthusiasm in the field. Harsh lessons were to be learned, and the Leibstandarte was no different in this respect.

The battlefield perfomance of the LSSAH had been closely followed by the man whose name it honoured, and by August Hitler had authorised its expansion to brigade strength. By the time of the invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, the (now) SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler had an overall strength of just under eleven thousand men, and a leadership steeled by tough combat both in the West and in the Balkans and Greece - where one of the unit's legendary leaders, SS-Sturmbannführer Kurt "Panzer" Meyer, had displayed exemplary bravery in overcoming a seemingly impossible situation. In what was to become something of a legendary story, Meyer single-handedly motivated his men to take the dangerous Klissura Pass and in the process overrun a stout Greek defence, an action for which he was awarded the coveted Ritterkreuz, or Knight's Cross.

Left: A later photograph of Leibstandarte divisional commander Sepp Dietrich, here wearing the uniform of an SS-Obergruppenführer. The second pattern collar patches can clearly be seen, as well as the finely-woven shoulder bars. At his throat Dietrich wears the coveted Knight's Cross with Oakleaves and Swords. Right: A Leibstandarte motorcycle unit in Russia during the early part of the Eastern campaign. Note the divisional "key" insignia, adopted as a play on the name of the divisional commander.

From 1941 through to the early part of 1944, the Leibstandarte was to witness a dramatic change in fortunes. The initial enthusiasm of the Russian campaign had long since waned, and the unit found themselves involved in the most fierce battles, and a vicious and equally fanatical enemy. In spite of the worsening if the situation (or perhaps because of it) the Leibstandarte - and the Waffen-SS as a whole - remained steadfast and resolute. During this period the unit had expanded further still, and was reclassfied along with a number of other Waffen-SS (formerly SS-VT) formations - first as the SS Panzergrenadier Division LSSAH in late 1942 and then as a full Panzer division, the 1st SS Panzer Division LSSAH, the following year. It now had a strength of over twenty thousand men. As before, the Leibstandarte continued to be equipped with the highest standard of arms and armour, including the powerful Tiger I tank, a fearsome machine in which Michael Wittmann was to make his reputation.

The war in the East was relentless, bitter and brutal: massacres were committed as a matter of course, and everyone played their part. The men of the Leibstandarte were to experience some of the most significant battles of the entire war, including the battles of Khar'kov and Kursk, the latter being the biggest tank battle in history.

In the spring of 1944 the Leibstandarte was finally moved westwards, and while the bitter fighting in Russia had taken its toll on its numbers, the steely ardour remained. All that had changed were the uniforms of the enemy and temperatures a few degrees more comfortable. By the time of the campaign in Normandy during the late spring and summer of 1944, the existing Leibstandarte and the 12th SS Panzergredanier division "Hitlerjugend" (the only other formation to bear Hitler's name) were merged into what was to become the I. SS Panzer Corps, Leibstandarte. The 12th, popularly known as the "baby" division on account of the average age of its men, had a close relationship with the LSSAH, in that many of its senior commanders had blooded themselves in the ranks of the LSSAH. These men included its commander Fritz Witt and aforementioned Kurt Meyer and Hugo Kraas.

The veteran army Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt stands with senior Waffen-SS commanders. From left to right: von Rundstedt, Kurt "Panzer" Meyer, Fritz Witt, Sepp Dietrich. By this time Dietrich had been assigned the leadership of the I. SS Panzer Corps, Leibstandarte, while both Meyer and Witt had been transferred to the command of the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend. Meyer, soon to become the youngest general in the German armed forces, was to take command of the division after Witt had been killed during an aerial attack in June 1944.

The campaign in Normandy was to see the men of the newly-formed I. SS Panzer Corps continue as they had done before, at times stretching the boundaries of the impossible in their quest to stem the tide of the Allied advance. The most notable example was, of course, the spectacular single-handed action taken by the subject of this site, Michael Wittmann, at Villers-Bocage on 13 June. By August however Wittmann had been killed in action, and the men of the Leibstandarte were to find themselves shunted around to the different areas in the rapidly decreasing Nazi empire.

In December 1944, the LSSAH found itself in the wintry Ardennes, poised to spearhead what was seen by many as Hitler's last gamble in the West. Along with a number of re-jigged Waffen-SS formations, the LSSAH had by now been reformed into smaller, fast-moving Kampfgruppen or "battle groups", another innovative move that proved the leadership of the Waffen-SS to be way ahead of its peers in terms of military strategy and innovation. After a brief initial success, the German counterattack was slowed down by both a redoubtable enemy and a change in weather conditions, but not before the Kampfgruppe under the legendary SS-Obersturmbannführer Joachim "Jochen" Peiper had succeeded in making rapid progress. Again, this success was counterbalanced by controvery, for at the Baugnez Crossroads, in the vicinity of the town of Malmédy, a number of American prisoners had been summarily shot by members of Peiper's battle group. Although Peiper himself had not been present, it was his head that was called for during the postwar trials. (An initial death sentence was later commuted after his serving five years in prison, largely due to statements from adversaries).

The failure in the West was not to be the last action of the LSSAH in spite of the heavy losses it has sustained; during the closing weeks of the war in early 1945 Hitler was to dispatch his most reliable men to Hungary, sending many of his best men in what was to be a last hurrah against their fiercest enemy. Even after the battering the unit had taken in Belgium and the constant whittling away of manpower, armour and the loss of their most experienced commanders such as Theodor "Teddi" Wisch and Fritz Witt, the men of the Leibstandarte continued to display an incredible fighting spirit; far from being typical "greens", new recruits to the unit were to prove to be just as able as the men they had replaced.

That such a spirit remained remained right until the very end cannot be measured in terms of fanaticism alone; the men were Sepp Dietrich's "boys", and the unit had over the years acquired a hierarchy closer to that of a family rather than a purely military formation. Here, the "Band of Brothers" also included the Colonels and Generals, often distant figures in both the Wehrmacht and the Allied armies. There was a mutual respect between officers and men, and the idea that officers sat back at the rear while the rank and file did all the fighting was virtually unheard of. It was this mode of thinking that created officers who led from the front, men who would rather go down fighting than stick pins in maps on walls. It was however this mentality that was to lead to Michael Wittmann jumping back into his Tiger and his eventual death, when taking the desk job that had been offered to him might well have guaranteed his survival. But then such shirking did not play a part in the warrior code that drove the men of the Leibstandarte, or the Waffen-SS as a whole for that matter.

Left: Theodor "Teddi" Wisch, here wearing the uniform of an SS-Brigadeführer and the Knight's Cross with Oakleaves (he was later awarded the swords). One of the first Leibstandarte volunteers, Wisch rose to head the LSSAH before being injured late in 1944 and being rendered unfit for duty. Right: Another highly decorated Leibstandarte stalwart, Joachim "Jochen" Peiper, here wearing the uniform of an SS-Obersturmbannführer. A brilliant leader and tactician, Peiper was later accused of war crimes by the Allies, the most significant being the shooting of a number of American prisoners near the Belgian town of Malmédy.

In a dramatic period early in the spring of 1945, the reformed I. SS Panzer Corps succeeded in driving the Soviets back, destroying seven full infantry divisions in the process. But as before, the sheer number of enemy troops was to overwhelm Dietrich's forces, until there was little left of the once-proud division. In a desperate measure to save his remaining loyal men and with the Soviets poised to advance on Vienna, Dietrich took what was the only the logical step and decided to retreat.

With his unit on its last legs having been pushed back into Austria by the rapidly advancing Red Army, Sepp Dietrich was to face what was a humiliating rebuff from his leader. By now paranoid and probably convinced that the Leibstandarte was ready to strike at Moscow, Hitler condemned his once loyal friend as a traitor, and with it condemned the division that had sacrificed everything in defending his name. In what could only be termed as a final insult, those who remained were ordered to remove their decorations, among them the once coveted "Adolf Hitler" cuffband.

In its short and turbulent life, the Leibstandarte had suffered terrible losses, and the division had been almost completely destroyed a staggering half-dozen times. But even then the story was not over, with many more becoming part of the faceless mass that populated the Soviet Gulags until well into the 1950s. Of those who did manage to return home, many ended up being treated as social pariahs, while others who had milked the system for all it was worth - including many in the German upper classes who had been so quick to adopt senior positions in the Allgemeine SS when the going was good - were able to get back to their lives as if little or nothing had happened.

Nothing simple can be said in conclusion: for all their matchless bravery, the connection between the men of the Leibstandarte and the man whose name they proudly bore on their uniforms creates something of a moral stain that is difficult to remove. It is one of the many legacies that the Leibstandarte leaves behind, complementing the stirring tales of military élan and fearlessness under fire. Like the tale of many a warrior band, it was and is a tragic end to a tragic tale.

"Their Honour was Loyalty"

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