23 May 2019

Motor Units of LSSAH at Amsterdam (1940)


Image size: 1600 x 1081 pixel. 546 KB
Date: Thursday, 16 May 1940
Place: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Photographer: Unknown

On 16 May 1940, German troops marched into Amsterdam, including a Zündapp type KS 600 belong to motor units of Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (motorisiert). In early 1940 the LSSAH was expanded into a full independent motorized infantry regiment and later a Sturmgeschütz (Assault Gun) battery was added to their establishment. The regiment was shifted to the Dutch border for the launch of Fall Gelb. It was to form the vanguard of the ground advance into the Netherlands, tasked with capturing a vital bridge over the IJssel, attacking the main line of defense at the Grebbeberg (the Grebbeline), and linking up with the Fallschirmjäger of Generaloberst Kurt Student's airborne forces, the 7.Flieger-Division and the 22.Luftlande-Infanterie-Division. Fall Gelb—the invasion of France and the Low Countries—was launched on 10 May 1940. On that day, the LSSAH crossed the Dutch border, covered over 75 kilometres (47 mi), and secured a crossing over the IJssel near Zutphen after discovering that their target bridge had been destroyed. Over the next four days, the LSSAH covered over 215 kilometres (134 mi), and upon entering Rotterdam, several of its soldiers accidentally shot at and seriously wounded General Student. After the surrender of Rotterdam, the LSSAH left for the Hague, which they reached on 15 May, after capturing 3,500 Dutch soldiers as prisoners of war. After the surrender of the Netherlands on 15 May, the regiment was then moved south to France through Amsterdam.


Source :
"May 1940: The Battle for the Netherlands" by Herman Amersfoort and Piet Kamphuis

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