Max Wünsche and 12th SS Soldiers at Rots Normandy

 

Image size: 1186 x 1600 pixel. 484 KB
Date: Friday, 9 June 1944
Place: Rots, Calvados, Normandy, northwestern France
Photographer: SS-Kriegsberichter Siegfried Woscidlo

One of a famous set of photographs taken of the soldiers of 12. SS-Panzer-Division "Hitlerjugend" in Rots just after their disastrous assault on Canadian-held Norrey-en-Bessin on June 9th 1944. The photo shows SS-Obersturmbannführer Max Wünsche (with his head bandaged), speaking to SS-Hauptscharführer Wilhelm Boigk and members of III.Zug / 15.(Aufklärungs-) Kompanie / III.Bataillon / SS-Panzergrenadier Regiment 25. From left to right: SS-Unterscharführer Peter Koslowski (Adjutant III.Zug), unknown, SS-Obersturmbannführer Max Wünsche (Kommandeur SS-Panzer-Regiment 12 "Hitlerjugend"), SS-Oberschütze Klaus  Schuh (soldat in 3.Gruppe / III.Zug), SS-Sturmmann Otto Funk (in the background, soldat in 3.Gruppe / III.Zug), SS-Hauptscharführer Wilhelm Boigk (Zugführer III.Zug), and SS-Hauptsturmführer Rudolf von Ribbentrop (Chef 3.Kompanie / I.Abteilung / SS-Panzer-Regiment 12 "Hitlerjugend"). The attack was undertaken by 12 Panthers of the 3.Kompanie / SS-Panzer-Regiment 12 with the 15th company of SS Panzergrenadier Regiment 25 in support. "After leaving Rots on the southern road, the 3rd kompanie tanks passed beneath the rail embankment via an underpass and turned right facing west towards Norrey. They planned to use the embankment on their right as cover northwards as they moved towards their objective. Speed had been stressed by Wünsche as the highest priority. The Panthers quickly left most of the infantry behind in the dust. As they passed a linesman's cottage and crested the hill, they began to take accurate 6 pounder fire from the Canadian positions in Norrey. They had planned for this, angling their tanks appropriately and keeping up their speed. What they hadn't counted on was a squadron of Sherman's including Fireflies which had, by chance, taken a detour on their way to their defensive position, placing them a few hundred metres north of the panthers. Canadian fire from the 6 pounders and machine guns from Norrey was intense, but when the Shermans opened fire from their perfect ambush position, the 3rd Kompanie's Panthers began to brew up with horrific consequences. Burning crewmen hurling themselves out of their machines anyway they could. The Firefly commanded by Lt. G. K. Henry of the 1st Hussars accounted for 5 Panthers in that engagement. His gunner, Trooper Chapman, accomplished that feat with only 5 shots! Minutes later, the accompanying infantry of 15/25th arrived up behind the Panthers to support them. It became immediately apparent things had gone horribly wrong. To make things worse, as the attack began to stall, accurate naval artillery fire from Allied ships off-shore began to fall along the length of the rail embankment. A retreat was ordered and a few of the 12 original Panthers were able to fall back. The wounded crewmen and panzergrenadiers crawled back along the embankment towards the cover of the underpass and back up the road to Rots. The photos were taken as the exhausted men got back to the village.”


Source :
http://alifrafikkhan.blogspot.com/2011/10/foto-12-ss-panzer-division-hitlerjugend.html
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10158834881874890&set=gm.1114336335675141
http://www.historicalwarmilitariaforum.com/topic/11462-15-ss-panzer-grenadier-regiment-25/

A Young SS Hitlerjugend Soldier Captured by the Canadian at Normandy

Image size: 1600 x 1530 pixel. 464 KB
Date: Wednesday, 9 August 1944
Place: Caen, Basse-Normandie, France
Photographer: Unknown

A captured Panzergrenadier of the SS-Panzer-regiment 25 / 12.SS-Panzer-Division "Hitlerjugend" taken by a Canadian Intelligence Unit during the fighting for Caen. The official Public Archives of Canada caption for this photo taken a month after the activities in question, contains no information about the prisoner other than his division. Note: both allied soldiers are wearing the British P-1944 "Turtle" Mk III steel helmet, which was introduced shortly before D-Day. The Mk III helmet was much superior to the conventional "Brodie" helmet normally worn by British & Commonwealth soldiers. The soldier nearest the camera is holding a .303" Lee Enfield rifle in his right hand.. Canadians have mistreated prisoners because: In June 7th (one day after D-Day), the 25th Panzer-Grenadier Regiment under the command of SS-Standartenführer Kurt Meyer (Kurt Adolf Wilhelm Meyer, “Panzermeyer”) in conjunction with the 12th SS Panzer Regiment managed to repel the Canadians, and destroyed 28 tanks, and infantry regiment “Highlanders Nova Scotia “(born Nova Scotia Highlanders) suffered heavy losses. In this case, the loss of the German divisions were only six people! During the operation, the soldiers of 12. SS-Panzer-Division executed 20 Canadian prisoners of war in the Abbaye d’Ardenne. The "Hitler Youth" Division itself had the lowest percentage of prisoners. Of the original 21,300 men, in Gosostava 1945 it survived only 455 officers and men! The average age of the member of the Division was 17 – 18 years old!

Source:

Public Archives of Canada image

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:12SSHJPOW.jpg

http://albumwar2.com/captive-ss-man-and-canadian-soldiers/

Overturned 12. SS-Panzer-Division "Hitlerjugend" Panther Ausf A

Image size: 1600 x 978 pixel. 345 KB
Date: Saturday, 9 June 1945
Place: Norrey-en-Bessin, Normandy, France
Photographer: Unknown

A heavily damaged Panzerkampfwagen V Panther ausf A of the 3.Kompanie/1.Abteilung/SS-Panzer-Regiment 12/12.SS-Panzer-Division "Hitlerjugend" lies flipped over next to the road between Norrey-en-Bessin and Bretteville-l'Orgueilleuse. Note the sign attached that says "remove gearbox." After the failure of the 1st Abteilung's 1st and 4th Companies of the 12th SS Panzer Regiment to seize Bretteville-l'Orgueilleuse on the night of June 8-9, 1944, SS-Oberführer (later SS-Brigadeführer) Kurt "Panzer" Meyer ordered the recently arrived 3rd Company to attack Norrey in a daring daylight armored thrust. Again outpacing their infantry with orders to stop only to fire, the Panthers turned from the Caen-Bayeux Highway into the fields to attack the 1st Battalion, The Regina Rifle Regiment, 3rd Canadian Division. However, expecting the Canadians to open fire with their 6-pounder 57mm (2.24 inch) anti-tank guns and thus turning towards them to put their 80mm frontal armor to the Canadians, the Panthers under Hauptmann Luedemann exposed their side and rear flanks to fire from nine Canadian Shermans of C Squadron, 25th Armored Delivery "Elgin Regiment" who were bringing replacement tanks as reinforcements from Juno Beach. The Elgins' tanks included Sherman Fireflies armed with a 17-pounder 77mm (3 inch) anti-tank gun. Seven Panthers were destroyed; fifteen of thirty-five crewmen were killed; the rest were burned or wounded. As the Panthers withdrew, they were hit by artillery fire from the Canadians and Allied ships offshore. Later, this Panther was overturned by Allied Engineers to remove it from the road. It is often reported that this tank was hit by fighter-bombers; the damage to the hull bottom is the result of tests by the engineers to see what explosives could damage the tank. 

Source:

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii0141

12. SS-Panzer-Division "Hitlerjugend" Panther Ausf G

Image size: 1600 x 988 pixel. 737 KB
Date: Tuesday, 20 June 1944
Place: Bretteville-l'Orgueilleuse, Normandy, France
Photographer: Frank L. Dubervill

A Knocked out Panzerkampfwagen Panther ausf G, commanded by Untersturmfuhrer Paul Teichert (born 5 August 1924) from the 4.Kompanie/1.Abteilung/SS-Panzer-Regiment 12/12.SS-Panzer-Division "Hitlerjugend" outside 75 Rue de Bayeux in Bretteville-l'Orgueilleuse. The suspension has failed in the fire and the tank has settled to the ground. On the night of June 8-9, 1944, the 1st Abteilung and the 25th Panzergrenadier Regiment made an attack on the 1st Battalion, The Regina Rifle Regiment, 3rd Canadian Division, with twenty-two panthers under SS-Obersturmbannfuhrer Max Wünsche, two batteries of self-propelled artillery and a motorcycle company led by SS-Oberführer (later SS-Brigadefuhrer) Kurt "Panzer" Meyer. The Reginas had suffered heavy casualties in the landing on Juno Beach on June 6, but with reinforcements moved towards Caen and occupied Bretteville-l'Orgueilleuse, Norrey, and Cardonville; other Canadian units occupied other towns, including Putot. The 12th SS "Hitlerjugend" Division was made up of sixteen- and seventeen-year-old Hitler Youth and commanded by SS-Brigadefuhrer Fritz Witt. Witt received orders to drive the Canadians into the sea. Meyer expected the Canadians to falter under a concentrated armored attack, a successful tactic on the Eastern Front. At 1100 Hours the attack began. Lacking heavy anti-tank weapons, the Reginas had to stop the Panthers with 6-pounder 57mm (2.24 inch) guns and Projector, Infantry, Anti Tank (PIAT), a spigot mortar with a 12 pound (5 kilogram) high explosive anti-tank (HEAT) shaped charge; the 6-pounders and the PIATs could only penetrate the lesser rear armor of the Panthers. The Reginas also had a large quantity of small arms and aummunition. One PIAT team - Rifleman Joseph E. LaPointe, Rifleman Gill A. Carnie and Lance Corporal Clarence V. Hewitt - took up a position 15 yards (14 meters) from the Regina Rifles Headquarters near Bretteville-l'Orgueilleuse's Church. The flaw in Meyer's plan was that his units, having just arrived at the front, lacked coordination with other attacking Hitlerjugend elements; he also sent his Panthers without much infantry down the Rue de Bayeux, allowing the Reginas to deal with them one at a time. The Reginas claimed twelve Panthers were destroyed; Meyer would only later admit to six lost. The Panther in this photo closed to within 30 yards (27 meters) of the Regina's Headquarters at 0000 Hours; LaPointe, exposing himself to the tank's machine gun fire, struck the Panther with repeated PIAT hits. The Panther, attempting to escape, hit an improvised mine of 75 grenades. LaPointe received the Military Medal. A second Panther, seeing the first explode, fired wildly but only struck the first Panther, fracturing the rear of the turret. The crew of the stricken Panther bailed out and were shot down by the Canadians. Meyer was able to reclaim the nearby town of Putot from the Winnepeg Rifles, but the Reginas held Bretteville-l'Orgueilleuse throughout the campaign for Caen. Witt was killed on June 14 in a naval bombardment. 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend ceased to exist during the Normandy campaign; some 1,500 of their 21,500 officers and men were killed, wounded or captured by September 1! Kurt Meyer was captured on September 6, 1944 and after the war was tried for the war crime of killing thirty-seven Canadian prisoners at the Abbey Ardennes on June 7, the day before the battle for Bretteville-l'Orgueilleuse. Canadians were outraged that he was given only nine years in prison. Max Wünsche was captured on August 20 after driving a German vehicle through the liberated town of St. Lambert. This Panther was the first to be knocked out in ground combat in the Normandy campaign. 

Source:
National Archives of Canada, PA-130149 
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/UN/Canada/CA/Normandy/Normandy-2.html

Panzerkampfwagen IV Ausf H of 12. SS-Panzer-Division

Image size: 1600 x 927 pixel. 570 KB
Date: Wednesday, 7 June 1944
Place: Caen, Basse-Normandie, France
Photographer: Unknown

Panzerkampfwagen IV ausf H (turmnummer 626) of 6.Kompanie/SS-Panzer-Regiment 12/12.SS-Panzer-Division "Hitlerjugend" passes a garage on its way to the front at Caen. Note Schurzen (armored skirt) that protected the bogies and road wheels from light anti-tank rounds. One unit to field the Panzer IV H was the Hitlerjugend Division, with the formation’s combat debut occurring on 7 June 1944 as German forces began a ferocious defense of Caen in the Normandy area against Canadian and British units. It was one of the closest divisions to the landing beaches. The 12. SS-Panzer-Division "Hitlerjugend" was formed in April 1943 from sixteen- to eighteen-year-old Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth) volunteers and experienced SS veterans from the Eastern Front. By September 1943 16,000 Hitler Youth had completed a four-week crash training course that emphasized realistic live fire exercises and atypical interaction between the officers and enlisted men that resulted in very high morale. 12th SS was one of the Panzer Divisions held in reserve on June 6, 1944 for several hours by Hitler's Headquarters. When they finally reached Caen, they were pounded by Allied fighter-bombers. Their 34-year-old commander SS-Brigadeführer Fritz Witt was killed on June 14 by naval gunfire. Over the next four weeks, the division managed to halt all Allied attempts to take Caen, despite the Allies' superior numbers and overwhelming air supremacy. While they fought hard, 20 percent were killed and 40 percent were wounded or missing. Bitter reprisals led to war crimes on both sides. The remains of 12th SS Panzer escaped the Falaise Pocket in September 1944; only 600 survived. No tanks or supplies came with them. The Division was reformed with younger volunteers and draftees. It supported the Ardennes Offensive and fought in Hungary. On May 8, 1945, numbering just 455 soldiers and one tank! the 12. SS-Panzer-Division "Hitlerjugend" surrendered to the US 7th Army. 

Source:

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii132

Officers of Hitlerjugend Division Posing Together at Fritz Witt's Birthday Party

Image size: 1600 x 1038 pixel. 424 KB
Date: Saturday, 27 May 1944
Place: Tillierès-sur-Avre, Haute-Normandie, France
Photographer: Wilfried Woscidlo

Officers of 12. SS-Panzer-Division "Hitlerjugend" posing together for the camera after birthday ceremony (36th) of their beloved commander, SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS Fritz Witt (born in 27 May 1908), held in Tillierès-sur-Avre, France, 27 May 1944. First/front row, from left to right: unknown, unknown, SS-Sturmbannführer Horst Schürer (Ordonanz-Offizier), SS-Sturmbannführer Heinrich "Hein" Springer (Divisions-adjutant), SS-Standartenführer Kurt "Panzermeyer" Meyer (Kommandeur SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 25), SS-Brigadeführer Fritz Witt (Divisions-Kommandeur), SS-Obersturmbannführer Wilhelm Mohnke (Kommandeur SS-Panzergrenadier-regiment 26), SS-Obersturmbannführer Fritz Schroeder (Kommandeur SS-Panzer-Artillerie-Regiment 12), and SS-Hauptsturmführer Siegfried Rothemund (IIa Generalstabsoffizier). Second row: SS-Hauptsturmführer Gerd von Reitzenstein (Chef 5.Kompanie/SS-Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 12),  SS-Sturmbannführer Artur Manthey (Abteilung V Divisions-Ingenieur), SS-Sturmbannführer Erich Pandel (Kommandeur SS-Panzer-Nachrichten-Abteilung 12), SS-Obersturmbannführer Max Wünsche (Kommandeur SS-Panzer-Regiment 12), SS-Hauptsturmführer Hubert Meyer (Ia 1. Generalstabsoffizier einer höheren Dienststelle - Leiter der Führungsabteilung), SS-Sturmbannführer Fritz Buchsein (IIa Generalstabsoffizier), and SS-Hauptsturmführer Albert "Papa" Schuch (Kommandeur Stabquartier Adjudantur-Abteilung). Third row: SS-Sturmbannführer Hermann Weiser (Korps-Adjutant), SS-Sturmbannführer Bernhard Krause (Kommandeur I.Bataillon/ SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 26), SS-Sturmbannführer Gerhard "Gerd" Bremer (Kommandeur SS-Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 12), SS-Sturmbannführer Siegfried Müller (Kommandeur SS Panzer-Pionier-Bataillon 12), SS-Sturmbannführer Bernhard Siebken (Kommandeur II.Bataillon/SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 26), SS-Sturmbannführer Jakob Hanreich (Kommandeur SS Panzerjäger-Abteilung 12), and SS-Obersturmführer Heinz Ritzert (Chef 15.Kompanie/SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 25). Fourth row: SS-Hauptsturmführer Georg Urabl (Kommandeur SS Feldersatz-Bataillon 12), SS-Sturmbannführer Dr. Wilhelm Kos (IVa Divisions-Intendant), SS-Sturmbannführer Hans Waldmüller (Kommandeur I.Bataillon/ SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 25), and SS-Sturmbannführer Rolf Kolitz (Kommandeur SS-Panzer-Nachschubtruppen 12). This also become the last birthday for Witt, for he would then killed in action less than one month after it, in 14 June 1944!

 Source:

 http://alifrafikkhan.blogspot.com/2011/10/album-foto-12ss-panzer-division.html