Waffen SS Snipers

Four snipers of the Waffen SS taken prisoner in the suburbs of Arnhem; one is only seventeen years old. All of them are wearing the Waffen SS camouflage uniforms. 18 September 1944.

12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend

The 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend ("Hitler Youth") was a German Waffen SS armoured division which saw action on the Western front during World War II. Described as a "crack" division, the Hitlerjugend was unique because the majority of its junior enlisted men were drawn from members of the Hitler Youth born in 1926, while the senior NCOs and officers were generally veterans of the Eastern Front. The division was has been criticized for performing inadequately in the opening days of the Normandy campaign.

The division, with 20,540 personnel, first saw action on June 7, 1944 as part of the German defense of the Caen area during the Normandy campaign. Caen was a D-Day objective for the British Second Army. On the morning of 7 June the 12th SS Division attacked Allied troops.

The battle for Normandy took its toll on the division and they came out of the Falaise pocket with a divisional strength of 12,500 men. Following the invasion battles, the division was sent to Germany for refitting. On 16 December 1944, the division was committed against the US Army in the Battle of the Bulge. After the failure of the Ardennes offensive the division was sent east to fight the Red Army near Budapest. The 12th SS Division eventually withdrew into Austria; on 8 May 1945, the surviving 10,000 men surrendered to the US Army at Enns. The reputation of the division has been damaged by proven and alleged war crimes committed by members of the division during the early battles in Normandy.

Formation and training
The idea of a Waffen-SS division composed of Hitlerjugend (HJ) members was first proposed by Gruppenführer Gottlob Berger in January 1943. Berger approached Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler with the proposition, and Himmler soon became an enthusiastic advocate. The plan for a combat division made up of all Hitlerjugend members born in 1926 was passed on to Adolf Hitler for his approval. Hitler was also enthusiastic about the idea, and on 13 February 1943, the official order for the creation of an Hitlerjugend division was issued.

Berger nominated himself as the divisional commander, but Himmler instead chose 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH) veteran,Oberführer Fritz Witt.

A competition was held to design insignia for the new unit. The winning design, picked from thousands of entries, depicted the Hitlerjugend sigrune crossing a key from the 1st SS Panzer Division LSSAH's insignia.

By 1 September 1943, over 16,000 recruits had completed their six-week basic training and were listed on the rosters of the SS Panzergrenadier Division Hitlerjugend.. As training continued in Beverloo, Belgium, the division was notified that it was to be formed as a panzer rather than a panzergrenadier unit, and the division was redesignated SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend.. Many of the recruits were so young that they were supplied with sweets and candies instead of the standard tobacco and alcohol ration. In late October 1943 the division received its final designation, 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend.

While the Hitlerjugend members, who had grown up under NSDAP propaganda, were committed to the Nazi cause, they lacked any military aptitude. To provide a skilled backbone for the division, veterans from the 1st SS Panzer Division LSSAH were assigned to the Hitlerjugend division and provided all the regimental, battalion and most of the company commanders. However the SS could not provide all the officers required and 50 Army officers were assigned. They served in their army uniforms but were completely part of the division. Training for the division was unusual. Witt, realizing that the division had to be made ready for combat as quickly as possible, ignored many rules and regulations and instead focused on realistic combat scenarios and live-fire exercises. A result of this was that the morale of the HJ was exceptionally high, and the relationship between the officers, NCOs and men was an informal one, based on mutual trust and respect.

In March 1944 the 12th SS was deemed ready for active service and was ordered to move to Caen in Normandy and became part of the 1st SS Panzer Corps. Throughout the spring of 1944 the division continued training exercises in the peaceful area around Caen, familiarizing itself with the terrain. This was to prove invaluable in the months to come. On 27 May, Witt celebrated his 36th birthday and his recent promotion to Brigadeführer. The peaceful 'holiday atmosphere', as one grenadier described it, was soon to be shattered.

At the beginning of June 1944 the division was declared ready for combat operations. The Division's tank strength at this time was 81 Panther and 104 Panzer IV tanks. The division was also equipped with Jagdpanzer IV tank destroyers, three prototype Wirbelwind flakpanzer vehicles, along with a number of 20 mm, 37 mm and 88 mm flak guns, Hummel, Wespe and sIG 33 self-propelled guns and regular towed artillery pieces.

Its tank destroyer unit, SS Panzerjäger Battalion 12, however, was not considered ready for action and was understrength in Jagdpanzer IV.

Normandy campaign
On 6 June 1944, the Western Allies launched Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy. The 12th SS Division, along with the 21.Panzer-Division, was the closest Panzer divisions to the landing beaches, but they were unable to move until they got authorization for Hitler. The 12th SS was not ordered to the front until 1430 hours on 6 June, sixteen hours after the first reports of the landings. Kurt Meyer's SS Panzergrenadier Regiment 25 and Max Wünsche's SS-Panzer-Regiment 12 were the lead elements of the Division as it started for Normandy from their base to the west of Paris and South of Rouen.

The Division's advance to Normandy and the landing beeches of Sword and Juno was severely hampered by the incessant allied fighter-bomber attacks, the losses to Allied aircraft were not heavy, but the delays caused by wrecked vehicles were enough to destroy the Division’s timetable. The first units of the 12th SS finally reached their assembly area near Evrecy at 2200 hours on 6 June.

On 7 June, Kurt Meyer's SS Panzergrenadier Regiment 25, along with the II Battalion of Max Wünsche's SS Panzer Regiment 12, supported by artillery, were ordered to crush the advancing Canadian infantry and tanks and drive through to the coast, still only a few miles away. In Meyer's words they were to "throw the fish into the sea". Meyer had three Panzergrenadier battalions and two companies of tanks on each flank with artillery in support. Watching the Canadian advance unfold from the tower of the Ardenne Abbey, he saw an opportunity opening in front of him. At 1000 hours 7 June, the 50 Panzer IV tanks of the II Battalion, SS Panzer Regiment 12, arrived and moved into position. The Canadians continued to file across the German front. Once the lead Canadian tanks reached the ridge south of Franqueville, they spotted one of the panzer companies waiting in ambush (they had allowed the tanks to move forward without firing a shot). Meyer reported that "The battalion maintained excellent fire discipline" and the advancing tanks moving across the front were then hit in their unprotected flank by the tanks of SS Panzer Regiment 12. The attack by the 12th SS had caught the Canadians unawares, and their infantry were forced to fall back to Authie with Meyer’s III Battalion in pursuit. They captured Authie and Franqueville in their initial attack and the next objective was Buron, a kilometer to the north.

The attack by the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend was supposed to have been supported by the 21 Panzer Division which was still at Couvre as a result the right flank was open and being probed by Canadian tanks, which were destroyed by the anti-tank platoon of the I Battalion. During these attacks the 12th SS had captured about 150 prisoners from the North Nova Scotia Highlanders and crews from the 27th Tank Regiment (Sherbrooke Fusiliers).

On 8 June, SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 26 under command of SS-Obersturmbannfuhrer Wilhelm Mohnke arrived on the battlefield. Meyer's attack had pushed back one part of the Canadian advance but another brigade had occupied a group of small villages two miles into the German line. They crossed behind Meyer's regiment and the 26th took up positions to their west. After planning and positioning the regiment for a powerful thrust the 1st Battalion launched an attack towards Norrey-en-Bessin, defended by the Regina Rifles of the 3rd Canadian Division. Their orders were to drive over the Canadians and force a deep wedge between them and the British division to the west. Again, no reconnaissance of the Canadian positions was done and the infantry met a maelstrom of defensive fire from firmly established defensive positions.

The attack, launched at 0330 hours - had little initial success. The various companies in the attacking 12th SS failed to co-ordinate their moves towards the Canadians and, despite heavy casualties during repeated attempts by the infantry, Canadian artillery and supporting heavy machine guns of the Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa took a heavy toll on each attacking company of SS troops. The Regina Rifles held their ground and the I/26 Battalion fell back.

According to Lieutenant Colonel Mel Gordon the 27th Tank Regiment had lost 28 Sherman tanks and the North Nova Scotia Highlanders 245 men.

Although the attacks destroyed many Canadian tanks and overran a company of the North Nova Scotia Highlanders in Authie, they failed to break through the advancing Canadians. Meyer, however, countermanded the divisional commander's order on his own initiative, feeling that objective unrealistic, and hoped to merely stop the flow of Canadian units inland until the situation could stabilize .

Meyer set up his command post in the Abbey Ardennes, whose towers provided an excellent view of the countryside. In the early evening of 7 June, as he planned the regiment's next moves. Meyer's regiment was deployed near the villages of Authie and Buron, in positions covering the vital Carpiquet Aerodrome.

The same evening, SS Panzergrenadier Regiment 26 under command of Wilhelm Mohnke arrived and moved into Putot, but was thrown out after a fierce counterattack by the 7th Canadian Infantry Brigade. With neither side able to secure complete victory the lines on either side were becoming fixed and turning the battle into one of attrition to capture the surrounding villages. A company of Panther tanks arrived on 8 June, and Meyer personally led a night attack toward the village of Rots, which they reached at midnight. After several hours of fighting, however, the 12th SS were forced to withdraw, leaving behind six tanks. The Canadians noted that, despite advancing with courage and determination, the young Germans seemed to lack tactical control and had a habit of attacking piecemeal and failed to exploit favorable opportunities.

On the Canadian right the II Battalion attacked the Royal Winnipeg Rifles defending the village of Putot-en-Bessin. The Battalion managed to break into the village and surround several companies, effectively pushing the Winnipeg Rifles out of the village, inflicting 256 casualties - of which 175 were taken prisoner. A counter-attack launched at 2030 hours by the Canadian Scottish, however, regained Putot-en-Bessin, and the II Battalion withdrew and dug-in south of the village.

Despite the ferocity of the 12th SS counterattacks, the Division failed to fulfill its orders to throw the attacking allies back into the sea. British troops had moved up to the positions now firmly held by the troops of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division and had also established a firm line from which they could develop future operations.

What followed were a series of local attacks by both sides. Neither was able to secure any strategic advantage, and the German defensive perimeter around Caen tightened. Casualties on both sides steadily mounted. The 12th SS headquarters, positioned some 27 kilometers southwest of Caen, came under naval gunfire on 16 June, killing the commander, Fritz Witt, and several other senior officers. The High Command appointed Kurt Meyer as the new commander of the division. (some sources believe he was the youngest divisional commander on any side during the war). The 12th SS was now deployed in detachments north and west of Caen, and like the rest of the German army, was suffering from shortages of ammunition, fuel and equipment. To the north of Caen, some of its panzer's supported unreliable units such as the 16th Luftwaffe Field Division and to the west, a flak battery and 15 tanks, together with the I Battalion, SS Panzergrenadier Regiment 26, held the important Carpiquet airfield.

The 3rd Canadian Division ceased major combat operations until July, with only one day of major operations, on 11 June, at Le Mesnil-Patry. This saw the 12th SS inflict major casualties to the Queen's Own Rifles of Canada and the 1st Hussars (6th Armoured Regiment) which lost 51 Sherman tanks during the attack.

Also on 11 June the 46th Royal Marine Commando assaulted Rots. The official historian of Le Régiment de la Chaudière, described the scene the following day:

They fought like lions on both sides, so that the dead lay corpse by corpse. We searched every house, every courtyard to avoid ambush. And here is the confirmation of how ferocious last night's battle must have been. The Commandos lie dead in rows beside the dead SS. Grenades are scattered all over the road and in the porches of houses. Here we see a Commando and an SS man, literally dead in each other's arms, having slaughtered each other. There, a German and a Canadian tank have engaged each other to destruction, and are still smoldering, and from each blackened turret hangs the charred corpse of a machine gunner. Over here are a group who ran towards a wall for shelter and were shot down before they got there. And then near the church, as the advance guard of C Company and the carriers turn the corner, there are three Germans. Only three. But one of them instantly draws his pistol and hits one of our men. A Bren gunner kills two of the three SS men, but the survivor gets away. Now we understand with what kind of fanatic we have to deal.

The following two weeks until the end of the month, was a period of relative quiet, as both sides were exhausted. What did not stop was the constant artillery, naval bombardment and Allied air attacks.

July 1944
Major operations for both sides began again in July. Losses were suffered when they successfully defended the Carpiquet airfield (which the Canadians called Operation Windsor) though the village itself fell as only fifty men were available to defend it from an attack by an entire Canadian battalion.

More attacks during Operation Charnwood fell upon the Division the following week. Vicious hand-to-hand fighting took place in various locations, notably at Buron with the Highland Light Infantry of Canada on 8 July where the Highland Light Infantry lost 262 men in a single day of combat with the SS Panzergrenadier Regiment 25.

The capture of Caen had now become a matter of prestige for Montgomery. For the next four days, the 12th SS held out against repeated attacks by the British I Corps. Finally 2,600 tons of bombs were dropped on the city by the Royal Air Force. The bombing destroyed the city and caused further problems for the Germans supply line. Meyer, unwilling to retire, continued his bitter defense. On 8 July, after all hope of holding the city was lost, Meyer ignoring his orders ordered the evacuation of the city and the remnants of the Division withdrew to the south of Caen.

Operation Jupiter began on 10 July, while some elements of the 12th SS still held part of the line between Eterville and the Orne River. Although they held the line for a time, the defenders were eventually overcome by sheer numbers. A young grenadier noted in his diary what it was like to face the British.

From 0630 to 0800, again heavy machine-gun fire. Then Tommy attacks with great masses of infantry and many tanks. We fight as long as possible but we realize we are in a losing position. By the time the survivors try to pull back, we realize we are surrounded.

The following day, the division was pulled out of the line and sent to Potigny, some 30 kilometers north of Falaise, for a rest and refit.

The division was to have little respite though, and on 19 July were under attack in the Anglo-Canadian Operation Goodwood. Following this the division was pulled out of the line and used to form the mobile reserve for I.SS-Panzerkorps. Goodwood was followed by Operation Cobra on 25 July, which also coincided with the breakout of the Americans to the west.

Their final battle in July was defending against the British 2nd Army's attack Operation Bluecoat.

August 1944
On 8 August the Canadian First Army launched Operation Totalize, a night attack without a preliminary artillery barrage, the point of the attack was again directed at the 12th SS. The attack started well and once they reached their objectives, the infantry started to clear out the defenders. The SS Panzerjager Battalion 12, held up the Canadians after an advance of three miles, with two member of the Battalion being awarded the Knight's Cross ,Oberscharführer Rudolf Roy and his gunner Fritz Eckstein who had knocked out eight tanks on the 8 August. The next day they knocked out a further 13 tanks and within 5 days had knocked out a total of 26 tanks. Over the next two days, this action and continued series of counterattacks reduced the 12th SS to little more then a large Kampfgruppe.

The Allies next tried to bomb their way through, but the 12th SS had captured a copy of the plan on 13 August, and Meyer had pulled what remained of the Division back.

The Division now reduced to 500 Panzergrenadiers and 15 tanks were called upon to defend Hill 159 northwest of Falaise between 14 and 16 August. Under almost continuous artillery and air attack, the 12th SS were forced to withdraw when the 2nd Canadian Division broke through on their western flank.

With only one avenue of escape left open, what was left of the 12th SS were ordered to help hold open the northern side of the Falaise gap, so what was left of the German VII Army could escape. When the withdrawal had been completed, Meyer ordered a Frenchman to guide the Division across the Dives River.

After crossing the Dives Army Group B reported on the 22 August that the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend now consisted of only 10 tanks, 300 men and no artillery. The battles in Normandy and lack of any reinforcements had effectively destroyed the Division. The units in the Division that were not fit for combat were ordered to pull back to Germany on 8 September, leaving behind a small Kampfgruppe attached to the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich. It was formed around the II Battalion, SS Panzergrenadier Regiment 26 with a mixed artillery battalion.

The Division losses during the fighting in Normandy were severe, in the three months from June to September, 55 officers, 229 NCO's and 1,548 had been killed. A further 128 officers, 613 NCO's and 3,684 had been wounded with 58 officers, 182 NCO's and 2,012 reported missing. A combined total of 241 officers, 1,024 NCO's and 7,244 men.

This amounts to 8,569 members of the Division from a strength of 20,540.

Operation Mincemeat

My wife spotted this book in an op shop last year and decided I might like it, so she paid 20c and bought it home for me to read. Being the constantly pre-occupied person I am, it got put to one side and forgotten about. I discovered it again on the weekend and started reading it. I'm now about half way through and enjoying it.

From Wikipedia: Operation Mincemeat was a very successful British deception plan during World War II. Mincemeat convinced the German high command that the Allies planned to invade Greece and Sardinia in 1943 instead of Sicily, the actual objective. This was accomplished by persuading the Germans that they had, by accident, intercepted "top secret" documents giving details of Allied war plans. The documents were attached to a corpse deliberately left to wash up on a beach in Spain. The story was revealed in the 1953 book The Man Who Never Was.

Brief Historical Overview: In 1942, Operation Torch was imminent, and victory in the North African Campaign was expected. Allied planners considered the next step in the war. They decided to continue attacks in the Mediterranean theatre. Control of Sicily would open the Mediterranean to Allied shipping and allow invasion of continental Europe, making Sicily an obvious strategic objective. German planners saw this too, of course. (Winston Churchill commented "Everyone but a bloody fool would know that it's Sicily.") Furthermore, there would be a massive Allied buildup for the invasion (code-named Operation Husky) that would surely be detected. The Germans would know that some large attack was coming. But if the Allies could deceive the Germans about where that attack was going, the Germans might disperse or divert some significant part of their forces, which would help the invasion succeed.

Several months before, Flight Lt. Charles Cholmondeley of Section B1(a) of MI5^[1], suggested dropping a dead man attached to a badly-opened parachute in France with a radio set for the Germans to find. The idea was for the Germans to think that the Allies did not know the set was captured, and pretend to be Allied agents operating it, thus allowing the Allies to feed them misinformation. This was dismissed as unworkable; however the idea was taken up later by the Twenty Committee, the small inter-service, inter-departmental intelligence team in charge of double agents. Cholmondeley was on the Twenty Committee, as was Lt. Cmdr. Ewen Montagu, a Royal Navy intelligence officer.

Montagu and Cholmondeley developed Cholmondeley's idea into a workable plan, using documents instead of a radio. The Committee thought of planting the documents on a body with a defective parachute. However, the Germans knew that it was Allied policy never to send sensitive documents over enemy territory, so they decided to make the man a victim of a plane crash at sea. That would explain how the man would be several days dead and how he could be carrying secret documents. The body would be floated ashore in Spain, where the nominally neutral government was known to cooperate with the Abwehr (German intelligence). The British were sure the Spanish authorities would search the body and allow German agents to examine anything found. Montagu gave the operation the code name of Mincemeat, just restored to the list of available names after its use for another successful mission.

World War Manurewa

Not sure how interesting this will actually be, but probably worth checking out if you live in South Auckland:

An exhibition that focuses on what happens in a small town when the population is affected by war. To accompany the exhibition, historical photographs and artifacts will be on display in the downstairs foyer.

Venue: Nathan Homestead, 70 Hill Road, Manurewa.
Duration: 4th April - 4th May
Times: Mon-Fri 9am - 5pm, Weekends 1-4pm

The 6th Airborne Division in Normandy

At dawn on the 6th June 1944, two Allied armies, one British and one American, landed on the beaches of Normandy in France. It was the largest invasion ever attempted, and its ultimate goal was to secure a foothold in Europe, to defeat Germany and liberate the Continent from Nazi rule. Leading the invasion, landing by parachute and glider, several hours before the first troops assaulted the beaches, were three Airborne Divisions; two were American and landed in the west, the other, the 6th British Airborne Division, landed in the extreme east.

The main tasks of the 6th Airborne Division were as follows:

1. To capture the Bénouville and Ranville Bridges. These strategically vital bridges, if held against counterattack, would not only prevent the Germans from moving decisively against the flank of the British and Canadian seaborne troops as they advanced inland, but they would also enable the Allies to advance eastwards.

2. The destruction of the Merville Battery. Several miles to the north-east of these bridges was an imposing fortification that contained four large calibre guns, which could do terrific damage to the invasion fleet. The 6th Airborne Division had to attack and destroy these guns in the hours before the landings took place.

The first British troops that arrived in France were the one hundred and eighty men of Major John Howard's "coup de main" force, consisting of two platoons of "B" and all of "D" Company of the 2nd Oxford & Bucks Light Infantry. Travelling in six gliders, they landed within yards of both the Bénouville and Ranville Bridges, and within ten minutes they had brilliantly captured both of them intact. Bénouville Bridge would later become more famously known as Pegasus Bridge.

Several miles to the east, the four thousand paratroopers of the 3rd and 5th Parachute Brigades were not so lucky. Poor weather conditions and high winds obscured the drop zone and scattered the parachutists as they jumped. Many men dropped miles from where they should have been, others drowned in ground that had been flooded by the Germans. Gradually the six battalions of these two brigades formed up at their rendezvous points, however they could only muster between 25 and 60% of their full strength. Despite this, they went about their tasks. The 7th Parachute Battalion relieved Howard's men at the Bridges, the 12th and 13th Parachute Battalions secured several villages to the south-east to shield the Bridges against attack from the east of the River Orne, whilst the engineers of the 3rd Parachute Squadron, supported by the 8th and 1st Canadian Parachute Battalions destroyed five bridges across the River Dives, eight miles to the east, thus greatly impeding subsequent German counterattacks.

Of all of these units, the 9th Parachute Battalion suffered worst from its drop. Their task was to destroy the Merville Battery, but after hours of waiting at the rendezvous no more than one hundred and fifty of their men had arrived, and very little of their specialist assault equipment had been found. Their commander, Lt-Colonel Terence Otway, was left with no choice but to attack with what he had.

The Battery was a formidable position. It was defended by one hundred and thirty Germans, supported by numerous machine-gun positions, all sitting inside two huge belts of barbed wire, in between which was a minefield. Silently, the paratroopers cut their way through the wire and cleared paths of mines. As they were forming up for the attack, they were spotted and fired on by no fewer than six machine-guns. As these were being dealt with, Otway gave the order to attack, whereupon the assault party charged across the minefield, lobbing grenades and firing from the hip at any sign of enemy resistance. The Germans fought back hard and cost the assault party dear, however they could not be prevented from reaching the casemates, and once inside they engaged their defenders hand to hand. At a heavy cost, the guns were destroyed and in so doing the lives of hundreds, possibly thousands of men in the invasion fleet had been saved. Of the one hundred and fifty paratroopers who had attacked the Merville Battery, sixty-five were either killed or wounded, whilst of the one hundred and thirty strong German garrison, only six escaped injury.

By dawn, the 6th Airborne Division was holding a firm defensive position as the Allies began to land on the beaches. The assault began with a terrific bombardment of the beach defences by bombers and warships, after several hours of which the assault infantry pressed forward in their landing craft. By the end of the day, all of the beaches had been captured and the Allies were edging ashore in spite of heavy casualties, the worst of which had been suffered by the Americans on Omaha Beach.

On Sword Beach, nearest to the 6th Airborne Division, the Commandos of the 1st Special Service Brigade arrived, and with great speed they cut their way through German resistance to link up with the Airborne troops. The Commandos, having crossed the bridges, pushed on northwards to the aid of the desperately weak 9th Parachute Battalion. Elsewhere, the fiercest fighting was experienced by the 12th Parachute Battalion, who fought off two heavy attacks on their positions, and in particular by the 7th Parachute Battalion, who had only a third of their strength and were struggling to hold the western end of Pegasus Bridge from determined German attacks. Despite heavy casualties, they yielded no ground and by midnight they were relieved by the main force of infantry arriving from Sword Beach.

Throughout the next week the 6th Airborne Division held its bridgehead across the River Orne against increasingly vicious attacks. Time after time they threw these back with severe casualties, however a steady toll was being taken on their own numbers and as such it was proving difficult for them to hold such a wide expanse of territory. Gradually the attacks became focused upon a crucial wide ridge, which overlooked the British invasion area and therefore it was vital that this ground be held. Here, the well-equipped German 346th Division made numerous attempts to gain a foothold by constantly attacking the 1st Canadian and 9th Parachute Battalions as well as the 1st Special Service Brigade. On the 12th June, a particularly heavy attack was successfully beaten off, however the position of the two parachute battalions was precarious and it was doubtful whether they could withstand another attack of such magnitude.

The main position from which the 346th Division was fighting was the village of Bréville, which was sited upon the ridge and also served as a potentially destabilising wedge between the positions of the Paratroopers and the Commandos. The commander of the 6th Airborne Division, Major-General Richard Gale, decided that Bréville had to be captured immediately or else his defence might fold. During the night of the 12th June, the 12th Parachute Battalion attacked and successfully captured the village, though at a very high cost. The British lost one hundred and sixty two killed to the Germans seventy seven. Despite this, The Battle of Bréville was a crucial victory because it truly secured the 6th Airborne Division's position, and with it the entire Allied left flank. Furthermore, the offensive spin of the 346th Division had been shattered, and from the 12th June onwards, no further serious attacks were mounted against the 6th Airborne Division.

For the following two months, the Division fought a static defence. That is to say they remained firmly in their positions and made no attempts to advance, but at the same time they sent out numerous heavy patrols, by day and night, to seek out and raid any enemy in their area. The purpose of this strategy was to destabilise the Germans and so prevent them from becoming comfortable enough to contemplate another offensive against the Division. The Airborne troops, and in particular the Commandos, were ideally suited to this task they did an excellent job of unsettling and frustrating their opponents.

Elsewhere, the Allied armies were advancing slowly in the face of stiff opposition. However the Germans were gradually worn down and, in late July, the Americans succeeded in breaking through the lines of the German Seventh Army and began to encircle them in what was to become known as the Falaise Pocket. Inevitably, the Germans were heavily defeated in Falaise, and with their front line in disarray they fell back, rapidly pursued by the Allies. Within weeks, most of France and Belgium had been liberated.

The 6th Airborne Division took part in this advance despite the fact that many doubted that they would be able to maintain the pace, because they had far fewer vehicles and support equipment than a standard British infantry formation had available to it. Confounding the skeptics, the Division, through quick marches and intelligent use of what resources they had, were not in the slightest hindered in this regard and in just ten days they waged a fighting advance over a distance of some thirty miles. Throughout this time, the Germans fought a stubborn rearguard action, particularly across the three rivers that the Division had to ford, but nevertheless they overcame all that was before them, and on the 27th August the Division was ordered to halt at the mouth of the River Seine. Their role in the Normandy campaign was at an end and in early September they returned to England.

Throughout the three months of fighting in Normandy, the 6th Airborne Division had made a crucial contribution to the success of the invasion. All of their objectives had been achieved during the first few hours of the landing, and over the coming days they gave no ground whatsoever in the face of determined German counterattacks. Their casualties, however, had been considerable. Of the approximate ten thousand men of the Division, one thousand one hundred and forty-seven had been killed, two thousand seven hundred and five were wounded, and nine hundred and twenty-seven were missing. The fact that, in spite of this loss, mostly as a consequence of the scattered drop on the first night of the landings, the Division still manage to accomplish its tasks and hold such a wide expanse of territory, can only be attributed to the high calibre of its soldiers.

World War II Colour Footage #3

The horrors of war.

English Auschwitz survivor dies

The only Englishman known to have survived the Nazi concentration camp in Auschwitz has died, aged 97.

Leon Greenman was living in Holland with his Dutch wife Esther, and their son, when they were rounded up in 1943 and sent to the death camp in Poland.

His wife and three-year-old son Barney died there but London-born Mr Greenman survived six different death camps.

After Buchenwald was liberated in 1945, he dedicated the rest of his life to telling the story of the Holocaust.

Mr Greenman later said he had promised God if he lived, he would let the world know what happened during the war.

Services against racism
His first public speech took place in 1946 and in 1995 a permanent gallery telling his story was established at the Jewish Museum in north London.

Three years later, he received an OBE for services against racism.

Mr Greenman never remarried and spent his final years in Ilford, east London.

BBC Jerusalem correspondent Tim Franks, who interviewed Mr Greenman in 1995 to mark the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, said he literally lived behind bars there - with bars on the windows and his letterbox sealed - as he had been targeted by neo-Nazis.

But this did not stop him from doing his work or dim his determination, our correspondent said.

Pathfinders, Normandy, 1944

Lieutenant Bob Midwood briefs his platoon of the 22nd Independent Parachute Company on their pathfinding role in Normandy. In the top left hand corner is Lance-Corporal Edward Delaney O'Sullivan, who was killed on the 6th June 1944. His body was found by two French youths at approximately 04:00, ten yards from the body of a dead German. It is believed that the two men shot each other simultaneously with their sub-machineguns. His friend, Griff Thomas, is sitting at the front of the second row up from the bottom, with the arm of Sergeant Leverett over his right shoulder. Directly above Thomas, with his right arm hidden behind Lieutenant Midwood's back, is Sergeant Smith, and behind him, standing tall over Smith's left shoulder, is Sergeant Kidd. At the very bottom of the photograph, left to right, are R.A. Stoodley, unknown, and Ken Norton. A man by the surname of Gordon is on the back row in the centre of the photograph, wearing a medal ribbon on his chest.

World War II Colour Footage #2

Not a lot in this part, they totally miss out Market Garden and the Ardennes Offensive. The likelihood of uncovering some colour footage of British Airborne troops looks slim.

Food Fight! The History of War in Food

Cool animated short movie uses ethnic foodstuffs to re-enact the history of armed conflict from the Second World War to the present day.

World War II Colour Footage #1

Great colour footage from D-Day to VJ day, part 1. Includes a great shot of Normandy Bocage, of which an American trooper comments; "...as near to jungle fighting as anything I can think off."

Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen...

I love history, which probably explains my love of FOW, because you know, it’s like, totally historically accurate every game you play…

I stumbled on this early draft of Dwight D. Eisenhower’s D-Day letter to the troops whilst looking for a new header image for this blog. I love the unfinished quality, the scribbles and re-arranging of the structure. It shows that the letter read out to Easy Company in Episode 1 of Band of Brothers (because everything revolves around watching BOB) wasn’t just a rushed encouragement to the troops, but a well though out statement, to give them the courage and determination that they would need over the coming days and months.

June 6th

Big Week

On February 20, 1944, as part of the European strategic bombing campaign, the United States Strategic Air Forces (USSTAF) launched Operation Argument, a series of missions against Third Reich that became known as "Big Week."

The planners intended to lure the Luftwaffe into decisive battle by launching massive attacks on the German aircraft industry. By defeating the Luftwaffe, the Allies would achieve air superiority and the invasion of Europe could proceed.

The Americans flew heavily escorted missions against airframe manufacturing and assembly plants and other targets in numerous German cities including; Leipzig, Brunswick, Gotha, Regensburg, Schweinfurt, Augsburg, Stuttgart and Steyr.

In six days, the Eighth Air Force bombers based in England flew more than 3,000 sorties and the Fifteenth Air Force based in Italy more than 500. Together they dropped roughly 10,000 tons of bombs and seriously disrupted German fighter production, denying the enemy hundreds of aircraft at a time when they were badly needed.

The United States lost 226 heavy bombers and 28 fighters.

UPDATE | Found a great set of photos on Flickr showing various images of Berlin from the air.

Monte Cassino

The Battle for Monte Cassino began on the 4th of January 1944, and was essentially a series of battles along the German Gustav Line. Smack in the middle was the Benedictine Monastery at Cassino.

Apparently, the Germans were acutely aware of the historical significance of the Benedictine Monastery at Cassino, and Field Marshall Albert Kesselring, ordered German units not to include the monastery itself in German defensive positions. Accordingly he informed the Allies of his actions.

Of course, no one knows exactly how well the Germans adhered to this order, and with the Monastery being a hugely tactical advantage for it’s all encompassing views of the Allied positions, the Americans decided to bomb the crap out of it.

On February 15th, American B-17 and B36 bomber laid waste to the historical site and two days later, German Paratroopers poured into the ruins to defend the area.

Once these German Paratroopers took position, the Allies attacked four times before routing them with a loss of 54,000 Allied men to the German loss of only 20,000.

No one knows if the bombing of the Monastery ultimately helped or hindered the Allied advance through Italy.