The Armies- Germany Waffen SS Panzer Lehr 2

 

Waffen- SS Order of Battle, Normandy, June 1944

On June 6, 1944, the Hitlerjugend and Panzer Lehr Divisions were ordered to move against the British breaches as the Allies poured ashore on D-Day. They were under the command of “Sepp” Dietrich’s I SS Panzer Corps. The Leibstandarte Division remained in Belgium to counter the threat of an Allied landing in the Pas de Calais, the region which so dogged Hitler. In the meantime, the Das Reich and the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Divisions begin moving northward from southwest France. Despite their determination, it would be at least a week before they managed to reach the invasion front. It would also be six days until Hitler finally agreed to release II SS Panzer Corps from the Eastern Front in order that it could return to Normandy. Far from being able to hammer the Allies with a decisive, knock-out blow, the Germans ended up committing their reserves, piecemeal in desperate bid to shore up crumbling front.

While Dietrich was easily able to establish contact with his old comrade, Fritz Witt, he nevertheless had great problems in trying to link up with the 21st Panzer Division or the remnants of the infantry divisions resisting the British north of the large Norman city of Caen.

Dietrich and other staff officers from the Waffen-SS criss-crossed the German front in order to try to pull together some sort of Cohesion. All during the night they worked out various formulae for counterattack plan after counterattack plan. But all of their plans were rapidly overtaken by events. The commander of the 21st Panzer Division could not be found at his command post, and this was to further frustrate plans to mount a joint attack with the Hitlerjugend Division.

Of even more concern was the fact that the arrival of the Hitlerjugend Division was still stalled because of the chaotic conditions on the roads. The Panzer Lehr Division was even further behind, and would not arrive at the front for days. In the meantime, thousands more allied troops and tanks were rapidly pouring ashore.

The Armies- Germany Waffen- SS Order of Battle, Normandy, June 1944

As a result of the expansion of the Waffen-SS panzer corps in the summer of 1943, it was decided to remove the divisional Tiger companies and form two corps-level heavy tank battalions. These were normally to have three Tiger I companies, each with 14 tanks each. The continued commitment of the Leibstandarte, Das Reich, and Totenkopf on the Eastern Front through the winter of 1943, and into the spring of 1944, meant the two new battalions were not ready for action until just before the invasion of France. The 101st SS Heavy Panzer Battalion itself was assigned to support I SS Panzer Corps, and the 102d SS Heavy Panzer Battalion worked for the sister corps. They were to provide each of the Waffen-SS corps with a hard-hitting strike force, or a reserve counter-punch.

The 101st SS Battalion had been ordered to Normandy immediately after the Allied invasion, but persistent Allied air raids delayed the advance of its 37 operation tanks. It arrived in I SS Panzer Corps’ sector west of Caen on June 12, just as the Panzer Lehr Division was taking up position alongside the Hitlerjugend Division.

 

PANZER GROUP WEST (then Fifth Panzer Army from August 6, 1944)
(Date in brackets is when unit reached the Normandy Front)

I SS Panzer Corps Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler (June 7)

SS-Obergruppenfuhrer Josef “Sepp” Dietrich

  •      Schwer SS-Panzer Abteilung 101: 37 x Tiger I
  •      SS-Arko I (artillery command)
  •      SS-Artillerie Abteilung 101: 4 x 210mm, 6 x 170mm
  •      SS-Corps Nachrichten Abteilung: 101/501

 

 

1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler (June 25- July 6)

SS-Brigadefuhrer Teddy Wisch

  •      SS-Panzergrenadier Regiment 1 “LLSSAH” I & II Abteilungen only, 36 APC
  •      SS-Panzergrenadier Regiment 2 “LSSAH”
  •      SS-Panzer Regiment “LSSAH”: 103 x Panzer IV, 72 Panther
  •      SS-Strumgeschutz Abteilung “LSSAH” 1: 45 x StuG III
  •      SS-Panzer Artillerie Regiment “LSSAH” 1: I & II Abteilungen: 8 x 105mm, 6 x
    150mm, 4 x 100, 8 x Wespe, 5 x Hummel
  •      SS-Flak Abteilung “LSSAH” 1: 12 x 88mm, 9 x 37mm
  •      SS-Werfer Abteilung “LSSAH” 1: one battery, 5 x Nebelwerfer
  •      SS-Panzer Nachrichten Abteilung “LSSAH” 1
  •      SS-Panzer Aufklarungs Abteilung “LSSAH” 1
  •      SS-Panzer Pionier Abteilung “LSSAH” 1

Total Strength: 19,618 men

 

Join our Newsletter Here

Find this interesting or useful then -

SHARE THIS