SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS Fritz Witt (27 May 1908 – 14 June 1944), commander of 12. SS-Panzer-Division "Hitlerjugend", photographed by SS-Kriegsberichter Wilfried Woscidlo on his 36th birthday celebration which held at Tillierès-sur-Avre, France, on May 27, 1944. Witt first joined the SS in 1933, serving in the SS-Stabswache Berlin, an élite guard formation of only 117 men. In 1938, as commander of the 3rd SS-Standarte Deutschland, he took part in the annexation of Austria, marching into that country with his unit. In March 1939, Witt served with the SS Standarte during the bloodless annexation of Bohemia and Moravia. During the Polish campaign, Fall Weiss, Witt’s SS-Standarte Deutschland was subordinated to Panzerverband Kempf, based in East Prussia. Witt's company saw some heavy fighting and he served well during this campaign. For personal bravery in combat, he was awarded both the first and second classes of the Iron Cross within. In October 1939, with the rank of SS-Hauptsturmführer, Witt was appointed commander of the 1st Battalion of the Deutschland. He fought with bravery during the Invasion of France, again showing skill commanding his unit. For example, On 27 May 1940, 20 British Matilda tanks attacked Witt’s battalion. Despite the fact that his unit had no anti-tank weapons, Witt rallied his battalion and they held, destroying nine of the British tanks with grenades and other improvised methods. Witt was the model of the young leader, never retreating in the face of anything. In April, 1941, he participated with his unit in Operation Marita, which was the invasion of the Greece. His unit saw ferocious fighting, playing an important role. The 1st Battalion had been tasked with clearing resistance from the Klidi Pass, just south of Vevi and opening the way to the heart of Greece. Clashing with a hastily-assembled Australian-British-New Zealand-Greek force, under an Australian, Major General, Iven Giffard Mackay, Witt and his men were engaged in heavy fighting for three days before the pass fell. Witt’s brother, SS-Untersturmführer Franz Witt, died during the battle. Witt’s battalion itself had wreaked havoc on their enemy, causing a high number of casualties and capturing over 520 prisoners for the loss of only 37 dead and 95 wounded. From 22 June 1941, Fritz Witt and his unit fought in Operation Barbarossa, participating in the encirclement of 600.000 men near Kiev. Then his unit now moved south, to join the German 14. Armeekorps. Witt’s battalion fought fiercely for the town of Perekop, later advancing across the Perekop Isthmus and launching the assaults on the Soviet defensive positions near the Tarter Ditch. In spring 1943, after being engaged in heavy fighting on the Eastern Front, Witt was transferred to the newly created 12. SS-Panzer-Division "Hitlerjugend". he continued training exercises for his division, allowing his troops to familiarise themselves with the terrain around Caen. This training would later prove vital. On 6 June 1944, the Western Allies landed on the Normandy beaches. Witt ordered his division to form up north of Caen, defending the city and the Carpiquet Aerodrome. Over the next weeks, Witt’s division managed to hold the line above Caen despite incessant Allied attacks and constant air, artillery and naval bombardments. The Hitler Youth inflicted devastating losses on the British and Canadian forces, the training which Witt had developed maintaining his unit’s morale and fighting ability. On 14 June 1944, a British naval bombardment hit the divisional command post in Venoix. Fritz Witt, age 36, was hit in the face by shrapnel and killed instantly. He was buried on the war cemetery St André Champigny (France).
SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS Fritz Witt (27 May 1908 – 14 June 1944), commander of 12. SS-Panzer-Division "Hitlerjugend", receives a model of an 8-wheel armoured scout car Sd.Kfz.232. The model was a birthday present by the division’s reconnaissance battalion (led by SS-Sturmbannführer Gerhard Bremer) to their divisional commander’s 36th birthday on May 27, 1944. To the left of Witt, his adjutant SS-Sturmbannführer Heinrich "Hein" Springer (3 November 1914 - 27 October 2007), followed by - possibly - SS-Obersturmführer Heinz Ritzert (Chef 15.Kompanie / SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 25 / 12.SS-Panzer-Division "Hitlerjugend"). The birthday celebration itself was held in Tillierès-sur-Avre, France. Over the next week, Witt’s division managed to hold the line above Caen despite incessant determined attacks and constant air, artillery and naval bombardments. On 14 June 1944, a British naval barrage hit the divisional command post in Venoix. Witt was hit in the face by shrapnel and killed instantly. The 12th SS-Hitlerjugend and his former 1st SS-Leibstandarte comrades mourned his loss. Kurt Meyer, as the next highest ranking officer, was promoted to divisional commander; at 33 years of age. Fritz Witt, recipient of the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub (Knight’s Cross with oakleaves), was buried with full military honours at Champigny—Saint-André-de-l’Eure in France.
Men
of SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 25 / 12.SS-Panzer-Division
"Hitlerjugend" erect temporary grave crosses for SS-Oberscharfuhrer
Helmut Belke along the walls of Abbaye d'Ardenne (Ardenne Abbey) during
the first days of the Normandy Invasion. Those who fell were generally
buried first at site in the blood-drenched soil of Normandy. During the
few pauses in the battle, members of the division cared for the graves
of their fallen comrades. Belke himself was the driver for the
Regimentskommandeur, SS-Standartenführer Kurt "Panzermeyer" Meyer. He
was killed in action in the attack on Bretteville on June 9, 1944. As
you can see the soldier on the left is wearing Italian camo (M1929,
"telo mimetico"), the right one has a smock in Rauchtarn-Muster (blurred
edge, spring version).
At the building of l'Abbaye d'Ardenne (Ardenne Abbey), regimental command post of the SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 25 / 12.SS-Panzer-Division "Hitlerjugend" in Caen, Normandy, late June 1944. On the left wearing Italian Telo Mimetico M29 camo is the regimental commander SS-Obersturmbannführer Heinz Milius, who was to report the recent battle situation to SS-Sturmbannführer Hubert Meyer (Ia Erster Generalstabsoffizier of 12. SS-Panzer-Division "Hitlerjugend", Chief of staff). On the right wearing Demjanskschild is SS-Obersturmführer Bernhard-Georg Meitzel (Ib Quartiermeister of 12. SS-Panzer-Division "Hitlerjugend", Supply Officer in the Division staff), while the NCO behind Meyer is SS-Oberscharführer Herbert Reinecker (1914-2007), who served as an SS-Kriegsberichter. He started writing for nazi magazines in 1935 and was a writer for "Das Schwarze Korps" during the war years. He became a famous crime writer for TV series in Germany after the war, and never made a secret about his Waffen-SS membership though.
The strain of battle is evident in the face of SS-Sturmbannführer Johann "Hans" Waldmüller (13 September 1912 – 8 September 1944), commander of I.Bataillon / SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 25 / 12. SS-Panzer-Division "Hitlerjugend" while fighting in Normandy, June 1944. He is wearing the Italian M29 Telo Mimetico camo smock. Waldmüller joined the SS at an early stage in 1933. After started the career in SD (Sicherheitsdienst), during World War II he was transferred to the elites, the Leibstandarte-SS Adolf Hitler, in the Summer of 1940. When a new Waffen-SS division was to be formed in 1943, the 12. SS-Panzer-Division "Hitlerjugend", he was selected to be transferred over from the LSSAH as a Bataillonskommandeur. Waldmüller would take part in the fierce fighting in Normandy, where the "Baby Milk" Division would distinguished themselves for their outrageous fighting behavior. An account on one of the fighting: "During the fighting of 8 and 9 June 1944, I. Bataillon lost one NCO and four men killed. Four NCOs and sixteen were wounded. Of them, four NCOs and five men remained with the unit. The following days were remarkable mainly because of the industrious buildings of positions. The numerous fire attacks by enemy artillery forced the Panzer shelters to be constructed like bunkers. They were propped up on the inside with railroad ties from the close-by line Cane-Luc-sur-Mer. Trees had to be cut down to open up fields of fire. Sturmbannführer Waldmüller himself was on his feet day and night, to the point of dropping dead, to supervise and direct the building of the positions. His Bataillon command post, too, was an earth bunker in the open field, just behind the front line. His example, his inexorable insistence saved the lives of many of his men at the time." A second account on the fighting: "SS Major Johann Waldmüller, now the chief of the l. Battalion, stood in the midst of his men, the very soul of resistance," according to Kurt Meyer, his superior. For his bravery and excellent leadership he was recommended and awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernes Kreuzes on 27 August 1944. But he was killed not long after that, gruesomely mutilated by the Belgian partisans. On 8 september, 1944, while driving on his sidecar together with SS-Untersturmführer Karl Marquard, he got ambushed near Basse-Bodeux on the road from Werbomont to Stavelot. The belgian partisans had positioned a rope on the road and when the vehicle neared they tightened the rope. The cycle was brought to a halt - either stopped or caught in the cable - and was immediatly put under fire. Soon later, horse-drawn carriages from Waldmüller's unit discovered the horror. The driver of the cycle was found, seriously wounded, on the left side of the road. In the cycle itself sat SS-Untersturmführer Marquard dead in the rear seat. He was shot in the head. SS-Sturmbannführer Waldmüller was discovered a little further, mutilated and dumped. His belly had been slit open, genitals cut off and dumped in a drainage pipe of a small lake. Both men were buried in Düren and still are.
SS-Untersturmführer Willi Klein, Adjutant of SS-Sturmbannführer Hans Waldmüller (Kommandeur I.Bataillon [motorisiert] / SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 25 / 12.SS-Panzer-Division "Hitlerjugend") in his foxhole near Cambes/Normandy, summer of 1944. Klein (SS number 456 070) was born in 4 August 1921 in Grenzhausen. He started his career in 1.Kompanie / Bataillon der Waffen-SS z.b.V. as SS-Unterscharführer (July 1941), followed by a tour of duty in 2. SS-Infanterie-Brigade (March 1943) and SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 25 (June 1944). He was killed in action in 1945 as an SS-Obersturmführer and Chef 10.Kompanie / SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 25.
SS-Untersturmführer Franz-Josef "Franzl" Kneipp (19 September 1911 - 12 October 2002) in Normandy front, June 1944. He was a signal officer (Nachrichtenoffizier) in the III.Bataillon / SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 25 / 12.SS-Panzer-Division "Hitlerjugend". The picture was taken by Wilfried Woscidlo. Kneipp was originally a signaler in the police on the staff of the High SS and Police Leader Rhein in Wiesbaden until he joined the Aufklärungs-Abteilung of the Totenkopf division in 1939. He was a signal platoon NCO as an Oberscharführer in the SS-Flak Abteilung “Ost” from August 1941 thru April 1943. Despite being kicked out of the officer course at the signal school in Metz near graduation for an affair with a French girl, he was promoted to Untersturmführer in April 1944 upon the recommendation of his regimental commander, Kurt Meyer. He was wounded on July 8, 1944 as signal officer of III./SS-Panzergrenadier Regiment 25 in Normandy. He was sent out on a reconnaissance mission in a tank to look for the enemy. He was standing in the tank turret looking through his binoculars and the next thing he remembers is waking up while some Canadian soldiers were pulling him out of the tank with his arms streaming blood. His tank had taken a hit from a Canadian tank and he had been wounded in both arms. Following a brief hospitalization in Scotland, Kneipp was handed over to the Americans and transported by ship to the United States where he was brought to Washington, D.C. for questioning about his knowledge of German code machines. He had also been interrogated by the British about code machines and threatened with being shot if he did not tell what he knew. Kneipp refused. After his return to Germany Kneipp ended up on the staff of the US Air Force Wiesbaden air base commander. For many years Kneipp was the chairman of the Wiesbaden HIAG veterans association.
During a break in the fighting, SS-Untersturmführer Franz-Josef "Franzl" Kneipp (Signal officer of III.Bataillon / SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 25 / 12.SS-Panzer-Division "Hitlerjugend") plays his guitar in the trenches with the battalion adjutant, SS-Untersturmführer Kurt Bergmann, and just out of sight to the left is Battalion Commander SS-Obersturmbannfuhrer Karl-Heinz Milius. In this picture, Kneipp is playing Dm6 chord. He’s an accomplished player, using chords like that, plus playing a classical guitar. Kneipp is wearing a Waffen-SS Plane Tree pattern tunic (Platanenmuster), while Bergmann is wearing Italian M29 Telo Mimetico camo. This color photo was taken near Buron in Normandy (France), June 1944, and are originally produced by Wilfried Woscidlo, a Kriegsberichter attached to the "HJ" Division. Bergmann would be MIA (Missing in action) on 8 July 1944, while Kneipp survived the war.
This picture was taken in Normandy front (France) in June 1944 by SS-Kriegsberichter Wilfried Woscidlo and showing a young Grenadier from 12. SS-Panzer-Division "Hitlerjugend" wearing pea dot camouflaged cloth and headgear. The division fought superbly throughout the Normandy campaign, its performance a testimony to the training it had received, its leaders and the calibre of its individual recruits. However, its fighting qualities were to no avail in the face of the Allies so-called ‘materialschlacht’, their overwhelming strength in tanks, aircraft, motorised infantry and artillery.
A grenadier from 12. SS-Panzer-Division "Hitlerjugend" in Normandy (France), summer 1944. He is wearing italian Telo Mimetico M29 camo trousers that were common throughout the 12th SS in normandy. Note that he is also holding a 15 cm sIG 33 (schweres Infanterie Geschütz 33), a heavy infantry support gun. It was the standard German heavy infantry gun used in the Second World War. It was the largest weapon ever classified as an infantry gun by any nation. Sources differ on the development history, but the gun itself was of conventional design. Early production models were horse-drawn, with wooden wheels. Later production models had pressed steel wheels, with solid rubber tires and air brakes for motor towing. The sIG 33 was rather heavy for its mission and it was redesigned in the late 1930s to incorporate light alloys in an effort to save weight. This saved about 150 kilograms (330 lb), but the outbreak of war forced the return to the original design before more than a few hundred were made, as the Luftwaffe had a higher priority for light alloys. A new carriage, made entirely of light alloys, was tested around 1939, but was not accepted for service.
Junior leaders and men of the 12. SS-Panzer-Division "Hitlerjugend" in Normandy, summer 1944. The relentless fighting has already left its traces on the young faces. These "Crack Babies" held their position in the trenches tenaciously, defying all attacks by the enemy who was superior in numbers and materials. The division itself was formed around a nucleus of experienced officers and NCOs from the Leibstandarte Division, such as Fritz Witt, Kurt Meyer, Max Wünsche and Wilhelm Mohnke. It would be up to these men to mould the Hitlerjugend into a potent combat unit. They knew how to soldier the Waffen-SS way: aggressively, taking risks to achieve victory.
Men of the 12. SS-Panzer-Division "Hitlerjugend" in Normandy, summer 1944. Many of the youngsters were smoking cigarettes to steady their nerves. The majority of its junior enlisted men were drawn from members of the Hitler Youth, while the senior NCOs and officers were from other Waffen-SS divisions. Many of the recruits were so young that they were supplied with sweets instead of the standard tobacco and alcohol ration!
A Grenadier from 12. SS-Panzer-Division "Hitlerjugend" lit a cigarette during a pause in the battle. The picture was taken in Normandy front (France) in June 1944 by SS-Kriegsberichter Wilfried Woscidlo. Described as a "Crack Babies" 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, 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. The battle for Normandy took its toll on the division and it came out of the Falaise pocket with a divisional strength of 12,500 men. The division has been criticized for performing inadequately in the opening days of the Normandy campaign. Following the invasion battles, the division was sent to Germany for refitting. On 16 December 1944, it 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 Hitlerjugend has been affected by war crimes committed by members of the division during the early battles in Normandy.
A Flak (AA or Anti-Aircraft) MG-42 team of 12. SS-Panzer-Division "Hitlerjugend" in Normandy, summer 1944. They are using a standard bipod and not a special anti-aircraft tripod or mount (Zwillingssockel), a desperate attempt to fight allied low-flying fighter bombers (The MG-42 or MG-34 is used for close-in AA support whenever 20mm or 30mm AA guns are few or nonexistant.). Very occasionally a rifle-calibre MG like the MG 42 managed to shoot down an aircraft, but it was mostly a waste of ammunition. Even the .50 Browning wasn't that effective (some sources said that it need a 50,000 rounds fired for every plane shot down!). 20mm was really the smallest calibre to be worth bothering with, which is why it was the smallest gun used by German FlaK units. Towards the end of the war even the 20mm was seen as too weak, according to Fridolin von Senger und Etterlin's 'Die deutschen Geschütze'. The focus on damage capability does of course ignore the deterrant effect on the pilots, who may not have been very keen to expose themselves to even quite ineffective fire. So it was maybe less the idea to shoot them down, and more to keep them away, that made use of the weapons seem attractive.
Source :
"The History of the 12. SS-Panzerdivision Hitlerjugend" by Hubert Meyer
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Photographs_by_Wilfried_Woscidlo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12th_SS_Panzer_Division_Hitlerjugend
https://military.wikia.org/wiki/12th_SS_Panzer_Division_Hitlerjugend
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