The Valour and the Horror

The 12th SS Division was officially named the 'Hitler Jugend', but had been nicknamed the 'Baby Division' because most of the fighting men were teenagers. The division, recruited from largely under-age youths, was the result of the disaster of Stalingrad, which had caused a severe man-power crisis for Germany. All the young men enlisted in the 12th SS were volunteers. They had received special training in fieldwork, and a very particular political indoctrination. True believers in the 'cause' of the war, and in the German ideology of the 'destiny of youth', these young soldiers developed a conscious sense of superiority, and a will to fight that seemed unparalleled in the enemy forces. The Allies as a whole, and many Canadians particularly, discovered that the soldiers in the 12th SS were by no means to be treated lightly because of their youth; these boys were among the quickest, best organised, and strongest fighters that the enemy had.

In the aftermath of the battle at Le Mesnil-Patry, where nearly the entirety of the Canadian 6th Armoured Division had met their demise against the 12th SS, the Canadian Regiment de la Chaudiere arrived to collect the wounded, and to prepare for a possible SS advance. Upon surveying the scene, the regiment historians recorded the following about the 12th SS:

"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 roads and on the porches of houses. Here we see a commando and an SS man, 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 smouldering, and from each blackened turret hangs the charred corpse of a machine gunner. Over here are a group who ran towards the wall for shelter and were shot down before they got there. And there, by 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 still does not surrender; he dodges us and gets away. Now, we understand with what kind of fanatic we have to deal."

Lieutenant Holler, a member of a German brigade which had an ongoing rivalry with the 12th SS, speaks of his competition. "In Caen, Hitler Jugend were always our neighbours to the left. They fought bitterly for every yard; the help of one comrade for another was so spontaneous and unselfish that it was unequalled; and although you yourself have only heard detrimental facts about them, I can speak of experiences of a most humane nature."

XII SS Panzerdivision Hitler Jugend
1943
German
Divisional
Belgium then Normandy (1944) and Ardennes. Austria 1944
Capitulated 1945

Valour and Horror, Second World War, Canadian history, World War II, W.W.II