The Hitler Jugend Division was originally formed as a panzergrenadier division, changing designation to a full panzer division in time to fight in Normandy. It was a peculiar formation. The division comprised former members of the Hitler Youth, trained and led by a cadre of NCOs and officers transferred from the 1st SS Leibstandarte Division. This gave the unit both ideological zeal and excellent training, and made them formidable and ruthless opponents in combat. The Hitler Jugend Division was also supplied, like most SS units, with the latest equipment, such as heavy tanks and APCs for the panzergrenadiers.
The training provided by the NCOs and officers of the Leibstandarte for the Hitler Jugend Division was realistic and prepared the division for battle. The training was unconventional, but gave the men an edge over their opponents in Normandy. The instructors from the Liebstandarte, veterans of the Eastern Front, eschewed drill and formal parades in favour of realistic battle training: every lesson and exercise had a purpose and had to be conducted as if the squad were actually in battle. This was standard training for all SS soldiers, but it was taken to an extreme with the Hitler Jugend. Thus, when the young panzergrenadiers went into battle in 1944 they were already accustomed to the noises and strains of combat. They had already been fired upon with live rounds on the training ground; indeed, a proportion of training deaths was considered ‘normal’ and necessary to make the soldiers battle effective. The military historian Max Hastings recalled how one of the signals officers in the Hitler Jugend felt that ‘They had received a proper training in the Hitler Youth. They had a sense of order and discipline. They knew how to sing!’ They had also trained for a rapid move to the Normandy beachhead time and time again. The youth of the men of the division was striking: they were given a chocolate ration in lieu of the more usual cigarette ration. It was these ideologically-driven, determined and well-trained panzergrenadiers who went with their panzers to the Normandy countryside around the town of Caen to face the British and Canadians.
World History
