12th Hitlerjugend SS Panzer Division ..., Tim Saunders
12th Hitlerjugend SS Panzer Division ..., Tim Saunders
2 Rating(s)
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12th Hitlerjugend SS Panzer Division in Normandy

Author: Tim Saunders, Richard Hone

Narrator: Bruce Mann

Unabridged: 9 hr 21 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 08/24/2021


Synopsis

Raised in 1943 with seventeen-year-olds from the Hitler Youth movement, and following the twin disasters of Stalingrad and "Tunisgrad", the Hitlerjugend Panzer Division emerged as the most effective German division fighting in the West. The core of the division was a cadre of offices and NCOs provided by Hitler's bodyguard division, the elite Leibstandarte, with the aim of producing a division of "equal value" to fight alongside them in I SS Panzer Corps.

During the fighting in Normandy, the Hitlerjugend proved to be implacable foes to both the British and the Canadians, repeatedly blunting Montgomery's offensives, fighting with skill and a degree of determination well beyond the norm. This they did from D+1 through to the final battle to escape from the Falaise Pocket, despite huge disadvantages, namely constant Allied air attack, highly destructive naval gunfire, and a chronic lack of combat supplies and replacements of men and equipment.

Written with the advantage of new materials from archives in the former Eastern Bloc, this book is no whitewash of a Waffen SS division and it does not shy away from confronting unpalatable facts or controversies.

About Tim Saunders

Tim Saunders served as an infantry officer with the British Army for thirty years, during which time he took the opportunity to visit campaigns far and wide, from ancient to modern. Since leaving the Army he has become a full-time military historian and has made nearly fifty full documentary films with Battlefield History and Pen & Sword. He is an active guide and Accredited Member of the Guild of Battlefield Guides.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Dan

We rarely read bravery stories of those who lost the war. The problem with this book is that the level of narrative is placed somewhere in between the personal or small group stories and the overall motives and strategies of the war; unless you are a military strategist it is rather uninteresting to......more

A competent, informative, chronological telling of the last actions of the 12th SS Panzer Division in Normandy.......more

Goodreads review by Aubrey

A detailed and technical account of the SS Hitlerjugend's critical role in the Normandy campaign. The audiobook edition does not do it justice as one can't access maps that I'm assuming might appear in the hard copy. Still, I appreciated all the excerpts from war diaries and personal accounts of sol......more

great easy read Great read with many good accounts by veterans of both sides. The maps make it easier to keep pace with the location of events as they unfold.......more

Superb! A thoroughly gripping account of the role of the SS Hitlerjugend’s role in the Normandy ‘44 campaign. From the units creation, to its deployment and combat, opposite British and Canadian forces in the battle for Caen and beyond. Well illustrated with maps and photographs, and enlivened with......more