COMMANDERS:

SS-OberstGruppenführer Joseph "Sepp" Dietrich .................. 1933 - 4/7/43

SS-Brigadeführer Theodor "Teddy" Wisch ...........................4/7/43 - 20/8/44

SS-Brigadeführer Wilhelm Mohnke ....................................... 20/8/44 - 6/2/45

SS-Brigadeführer Otto Kumm .................................................. 6/2/45 - 8/5/45

The origins of this division can be traced right back to March 1923 when a team of men under the command of Hitler's chauffeur Julius Schreck known as the "Stabswache" and then later the "Sosstruppe Adolf Hitler" was raised to guard the National Socialist leader Adolf Hitler during the turbulent political climate of the 1920's.

In 1923 it was Hitler along with the SA and the Sosstruppe Adolf Hitler took part in the failed Munich Beer Hall Putsch in which Hitler tried to seize power in Bavaria. Hitler was jailed and all NSDAP organizations were banned apart form the SA which continued to expand at a rapid rate. On Hitler's release from Landsberg Prison the SS or Schutzstaffel was formed. It was from these humble beginnings that the Waffen SS would grow to a strength of 910,000 men. By 1933 when Hitler was chancellor of Germany the SS was put under the leadership of the former failed chicken farmer and clerk Heinrich Himmler who was mild mannered yet both ruthless and ambitious. He had missed out on service during WWI by a short margin and this was a constant source of regret to him. The SS underwent a rapid expansion and within this organization was formed the SS-Sonderkommando Berlin which was later renamed the Adolf Hitler Standarte. Later still on November 8th, 1933, the 10th anniversary of the failed Munich Putsch, this unit was renamed the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler with the initials "SS" being added to the title (hence the initials LSSAH). During this time of expansion despite it's increasing numbers it had never superseded the numbers in the SA to which it was subordinated. Hitler had always viewed the SA as a potential threat and had differing views to the SA Leader Ernst Rohm. This came to a head when during the "Night of the Long Knives" when two companies of the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler under the overall command of Josef "Sepp" Dietrich, proved their loyalty by disposing of the hierarchy of the SA, including it's leader Ernst Rohm with whom Hitler had disagreed on the direction of the NSDAP and had also become very wary of the rapid expansion of the SA which he viewed as a potential threat. The Leibstandarte had taken part in the occupation of the Sudetenland, the annexation of Austria and the invasion of Czechoslovakia but their first taste of combat came with the opening of the Polish Campaign in 1939. Within their ranks of 3,700 men there existed four infantry battalions, with supporting artillery, anti-tank, pioneer and reconnaissance units. This SS formation was attached to von Rudenstedt's Army Group South and quickly gained it's first blood against the Polish 10th Infantry Division at the River Prosna. They then went on to fight in the areas of Pabianice, Oltarzev and Blonie during the advance to Warsaw. It was during this campaign that the first recorded atrocity by the Waffen SS took place.

De Leibstandarte op een Poolse weg met twee Kfz 15 Mercedes-Benz

After the successful conclusion of the Polish Campaign attention was turned westwards towards the Low Countries and France who had declared war on Germany. During this time the LSSAH had been expanded to a motorized infantry regiment as well as being equipped with a few Mk IV tanks and along with the Der Fuhrer regiment of the SS-VT and advanced into Holland sweeping all before them. It was during this time that SS-Obersturmbannführer Hugo Krass won the first Iron Cross of the campaign. Also taking place during this campaign was the much publicized mistaken shooting of Fallschirmjager General Kurt Student by Leibstandarte troops. Later they were ordered to move south towards Arass where the British and French had stopped the 7th Panzer Division and Totenkopf in a delaying action. The LSSAH was in position on the Aa Canal south east of Dunkirk where BEF were attempting to evacuate by sea. It was a this point that Hitler issued the famous "Halt Order" which was duly ignored by Sepp Dietrich who ordered his men into attack. They captured the Watten Heights on the opposite side of the canal but the order to continue on for the rest of the German forces came too late and the bulk of the BEF escaped rather dramatically by sea. It was during this time that another atrocity is believed to have taken place at Wormhoudt. I say "believed" as some sources say it is a complete fabrication made up to discredit the Waffen SS. Further mopping up of French resistance took place with the LSSAH taking part in combat at Moulins, Pourcain and St. Etienne where, on the 25th June, the French declared a cease fire and surrendered.

StuG III ausf B of the 1./SS Panzer Division LSSAH

Another period of expansion took place and the next scene of combat was the Balkans and Greece where they were attached to List's 12th Army along with the 9th Panzer Division and Großdeutschland. Attacking through Yugoslavia they captured the Greek stronghold of Monastir and the Klidi Pass, which was defended by tough Australian and New Zealand troops and the Klissura Pass which was defended by Greek troops and was captured by Kurt "Panzer" Meyer's recconaisance battalion. Again the bulk of the Empire Expeditionary force was evacuated by sea at Kalamata via the Corinth Canal, this time to Crete with the Leibstandarte hot on their heals.

Again it went under a period of expansion and was now a fully equipped motorized infantry division numbering 10,796 men and was sent to Prague to be attached to Army Group South under von Rudenstedt to take part in Operation Barbarossa-the invasion of The Soviet Union. They advanced rapidly from Lublin towards the River Vistula aiming for the western Ukraine. From there it advanced on towards Kiev and was detached along with the Wiking Division to support 11th and 17th Armies at Uman where they successfully encircled 100,000 Soviet troops. They next saw action at Taganrog where discovering the mutilated bodies of six SS prisoners of war Sepp Dietrich ordered that no Soviet prisoners be taken for the next three days. In November 1941 they took part in the assault upon Rostov where the resistance was so fierce that von Rudenstedt defied Hitler's order to hold and as a result was relieved of his command. After holding out through the bitter winter in the Donets region, in the Summer of 1942 they were sent back to Germany for re-fitting as a Panzergrenadier division along with Das Reich and Totenkopf. The LSSAH took part in occupation duties in Toulon until the end of the year and was on it's way back east in time to take part in the evacuation and recapture of Kharkov as part of Paul Hausser new SS Panzer Korps. With the capture of Kharkov their was a salient created which was to be the focal point for the next major offensive-Operation Citadel.

Panzer IV ausf G van de 7./SS-Pz.Rgt 1