Adolf Hitler's First Guard Flag Panzer Division was an elite German force during World War II, and this unit, from its combat quality, loyalty to the Fuehrer, will to fight, and the vastness of the combat area, can be called the trump card of the ace, unparalleled, just by the number has become the "bearer" in the SS, "Today" the "Collection" uses the collection of real old photos for three days to tell the history of this unit.
It is not easy to write an article, it is more difficult to search for pictures, the content is a bit long, dear, and see and cherish it!
In March 1933, a unit called the "Berlin SS Headquarters Guard" was formed, and in the following years, as the rank was expanded, its title was changed several times, but it was always the Führer's personal guard, the "Royal Forest Army of the Royal Forest Army", the absolute personal bodyguard, and was deeply valued.
The first commander of the unit was named Dietrich, a world war veteran, loyal, humorous, unambitious, and had served as Hitler's personal driver and bodyguard, when the one in the seat behind him had not yet come to power, and the two had a close personal relationship.
The Yuan preferred to use a personal bodyguard to lead the private guard is also considered a "door-to-door pair", so in some old photos it is often seen that the Führer or Dietrich is reviewing the Guard Flag Division.
From the above picture, it can be seen that this unit is disciplined and meticulous, and the standard Prussian military posture and black uniform give people a strong sense of oppression, and this picture alone can understand that this unit is showing signs of becoming an ace in the future.
Promoted to Armored Division
In November 1942, the unit's designation was officially changed to: "1st Adolf Hitler SS Flag Panzer Division," which resulted in more equipment and honors, and the change of the number was a recognition of combat effectiveness. (For convenience the following are called the Guard Flag Division)
It should be known that in the 38 divisions of the Waffen SS, not every team can be promoted to armored division, but as long as it is promoted to armored division, it has basically experienced the baptism of many major battles, tempered "a muscle," or received special attention, after all, there are only 7 teams promoted to armored divisions, such as: the Second Imperial Division, the Third Skeleton Division, the Fifth Viking Division, and the Twelfth Youth Division.
When the team was first formed, it was only responsible for protecting the Fuehrer as a bodyguard, and it was necessary to conduct regular military parades to show off the results, which was small at first, but developed rapidly. It was founded on March 17, 1933, at 120, in January 1935 it was 2,531, and with the outbreak of World War II it grew to 10,796 in June 1941 and 22,000 in December 1944.
Selection is extremely rigorous
The selection of soldiers in the original Flag Guard Division or SS was surprisingly strict, because the selection was a matter of descent, and the soldiers had to come from pureLy Germanic Germans, and after the occupation of Austria, the recruitment of Austrian Germans was also introduced.
The purity of the bloodline is described in a Chinese phrase today, that is, the ancestors of the soldiers must be pure Germans for eighteen generations, and the purity of the officers is higher than that of the soldiers, which is too shocking.
And it must be more than 185 cm tall and about 18 years old, not "whoever" can join the SS.
However, with the protracted war and the shortage of soldiers, the recruitment conditions began to relax, and even a lot of miscellaneous cards composed of prisoners appeared.
Vehicle badge, collar badge
Each Division and even individual regiment of the German Army had its own unique coat of arms and armbands, according to the year, the badge of the Guard Flag Division was a key badge in 1940, a shield badge with a key in 1941, a shield badge with a gap in 1943, the key unchanged, and in 1944 it was an oak leaf on the bottom of the shield on the basis of the original.
The soldier's collar badge is the standard SS collar badge, sometimes with a special decoration of the letter AH, and the armband is the autograph of the Führer, which is a very high honor for officers and soldiers.
Participated in important battles
As the "bearer" of the SS, the Panzer Division of the Guard Flag was not able to fight a good battle at the beginning, and for a long time the entire SS was regarded by the Wehrmacht colleagues as a "vase", a private armed force, very ornamental, as long as they were walking on the streets of Berlin, they would receive unprecedented applause and cheers in Germany at that time.
However, the Wehrmacht looked at the record, and dressing beautifully was of no use to the war situation. To this end, the SS actively participated in combat operations after the outbreak of World War II, and grew from an initial lack of experience to a bloody battlefield to a battle-hardened ace unit.
After the outbreak of war, the Guard Flag Division participated in the battle plans for the annexation of Austria, blitzkriegs against Poland, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, and the Soviet Union, and fought in famous battles such as Kursk, Normandy, Operation WatchIng the Rhine - Salient, Operation Spring Awakening - Hungary and so on.
During the blitzkrieg against Poland, the unit was inexperienced and was briefly under siege until friendly reinforcements barely broke through. But by the time it came time to blitz France, the force grew rapidly and was already showing signs of future aces.
The sense of honor is extremely strong
In previous articles about Germany, it has also been written that the German army attaches great importance to honor, and as a guard flag division, the sense of honor brought about by the particularity of the unit number has been defended by the soldiers, who are not afraid of casualties when fighting, the combat effectiveness is extremely strong and efficient, and the outstanding battle achievements have laid the status of an unshakable ace division in the SS.
However, this unit also left a stigma for killing and brutalizing civilians, tarnishing the honor of soldiers, and was tried in post-war courtrooms, including Dietrich, military, division, regimental and other commanders.
Conquest of the Eastern Front
Aces who have not been to the Eastern Front are not qualified aces.
The battlefield on the Eastern Front became almost a concentration of excellent German troops, after all, the defeat of the Soviet-German war was something that neither the Germans nor the Soviets could afford. Below are old photographs of the Guard Flag Division on the Eastern Front, including those fighting in the Soviet Union, Bulgaria and northern Italy.
As the face of the Fuehrer, they have been moving on the east and west fronts, tired of coping, and the unfavorable guard flag division that accompanied the war situation has to be transferred from a precarious battlefield to another, which is inevitably demoralized for the soldiers, but they have to continue to fight, which is Germany's sadness and the cruelty of the war.
Since the outbreak of the war, this team has never returned to Germany, and although the long-term conquest has achieved brilliant results, it has also suffered heavy losses, many veterans have fallen, and new recruits have changed stubble after stubble. By May 7, 1945, the Guard Flag Division surrendered to the American Army, and at this time the elite troops were exhausted, countless wounds were inflicted, and only 1682 people were left, including the division commander, and the former aces were also lost in history with the collapse of the Third Reich.
As the "bearers" of the SS, they tried their best.
Conclusion: Real soldiers
Friends who often read the "Collection" article should have read a lot of stories about Germany's World War II, and the reason why they wrote about the German army was not to promote their bad deeds, but to put down their positions and only describe that period of history from the perspective of soldiers. The indiscriminate killing of innocents as a military SS should be judged, which undermines the duties and honors of soldiers, but as excellent combat effectiveness they should be recognized as meeting the criteria of a true soldier:
All good troops should be loyal, courageous, obedient, disciplined, rigorous, honorable, and resourceful, loyal to their leaders, fierce to their enemies, loving their compatriots, caring for their families, and following their faith until the last moment.
Although their beliefs seem absurd from the very beginning of the founding of the army, loyalty is also foolish, even surprising.
But such a unit has exerted its due combat effectiveness, and they have fought to the last moment in order to believe in it, and who wouldn't want to have such a soldier?
The Americans say:
"The SS is the most trustworthy army, the most respectable opponent."
Zhukov said:
"Compared to the SS and Eisenhower's soldiers, we can only be called baby soldiers!"
If you want to know about the Guard Flag Division, only from the first and second pictures can see one or two, today's story of the Guard Flag Division is written here, thank you for watching, while introducing the protagonist of the next issue:
In the SS there is an armored division composed of Norwegians, Dutch, Finnish, Danes, almost no record of indiscriminate killing, compared to the Guard Flag Division they are more in line with the standards of good soldiers, but also the German army unit that broke into the limits of the Caucasus region of the Soviet Union, called - the Fifth SS Viking Panzer Division, the next issue will introduce the history of this unit, welcome to watch.
The old photos of the Eighth Route Army, the survivors of the Five Heroes of Wolf's Tooth Mountain and the taoists who saved their lives are heartbreaking
A picture to understand the difference between the German SS and the Wehrmacht during World War II! Look carefully at the salute
lament! The volunteers wrote a note that the wounded American soldiers did not dare to imagine, but after reading it, they were moved to tears
How many armored divisions did Germany send in Kursk in World War II? Which are the elite of the elite?
Those things in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in 1941, 3 reasons show that 1941 was the most rampant chinese in Japan and the most difficult year!