WW 2 German Panzergrenadier SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend, Normandy 1944.

 WW2 German Panzergrenadier Waffen-SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend 

World War 2 German Waffen-SS Panzergrenadier 12th  Panzer Division Hitlerjugend Private, Normandy campaign June 1944.



The 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend ("Hitler Youth") was a German Waffen SS armoured division during World War II. The Hitlerjugend was unique because the majority of its junior enlisted men were drawn from members of the Hitler Youth, while the senior NCOs and officers were generally veterans of the Eastern Front.

The division, with 20,540 personnel, first saw action on 7 June 1944 as part of the German defense of the Caen area during the Normandy campaign. The battle for Normandy took its toll on the division and it came out of the Falaise pocket with a divisional strength of 12,000 men.