SS und Polizei: Myths and Lies of Hitler's SS and Police

by J. Lee Ready

  Wisch authorized his immediate reserves to counterattack, and they did so: a battalion of Frey’s panzergrenadiers, a few StuGs and a dozen or so of Peiper’s Mark IV tanks. Just as they reached Verrieres a violent rainstorm hit them, turning the summer fields into a sea of mud, which made movement difficult for the German armor, but it did keep Allied planes away and that was good news for the Germans. The SS armor and panzergrenadiers continued onwards in the rain and overran two companies of Canadians (the South Saskatchewan Regiment), and then carried on and caused havoc among the Canadian reserve line. The Canadian infantry backed up, while their artillery blew showers of mud and shrapnel onto the Germans. One such burst severely wounded Albert Frey.

  Come dawn on the 21st the rain was still soaking the battlefield, but Wisch wanted to keep the Canadians off balance so he ordered a continuation of the counterattack with tanks, StuGs and panzergrenadiers, the latter now led by Obersturmbannfuehrer Joachim Schiller. They were successful, hurting the Canadians again. The SS soldiers were surprised that the Canadians did not have tank support nor did they have much anti-tank gun support. A Canadian rifle was no match for a German Mark IV tank.

  So much for the Allied intention of breaking through in the British sector. Dietrich was aware that his two divisions and a few borrowed armored vehicles had fought five enemy divisions in four days, but he would have been astonished to learn that his corps had inflicted well over 5,000 casualties on the British and Canadians and had destroyed or seriously damaged 250 British and Canadian tanks. His own personnel losses were but a few hundred at most, and perhaps 75 German armored vehicles had been knocked out. In fact despite the poor flying weather most of the German armor losses on this sector of the front came from air attack, and most of the destroyed tanks belonged to the army’s 21st Panzer Division. The SS HJ Division reported no heavy armored vehicles lost in the entire four-day affair!

  Naturally Allied politicians demanded Montgomery change his strategy, and in reply he once more dismissed several Canadian and British officers. However, the greatest result of the last four days, which the British called Operation Goodwood, was that Montgomery, though still retaining nominal command of all Allied ground forces in Normandy, was from now on increasingly ignored by the American generals under him. Montgomery owed his position to his popularity among the British rank and file and with the folks back home in ‘Dear Old Blighty’, but few senior British commanders liked him and the Americans positively loathed him. Montgomery’s boss, the American General Dwight D. Eisenhower, who commanded all Allied air, sea and land forces in France, would from now on as often as not send orders directly to the Americans on the ground bypassing ‘Monty’ altogether or informing him belatedly.

  There is no doubt that in the first seven weeks of the Normandy campaign the American ground forces advanced much further than the British and Canadians, despite the fact that the terrain of the American battlefield, i. e. the bocage of steel-strong hedgerows, was tougher than that for the British, and despite the fact that the Americans had advanced beyond the range of their naval gun support. However, there were two mitigating factors: the Americans faced fewer German armored units than did the British and Canadians, and secondly the Americans were mostly up against the ordinary German landser rather than the Waffen SS. In fact the only SS unit of size in front of the Americans was a solitary battlegroup of the 17th SS GvB Panzergrenadier Division. Most historians recognize the disparity in German armor, heavily weighted on the British front, but they do not understand the disparity in quality between those Germans that fought the Americans and those that battled the British. Most of those facing the Americans had been based in France for months if not years, and had become soft. Whereas the British and Canadians faced mostly recently trained recruits, and in the case of the Waffen SS these recruits went into battle under officers and senior NCOs that had much combat experience on the Eastern Front.

  Post-war casualty statistics would show that in order to kill or incapacitate ten German soldiers, the British/Canadians had to suffer more than ten of their own lost, usually between twelve and thirteen, and the Americans had to suffer between eleven and twelve casualties in order to take out ten Germans. Thus despite their preponderance of materiel the Western Allies performed poorly compared to the Germans. One thing in the German's favor was that by June 1944 most of their officers were combat veterans. The British, Canadian and American officers were for the most part green. In the first few days of the Normandy campaign the Americans had more combat veterans in the line than did the British or Canadians, despite the fact that the British had been at war for two years longer. When talking to Americans the British always acted like they were battle-hardened veterans, even if all they had seen was a barracks square.

  The Soviets on the other hand by 1944 were expending men at the rate of twenty in order to knock out ten Germans. This was an improvement. In 1941-42 their rate was fifty, if not higher.

  Other factors can be brought in to compare US performance with British/Canadian, such as the low artillery power available to an American divisional artillery commander compared to his British/Canadian counterpart, 48 tubes versus 72 tubes. A British infantry battalion commander had lightly armored Bren gun carriers to call upon, whereas his American counterpart had to go all the way to divisional headquarters to get any kind of armored support. These were major advantages for the British.

  Then again British/Canadian infantry division commanders had to ask corps or army headquarters for actual tank support on a day to day basis, but their American counterparts each controlled two tank battalions. Many an American infantry division commander controlled more armor than did a German panzer division commander!

  However, few of the Americans, Canadians and British had yet learned how to use armor. They were either reckless or timid.

  Lastly, as for the quality of the Canadian soldiers - frankly their five years of training had been grossly inadequate.

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  If the British Tommies and American GIs mistrusted their generals and politicians, and they did, the Germans felt the same towards theirs. But this attitude came in for much German soul searching on 20 July 1944.

  There were two Hitlers as far as the front line German soldier was concerned, whether he be Army, Luftwaffe or Waffen SS. One Hitler was the person himself, the Fuehrer, the individual that one either feared and tolerated or adored and obeyed. The other Hitler was the military commander, the Hitler who, because he insisted on running the war as if he were a general, was identified by the soldiers as a general, and for the most part soldiers distrust generals even while they obey them.

  On 20 July 1944 when the German front line soldiers heard the confused news of the attempted assassination of Hitler and the revolt against the Nazis that very morning, they became very angry indeed. The bomb explosion that wounded Hitler was so great it flung Gruppenfuehrer Hermann Fegelein out of a window. The fact that someone had tried to kill Hitler the person really did not bother the soldiers so much, for somebody was always trying to kill him, but the fact that Hitler was also the commander in chief and that this attempted assassination was accompanied by an attempted revolution reminded them of the November 1918 revolutionaries that had betrayed the soldiers at the front and had forced them to abandon the war, which had resulted in civil war back home and in the humiliating Versailles Treaty. Though the Germans were obviously on the military defensive in July 1944 not one square foot of German soil (or Austrian soil) had yet been lost. They still felt they were in good shape and that this war could yet be won, or at least some sort of amicable deal might be salvaged. Certainly the option of surrendering unconditionally to the Communists who wanted to butcher them all, or to the British and Americans who wanted to enslave them all, was not an option. The revolutionaries, as far as the German soldiers were concerned, must have been Allied agents.

  Oberfuehrer Humbert Achamer-Piffrader certainly felt this way when he marched into a building in Berlin with the inten
tion of arresting the traitors with only his SD insignia to protect. Naturally, they arrested him!

  In Paris several senior army generals gave orders to their troops to arrest all SD, Gestapo, Kripo and SS in the city, telling them that it was these fellows who had intended to revolt. All told about 1,200 men were arrested. Most of the French members of these organizations hid, willing to wait and see who came out on top. However, when the assassination plotters realized Hitler had survived the bomb they collapsed like a house of cards, releasing their prisoners in Paris, Berlin and elsewhere. Gruppenfuehrer Carl Oberg the HSSPF in Paris was enraged, and once liberated he called these plotters the vilest of traitors. Ironically his BdS Standartenfuehrer Helmut Knochen was much more conciliatory, willing to live and let live.

  Himmler was happy as a lark, for the Fuehrer had been wounded but not killed, and the revolutionaries soon proved to be army officers for the most part. True, Polizei General the Count of Helldorf was implicated, but this chief of the Berlin Police was not an SS officer. Only one senior SS officer was involved, Gruppenfuehrer Arthur Nebe, head of the Kripo. He went into hiding. When Hitler learned who his enemies were, he ranted against all army officers, and this is where Himmler jumped in. From now on Hitler would trust SS officers more than army officers. [Helldorf was hanged, but Nebe was not caught by the Gestapo until January 1945. Then he was hanged.]

  Oddly enough just the day before the attempted coup several senior RSHA commanders issued orders that not only would a traitor be executed , but his male relatives aged sixteen and over would be shot and his female relatives of the same age group would be incarcerated in a concentration camp, even though there was no proof of their complicity! It had always been the policy of Stalin to punish families of traitors. Now Hitler adopted similar insane measures.

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  By 24 July 1944 Dietrich’s corps consisted of the SS LAH and SS HJ Divisions, and now he gained the army’s 272nd Infantry Division, plus he had some small battlegroups on loan from other corps, including an entire brigade of army Nebelwerfers.

  This evening south of Caen Dietrich’s corps was bombed by Allied aircraft. Dietrich had a considerable force of flak gunners [SS, army and Luftwaffe] and he used them to good effect. They actually drove off quite a few of the aircraft.

  Then about 0330 hours on the 25th Dietrich’s positions were heavily shelled, especially on the SS LAH’s frontage between Tilly and Verrieres. This might herald another British offensive, the Germans thought.

  Sturmbannfuehrer Otto Dinse commanded a battlegroup made up of some of Rudolf Sandig’s panzergrenadiers, a company of pioneers and six Mark IV tanks, and he was dug in around Tilly. He did not know that the Canadian 3rd Infantry Division was already advancing towards him in the darkness. Suddenly, his troops could hardly believe their eyes. In the middle of the night the enemy turned on searchlights pointing straight upwards. The light ricocheted off the low clouds and lit up the battlefield, which was obviously their intention, but the light also created silhouettes of the advancing infantry. However, the Germans were merely peering over the lips of trenches and through bushes, and they could not be seen. The German machine gunners went to work slaughtering the silhouettes, like a shooting game at a fair.

  At Verrieres Schiller’s panzergrenadiers, backed up by a company of pioneers, a dozen Panthers and some StuGs, were given ample time after the artillery barrage to emplace their guns and await the infantry assault. When it came just before dawn the German armored vehicles added their machine guns to those of the panzergrenadiers and together they mowed down the attackers (Canadian 2nd Infantry Division).

  Come dawn Dinse’s men were still shooting Canadians, who by now could be identified by the light of the rising sun. The appearance of some Canadian self-propelled anti-tank guns just gave the Germans more targets. Inexplicably an uninhabited wood on the flank was being bombed by Allied aircraft.

  However, at Verrieres the Canadians fired a heavy artillery concentration that busted apart several SS armored vehicles. Therefore the German armor withdrew, leaving Schiller's panzergrenadiers and pioneers to fend off the next assault by themselves. By 0730 hours Schiller’s men had fallen back 400 yards.

  Just after 0900 hours Schiller’s people in their new line watched as Canadian infantry and tanks (the latter of the British 7th Armored Division) advanced out of Verrieres towards them. Unknown to the Canadians, Schiller had reinforced his position with another battalion of panzergrenadiers and about twenty StuGs and Mark IVs. Waiting until the Canadians were fully in the open the Germans then began firing.

  On Dietrich’s western flank around the village of May a unit of the 272nd Infantry Division supported by a few tanks [on loan from the 2nd Panzer and 9th SS Hohenstaufen Panzer Divisions] repelled an assault by the Canadian 2nd Infantry Division supported by elements of the British 7th Armored Division. Some of Schiller’s gunners saw the fight at May from the distance and they opened fire occasionally.

  Yet from the May direction a battalion of about 350 infantry came on towards the left flank of Schiller’s line. All the Germans turned their guns on these unsupported troops as they appeared over a ridge in broad daylight, and the resulting annihilation of this mass of humanity was horrific. Eventually with no one left to shoot at, the firing stopped. SS medical orderlies went out to bandage the enemy wounded, learning that they were members of the Black Watch of Canada Regiment.

  Throughout the day Dinse’s people periodically saw some Canadian tanks moving around in the distance (2nd Armored Brigade), and they sniped at them with artillery, tanks and anti-tank guns. Finally the Canadian tanks advanced, but they were easily stopped by swarms of screaming Nebelwerfer rockets.

  Schiller and his staff came to the conclusion that the Allied offensive had bogged down, and seeing this as an opportunity they ordered a counterattack into Verrieres by a battalion of panzergrenadiers and ten Mark IVs. However, luck was against them. British Typhoon fighters suddenly appeared and blew up three Mark IVs. Schiller recalled his men.

  In this one day battle Dietrich inflicted about 1,500 casualties on the Canadian 2nd and 3rd Infantry Divisions and 2nd Armored Brigade and the British 7th and Guards Armored Divisions and 27th Armored Brigade. His own losses were in the low hundreds.

  On the night of 28 July the SS HJ was brought out of the line, with the 272nd Infantry Division sidestepping to fill in the gap, and the 9th SS Hohenstaufen Panzer Division stretching to take in the abandoned 272nd position.

  On the night of the 29th Schiller’s battlegroup of the SS LAH repelled a company-sized Canadian probe near Tilly. He then prepared to meet the next enemy offensive. He had a battalion and a company of his own panzergrenadiers, Dinse’s battalion of Sandig’s panzergrenadiers, a half-dozen tanks and a few StuGs.

  On the night of 31 July the Allied assault came, the Canadian 2nd Infantry Division aided by tanks of the British 7th Armored Division advancing towards Tilly behind a rolling artillery barrage. The SS defenders calmly waited in holes, dugouts and cellars until the barrage rolled over them, knowing that some of their people were being disintegrated by these shells, and then the survivors jumped up out of their deep holes and ran towards their firing positions. The Canadian infantry had not followed the barrage closely enough, probably fearful of being hit by one of their own shells, and this gave the Germans time enough to reach their firing pits and aim their weapons in the darkness. They opened fire and stopped the assault.

  At dawn the Allied attack was restarted, and again the SS fought doggedly, forcing the Canadians to fall back. That afternoon the attackers were joined by the Canadian 2nd Armored Brigade and they all advanced again. The SS held their ground.

  Meanwhile the SS Das Reich had been in some terrific action, its commander Heinz Lammerding being wounded. He was temporarily replaced by Obersturmbannfuehrer Christian Tychsen, a thirteen year SS veteran. But just two days later Tychsen was mortally wounded and captured. Thirty-two year old Standartenfuehrer Otto Baum was rushed ove
r to take the division, and Standartenfuehrer Otto Binge took Baum’s seat at the SS GvB.

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  Chapter Thirty-six

  AUGUST 1944

  On 1 August 1944 in Normandy a battalion of Standartenfuehrer Rudolf Sandig’s panzergrenadiers of the 1st SS LAH Panzer Division repulsed an attack at La Hogue by the newly arrived Canadian 4th Armored Division.

  This day Standartenfuehrer Friedrich Bock took over the 9th SS Hohenstaufen Panzer Division.

  Also this day Sepp Dietrich was promoted to oberstgruppenfuehrer, a rank between Allied lieutenant general and full general, an honor long overdue. Dietrich’s troops had repelled no fewer than thirteen British offensives. Evidently Hitler had wanted to promote him even before his fine performance in Normandy, but had run up against the old boys’ network within the SS.

  Dietrich took advantage of his new rank to demand reinforcements for the 12th SS HJ Panzer Division. Already Dietrich had begun pulling out his exhausted SS troops, taking out Wuensche’s battlegroup of mixed SS HJ and SS LAH units on 31 July. The SS were grateful that the British left them alone to perform this reshuffle.

  On the evening of 1 August Dietrich pulled out Dinse’s battalion. This night the Canadians tried to take Tilly in the dark in a rush. Sandig and his men drove them off by dawn.

  However, the Americans had finally broken through the main German defenses in western Normandy and were heading for the line Avranches-Vire, while the British 11th Armored Division was flanking the Yanks on their east aiming for Vire.

  Hausser was still in command of the Seventh Army with the rank of oberstgruppenfuehrer and his army troops were fighting like wildcats in the bocage hedgerow country, but by now even Bittrich’s II SS Panzer Corps, with its fighting element built around the 10th SS Frundsberg Panzer Division, was falling back.