Publisher's Synopsis
The 2nd SS Panzer Division "Das Reich" was an elite division during World War II. It is considered to be one of the better fighting formations amongst the thirty-eight divisions fielded by the Waffen-SS. It served during the invasion of France and took part in several major battles on the Eastern Front (particularly in the Battle of Prokhorovka against the 5th Guards Tank Army at the titanic Battle of Kursk). It was then transferred to the West and took part in the fighting in Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge, ending the war with desperate fighting in Hungary and Austria. Early war and the SS-VT - 1939/1940 In August 1939 Adolf Hitler placed the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler and the SS-Verfugungstruppe (SS-VT) under the operational command of the OKH - Oberkommando Heer, (German army supreme headquarters). Thus, at the outbreak of hostilities, there were four SS military regiments: Leibstandarte, Deutschland, Germania and the new formation from Austria, Der Fuhrer (although this unit was not yet combat-ready). Events during the Invasion of Poland raised doubts over the combat effectiveness of the SS-VT. Their willingness to fight was never in any doubt; at times they were almost too eager to fight. The OKW - Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (Supreme headquarters, German armed forces) reported that the SS-VT had unnecessarily exposed themselves to risk and acted recklessly, incurring heavier losses than Army troops. They also stated that the SS-VT was poorly trained and its officers unsuitable for command. In its defence, the SS-VT insisted that it had been hampered by its fighting piecemeal instead of as one formation and improperly equipped to carry out what had been required of it. Reichsfuhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler, insisted that the SS-VT should be allowed to fight in its own formations, under its own commanders, while the OKW tried to have the SS-VT disbanded altogether. Hitler, unwilling to upset the army and Himmler, chose a different path. He ordered that the SS-VT form its own Divisions but that they would be under Army command."
