SS DEFENDERS
“FORMED IN THE 1920S AS HITLER’S PERSONAL BODYGUARD, THE LEIBSTANDARTE GREW TO REGIMENTAL AND DIVISIONAL STRENGTH”
12TH SS PANZER DIVISION HITLERJUGEND
21,300 TROOPS; 229 TANKS AND SELF-PROPELLED ASSAULT GUNS
In early 1943 the nucleus of the 12th SS Panzer Division was formed around a cadre from the First SS Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler. The emphasis was on recruiting young men of the
