RE: Russia and Ukraine
August 17, 2024 at 8:36 pm
(This post was last modified: August 17, 2024 at 8:38 pm by Thumpalumpacus.)
(August 17, 2024 at 5:38 pm)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote: Yes, Hitler tried (annd for the same reasons as Putin), and towards the end of the war, Hitler Youth as young as 12 were on the lines at Normandy and The Battle of the Bulge. They suffered horrific losses in both engagements.
Not in those spots. HJ were used around Berlin, to be sure. But the Normandy divisions -- one of which was SS Hitler Jugend -- had as its youngest 16-17-year-olds. The Ardennes offensive didn't use HJ "troops" at all; they used overaged or disabled Volksgrenadier soldiers instead.
This isn't to argue your general point, but to clarify that Hitler Youth were really only used as "soldiers" once the battlefield got into Germany.
(August 17, 2024 at 5:38 pm)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote: What makes you think the Putin Youth won’t meet the same fate?
Boru
If that report is true, probably a worse fate, tbh. At least Hitler's youth could run home. If Putin's putting 14-year-olds into Ukraine, that's a pretty hard journey back to Volgograd or wherever.