(August 17, 2024 at 8:36 pm)Thumpalumpacus Wrote:(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.
Quote:In 1944, the 12th SS-Panzer-Division Hitlerjugend was deployed during the Battle of Normandy against the British and Canadian forces to the north of Caen. Over 20,000 German youths participated in the attempt to repulse the D-Day invasion;[63] while they knocked out 28 Canadian tanks during their first effort, they ultimately lost 3,000 lives before the Normandy assault was complete.[64] During the following months, the division earned a reputation for ferocity and fanaticism. When Witt was killed by Allied naval gunfire, SS-Brigadeführer Kurt Meyer assumed command and became the divisional commander at age 33.[65][f]
The SS Division Hitlerjugend or 12th SS Panzer Division "Hitlerjugend" (German: 12. SS-Panzerdivision "Hitlerjugend") was a German armoured division of the Waffen-SS during World War II.[4] The majority of its junior enlisted men were drawn from members of the Hitler Youth, while the senior NCOs and officers were from other Waffen-SS divisions. Most of the enlisted men were , starting from the ages of 16 or even 15.
My mistake on this one:
Quote:By 1945, the Volkssturm was commonly drafting 12-year-old Hitler Youth members into its ranks. During the , Axmann's Hitler Youth formed a major part of the last line of German defence
I really was thinking of the Battle of Berlin. Why I typed 'Battle of the Bulge' is anybody's guess. Good catch!
Boru
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