1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler - Western Front Normandy

Western Front Normandy

It was again part of the I SS Panzer Corps which at this time consisted of the 101 SS Heavy Panzer Battalion, Hitlerjugend, 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division Götz von Berlichingen and the Panzer Lehr Division. The LSSAH had been positioned north of the River Seine to counter any possible landing in the Pas de Calais so the first units did not arrive in Normandy until the night of the 27–28 June with the whole division taking another week to arrive. By 4 July the I SS Panzer Corps was reformed and now consisted of the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler and the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend. The first action they were involved in was the defence of Carpiquet village and aerodrome in what was known to the Allies as Operation Windsor. Next followed a number of Allied attacks Operation Charnwood and Operation Jupiter and on 12 July the LSSAH were in charge of the Caen south sector from Maltot in the west to the Caen – Falaise road in the east. During the night 14 – 15 July LSSAH was relieved by the 272nd Infantry Division and pulled back to a concentration area astride the Caen – Falaise road between Ifs and Cintheaux.