(Ebook) 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend: Volume 1 - From Formation to the Battle of Caen by Massimiliano Afiero & Raphael Riccio ISBN 9781636241692, 1636241697

(Ebook) 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend: Volume 1 - From Formation to the Battle of Caen by Massimiliano Afiero & Raphael Riccio ISBN 9781636241692, 1636241697

About the Author1 Massimiliano Afiero: Massimiliano Afiero was born in Afragola, Italy, in 1964. An information technology teacher and programmer, he has been interested in military history since his youth. He has published widely and has been involved in the editing and development of several magazines including Volontari, SGM, Ritterkreuz and The European Volunteer, and the Fronti di Guerra series. Since January 2017, he has been Editor-in-Chief of the quarterly magazine The Axis Forces. The 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend was formed in 1943 from members of the Hitler Youth who had been born in 1926, primarily as an emergency response force in France to repel the expected Allied invasion from the sea. Training was initially haphazard due to lack of equipment, however in March 1944 it was attached to I SS Panzer Corps and transferred to Normandy. Based around Caen, it was intended to repel a possible and expected invasion from the sea. When the invasion came in June, it was one of the two closest panzer divisions to the landing beaches, engaging Allied paratroopers at dawn. Once the Allied bridgehead was established, Hitlerjugend deployed to Caen.