The 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich
Author Yves Buffetaut
Year 2017
ISBN 978-1612-00-5256
Language English
Binding Paperback
Size 178x130mm (7in x 5.1in)
Price £19.99
Pages 128
The 2nd SS Division ‘Das Reich’, was a battlefront mainstay for Nazi Germany throughout World War Two right from the invasion of Poland in 1939 to their final surrender in May 1945. Between, it was switched back-and-forth between east and west, depending on the crisis, fighting in nearly every major campaign from Barbarossa to Normandy and from Kharkov to the Ardennes.
In Operation Barbarossa, Das Reich fought with Guderian’s Second Panzer Group, first in the drive on Moscow, then toward Kiev, then Moscow again. Pulled out of the line after gigantic casualties, it seized Toulon in France, before being sent back to Russia, as part of the SS Panzer Corps, to assist after the German debacle that was Stalingrad. Even at the tank-battle of Kursk, it was Das Reich at the forefront.
In June 1944, as a full SS-Panzer Division, Das Reich played an infamous role in its approach march to Normandy, as the French Resistance temporarily reached a high tide.
Das Reich fought in the Battle of the Bulge, and was then transfe…
