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Heinrich Himmler (October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and later the Minister of the Interior, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo. Serving as Reichsführer and later as Commander of the Replacement (Home) Army and General Plenipotentiary for the entire Reich's administration (Generalbevollmächtigter für die Verwaltung), Himmler rose to become the second most powerful man in Nazi Germany.

As overseer of the concentration camps, extermination camps, and Einsatzgruppen (literally: task forces, often used as killing squads), Himmler coordinated the killing of some six million Jews, between 200,000 and 500,000 Roma,[1][2] many prisoners of war, and possibly another three to four million Poles, communists, or other groups whom the Nazis deemed unworthy to live or simply "in the way", including homosexuals, people with physical and mental disabilities, Jehovah's Witnesses and members of the Confessing Church. Shortly before the end of the war, he offered to surrender both Germany and himself to the Western Allies if he were spared prosecution. After being arrested by British forces, he committed suicide before he could be questioned.

$199.95

ITEM NO: A80038

The US 29th Infantry Division was a United States infantry division that existed during World War I and World War II.

Nicknamed "Blue and Gray", the division's motto is "29 Let's Go," taken from General Eisenhower's inspiring speech to the troops preparing for the invasion of Normandy. The shoulder patch is a half-blue, half-gray circlecontaining the nomad, or "yin-yang," Korean symbol of eternal life; the symbol was approved 14 December 1917 and was designed by Maj. James Ulio. The uniting of the blue and grey symbolizes the fact that the division was composed of regiments from Virginia and Maryland that had fought on both sides of the American Civil War. It is currently part of the US Army National Guard.

In WWII, the 29th Division was formed on 3 February 1941 and departed for the United Kingdom on 5 October 1942 where it continued training in Scotland and England from October of 1942 up to June, 1944 in preparation for the invasion of France.

Teamed with the US 1st Infantry Division, the 116th Infantry Regiment of the 29th Division was in the first assault wave to Teamed with the US 1st Infantry Division, the 116th Infantry Regiment of the 29th Division was in the first assault wave to face of intense enemy fire but soon secured the bluff tops and went on to occupy Isigny on 9 June. The division cut across the Elle River and advanced slowly toward St. Lo, fighting bitterly in the Normandy bocage (hedge rows).

The 29th Infantry Division had spent 242 days in combat during campaigns in Normandy, Northern France, the Rhineland and Central Europe, earning four Distinguished Unit Citations in the process. Two soldiers of the division were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Also awarded were 44 DSCs, one DSM, 854 Silver Stars, 17 Legion of Merit, 24 Soldier's Medal and 6,308 Bronze Stars.

The 29th Division returned to the United States on January 4, 1946 and was demobilized a fortnight later.

The 82nd Airborne Division of the United States Army was formed originally as the 82nd Infantry Division on August 25, 1917, at Camp Gordon, Georgia. Since members of the division came from all 48 states, the unit was given the nickname "All-Americans," the basis for its famed "AA" shoulder patch. Famous soldiers of the division include Sergeant Alvin C. York and General James M. Gavin.

After the outbreak of World War II, the 82nd was reactivated on March 25, 1942, at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana, under the command of Major General Omar N. Bradley.

On August 15, 1942, the 82nd Infantry Division became the first airborne division in the U.S. Army, and was re-designated the 82nd Airborne Division. In April 1943, paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division deployed to North Africa under the command of Major General Matthew B. Ridgway to participate in the campaign to invade Italy. The Division's first two combat operations were parachute and glider assaults into Sicily on July 9 and Salerno on September 13, 1943. After that, the division also joined the invasion of Normandy. On June 5, 1944 and June 6, 1944, the paratroopers of the 82nd's three parachute infantry regiments and reinforced glider infantry regiment boarded hundreds of transport planes and gliders and began the largest airborne assault in history.

The division returned to the United States January 3, 1946. Instead of being demobilized, the 82nd made its permanent home at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and was designated a regular Army division on November 15, 1948. The 82nd was not sent to the Korean War, as both Presidents Truman and Eisenhower deemed it necessary to keep the division as a strategic reserve in the event of a Soviet ground attack anywhere in the world.

Afrikakorps The Desert Fox/Der Wustenfuchs “Erwin Rommel” ITEM NO: D80049


 

Erwin Rommel was born in Heidenheim, Germany, on 15th November, 1891. He joined the German Army in 1910. By the outbreak of the First World War Rommel had reached the rank of lieutenant. He fought on the Western Front and in January 1915 won the Iron Cross. In 1917 Rommel served on the Italian Front and after leading the attack on Monte Matajur, was promoted to captain. In October 1935 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel and began teaching at the Potsdam War Academy.

An infantry tactics book of Rommel's lectures was published in 1937 which was read by Adolf Hitler. Hitler was greatly impressed by Rommel's ideas and arranged him to command his HQ staff in Austria and Czechoslovakia. After that, Rommel was given command of the 7th Panzer Division that invaded France in May, 1940. Rommel's troops moved faster and farther than any other army in military history.

As a result of his exploits in France he was promoted to the rank of general. When Benito Mussolini asked for help in North Africa Adolf Hitler sent Rommel to command the new Deutsches Afrika Korps and successfully drove the British 8th Army out of Libya. He moved into Egypt but was defeated at El Alamein. With the USA Army landing in Morocco and Algeria, his troops were forced to leave Tunisia.

In the autumn of 1944 Hitler discovered that Rommel was plotting against him. On 14th October, 1944, Rommel was visited by two generals who had been sent by Hitler with an ultimatum: suicide with a state funeral and protection for his family and staff, or trial for high treason. Erwin Rommel took poison and officially it was stated that he had died of a brain seizure

The Hitler Youth was founded in 1922 as the Jungsturm Adolf Hitler. The group was based in Munich, Bavaria, and served as a recruiting ground for new Stormtroopers of the SA. The group was disbanded in 1923 following the abortive Beer Hall Putsch but was re-established in 1926, a year after the Nazi Party had been reorganized.

In April 1932 the Hitler Youth (as part of the SA) was banned by Chancellor Heinrich Brüning to stop the widespread political violence. But by June the ban was already lifted by his successor Franz von Papen as a way to appease Hitler. Then in 1933, Baldur von Schirach served as the first Reichsjugendführer (Reich Youth Leader) and devoted a great deal of time, finances, and manpower into the expansion of the Hitler Youth. By 1930, the group had over 25,000 members with the Bund Deutscher Mädel (BDM) (League of German Girls, for girls aged from fourteen to eighteen). The Deutsches Jungvolk was another Hitler Youth group, intended for still younger children, both boys and girls.

The Hitler Youth was organized into corps under adult leaders, and the general membership comprised boys aged fourteen to eighteen. After 1938, the Hitler Youth was a compulsory organization, mandatory for all young German men. The group was also seen as a recruiting ground for several Nazi Party paramilitary groups, with the Schutzstaffel (the SS) taking the most interest in the Hitler Youth. Members of the HJ were particularly proud to be bestowed with the single Sig Rune (victory symbol) by the SS. The SS utilized two Sig Runes as their mark, and this gesture served to symbolically link the two groups.

In 1940, Artur took over leadership of the Hitler Youth. Axmann began to reform the group into an auxiliary force which could perform war duties. By 1943, Nazi leaders began turning the Hitler Youth into a military reserve to draw manpower which had been depleted due to tremendous military losses. In 1943, the 12.SS-Panzer-Division Hitlerjugend, under the command of SS-Brigadeführer Fritz Witt, was formed. The Division was a fully equipped Waffen-SS panzer division, with the majority of the enlisted cadre being drawn from Hitler Youth boys between the ages of sixteen and eighteen. The division was deployed during the Battle of Normandy against the British and Canadian forces to the north of Caen. During the following months, the division earned itself a reputation for ferocity and fanaticism.

The Hitler Youth was disbanded by Allied authorities as an integral part of the Nazi Party. Some members of the Hitler Youth were accused of war crimes; however, as the organization was staffed with children, no serious efforts were made to prosecute these claims. While the entire Hitler Youth was never declared a criminal organization, the Hitler Youth adult leadership corps was deemed to have committed crimes against peace in corrupting the young minds of Germany. Many top Hitlerjugend leaders were put on trial by Allied authorities, with Baldur von Schirach sentenced to twenty years in prison. Schirach was convicted on crimes against Humanity for his actions as Gauleiter of Vienna, not his leadership of the Hitler Youth.
 

SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgs Division “Prinz Eugen”
SS-Obersturmführer - Herbert Zeller ITEM NO: D80041

The Division was formed in March 1942 by volunteers but this later changed when conscription was introduced. The unit itself was formed by a SS Selbstschutz (SS Protection Force) and the Einsatz-Staffel (ES) (Also called Prinz Eugen) from Croatia and named SS-Freiwilligen-Division Prinz Eugen.

The Gebirgs Division was formed in autumn 1942 when it gathered some 21,500 soldiers. Its weaponry was mainly composed of captured equipment such as Czech machine guns and French light tanks It was designated to the Balkans as an anti-partisan mountain division – the fist such division in Yugoslavia since 1941.

The first actions Prinz Eugen participated near the Serbian-Montenegro border in the mountains east of the Ibar River. Prinz Eugen advanced alongside the 1. Gebirgs-Division, elements of the “Brandenburg” Regiment,  369. (Kroatische) Infanterie-Division, 118. Jäger-Division and 104. The Division was reorganized on 22 October 1943 and was renamed to 7. SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgs-Division Prinz Eugen. The next big offensive, in which Prinz Eugen participated, was the assault on Drvar, codenamed Rosselsprung, which began on 25 May 1944. The goals of this operation were to kill or capture Tito on the Drvar island with the SS-Fallshirmjäger-Bataillon 500, the 1. Brandenburg Regiment of the Division Brandenberg and other units with a massive support of the Luftwaffe.

On 21 September l944, it was at that time that the division saw action in one of the most crucial operations in the Balkans so far. Linking up with 13. Waffen-Gebirgs-Division der SS Handschar (kroatische Nr. 1) the remnants of the 23. Waffen-Gebirgs-Division der SS Kama (kroatische Nr. 2) and 21. SS Waffen-Gebirgs-Division der SS Skanderbeg (albanische Nr. 1), Prinz Eugen created the Vardar corridor in Macedonia allowing the retreat north of  350,000 German soldiers from occupation duties in the Aegean and Greek regions.

In the beginning of November the "SS Skanderberg" Division was disbanded and its remnants incorporated into the 14. Regiment of Prinz Eugen, which received its honour title "Skanderbeg". The fighting around Nisch in October caused the unit some heavy casualties and the 7th SS was sent for refreshing. In January 1945 the Division once again fought the Red Army and and Tito’s partisans around Otok and Vukovar. The retreat from Bosnia continued and Prinz Eugen soon retreated to Croatia in April, where it was to hold its positions south of Karlovac on 2 May 1945. On 10 May 1945 the Division retreated towards Celje in Slovenia where it surrendered on 11 May 1945 to Yugoslav forces.

The history of the Sturmabteilung (SA), often referred to as the "brown shirts", began when the Rollkommando was formed on1920 to protect the meetings held by the Deutsche Arbeiter Partei (DAP).

The SA was formally formed on 4th Nov 1921 following a party meeting when a large number of opponents attempted to disrupt it but was beaten and thrown out by the men of the Turn- und Sportabteilung.

At the end of 1921 there was a conflict between Röhm and Hitler, Röhm wanted to train the SA as an army but Hitler wanted to use it solely for propaganda and intimidating opponents.

Klintzsch left the command of the SA 11 May 1923 to return to Brigade Ehrhardt and was replaced by Hauptmann Hermann Göring. Göring reorganized the SA according to military lines and divided it into standarten, sturmbannen and hundertschaften. AVehrkehrsabteilung was formed in Munich of men with access to or knowledge cars or motorcycles, this would later evolve into the NSKK. An elite guard unit, the Stabswache, was also formed, but it later merged with the Stosstrupp Hitler and later evolved into the SS.

Hitler took the post as Oberster SA-Führer personally on 2nd Sep 1930 and the leader of the SA was now referred to as the Stabschef. Hitler recalled Röhm from Bolivia and he was made Stabschef 5th Jan 1931.

In 1934 the Nacht der langen Messer (night of the long knives) ended with Röhm and other SA leaders carried out by the SS which would take the SA's place as the leading Nazi organization

6.SS-GEBIRGS-DIVISION "NORD"

USMC 1st Marine Regiment

Luftwaffe Infantry Division

Grossdeutchland Division 16. Kompany

The regiment was initially formed at Camp Toccoa, Georgia in 1942 where it earned its motto, "Currahee," after Currahee Mountain located inside the boundaries of the camp. The Cherokee word, which translates to "Stands Alone," also became the unit's motto. During World War II, the only commander of the regiment was Colonel Robert F. Sink. As such, the 506th was sometimes referred to as the "Five-Oh-Sink." On June 10th, 1942, the 506th became part of the 101st Airborne Division.
The 506th would participate in three major battles during the war: D-Day, Operation Market Garden, and the Battle of the Bulge.
Like almost all paratroop units, the 506th was widely scattered during the Operation Chicago night drop on the morning of D-Day. The most famous action for the 506th on D-Day was the Brécourt Manor Assault. Although promised they would be in battle for just 3 days, the 506th did not return to England for 33 days, participating in the battle for Carentan. Of about 2000 men who jumped into France, 231 were killed in action, 183 were missing or POWs, and 569 were wounded - about 50% casualties for the Normandy campaign.
The airborne component of Operation Market Garden, Operation Garden was composed of American units (101st Airborne Division, the 82nd Airborne Division, and the IX Troop Carrier Command), British units (1st Airborne Division) and Polish units (1st Independent Parachute Brigade). The airborne units were dropped near several key bridges along the axis of advance of the ground forces, Operation Garden, with the objective of capturing the bridges intact in order to allow a deep penetration into German occupied Holland and to capture the key bridge crossing the Rhine River at Arnhem.
The 101st Airborne was assigned five bridges just north of the German defensive lines northwest of Eindhoven. The parachute drop was in daylight resulting in well targeted and controlled drops into the designated drop zones. The 101st captured all but one bridge, the one at Son which was destroyed with explosive by the German defenders as the airborne units approached the bridge (the units were of the 82nd Airborne). The ground forces of XXX Corps linked up with elements of the 101st Airborne on the second day of operations but the advance of the ground forces was further delayed while engineers erected a Bailey Bridge at Son replacing the destroyed bridge. XXX Corps then continued its advance into the 82nd Airborne area of operations where it was halted just shy of Arnhem due to German counter attacks along the length of the deep penetration.
The 101st Airborne continued to support XXX Corps advance during the remainder of Operation Market Garden with several running battles over the next several days.
The unit was put back on the line on April 2nd, and continued so until the rest of the war, taking light casualties. It assisted in the encirclement of the Ruhr Pocket and the capture of Berchesgarden. The 506th began training to be redeployed to the Pacific War but the war ended in August 1945.

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