Eastern Front
The division was posted to XLVIII Panzer Corps, a part of 4th Panzer Army, which was struggling to hold the line near Zhitomir. The division was broken up into several Kampfgruppe and thrown into action. On 18 November, Kampfgruppe Frey halted the advance of the Fifth Guards Tank Army near the town of Kotscherovo. Over the next two months, the division's Kampfgruppen saw very heavy fighting in the Zhitomir area, performing fire-brigade actions and enabling XLVIII Panzer Corps to hold the line.
In January 1944, one of the Leibstandarte's 101st SS Heavy Panzer Battalion Tiger commanders, Michael Wittmann, was awarded the Oakleaves to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his actions in halting the attack of an entire Soviet armoured brigade. The division was transferred to the Cherkassy area at the end of January, where it was assigned to III Panzer Corps; part of 1st Panzer Army.
When the 56,000 men of Gruppe Stemmermann were trapped in the Korsun Pocket in mid to late-January and early to mid-February 1944, the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, along with the remainder of III Panzer Corps and XLVII Panzer Corps were ordered to attempt to break the Soviet cordon and rescue the trapped forces. Hitler intervened, and ordered the relief attempt be transformed into an impossible attempt to counter-encircle two Soviet fronts. The LSSAH, along with other panzer units including Oberstleutnant Dr. Franz Bäke's 503rd Heavy Panzer Battalion, spearheaded the attack. Despite initial gains, the attack soon stalled due to a combination of the resistance of four Soviet tank corps and the thick mud of the rasputitsa. The exhausted Germans managed to reach the Gniloy Tikich River, where a small bridgehead was established. The survivors of the encirclement fought their way through to the bridgehead and by nightfall on 16 February the battle was over.
The majority of the LSSAH which amounted to 41 officers and 1,188 men was withdrawn to Belgium for rest and refit, however a Kampfgruppe was left behind. On 25 March, the entire 1st Panzer Army was encircled in the Kamenets-Podolsky Pocket. One of the LSSAH's Kampfgruppen took part in the desperate fighting to escape the encirclement, forming a part of the spearhead which linked up with the II SS Panzer Corps near Buczacz on 6 April. The shattered remnant of the Kampfgruppe was ordered to Belgium where it was to rest, refit and rejoin the rest of the division. The new LSSAH Division was reformed in Belgium and at full strength by 25 April.
Read more about this topic: 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler
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