9th SS Panzer Division Hohenstaufen

9th SS Panzer Division Hohenstaufen

The 9th SS Panzer Division "Hohenstaufen", also known as SS-Panzergrenadier-Division 9, SS-Panzergrenadier-Division 9 Hohenstaufen or 9. SS-Panzer-Division Hohenstaufen, was a German Waffen-SS Armoured division which saw action on both the Eastern and Western Fronts during World War II. The division was activated on the 31 December 1942. The men of the division were German conscripts aged 18, with a cadre of experienced staff from the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler. Their first action was in March 1944 in Poland, they were then moved to Normandy in June 1944. After the retreat from France they were moved to Arnhem in September 1944, to rest and refit and became involved in the Allied parachute landings. Their next action was the German advance in the Ardennes in the winter of 1944–1945. After the defeat in the Ardennes they were then moved to Hungary, and took part in the fighting to the west of Budapest in February and March. Falling back into Austria the division surrendered to the advancing United States Army on the 5 May 1945, at Steyr.