New MiniArt Kit Coming Soon: 35475 U.S. 101ST AIRBORNE DIVISION NORMANDY 1944. SPECIAL EDITION
A bit loose with the naming given that 3/5 figures appear to be Germans
They’re also Waffen SS, so by default have to be members of 17SS PGD “Gotz von Berlichingen”, the only SS division anywhere near the 101st.
From the youthful appearance of the Germans on the box top art, I’m wondering if they’re supposed to be HJ? Although their expressions should not be so downcast; “Arrogant little b-st-rds” according to my Dad, who encountered some of them around that time; even after surrendering they continued to display a bad attitude…
Cheers,
M
Those brats would’ve been 8 or 9 in 1933, perfectly ripe & impressionable for total indoctrination. I wonder how much their bad attitude was based on the fact they’d failed to honour their oath to fight to the death for their Fuhrer.
Most of the rank and file of the SS units in Normandy were young. HJ was recruited from the senior year of the Hitler Youth, so 17-18, prior to doing their Labour Service (RAD) year. “Hohenstaufen” and “Frundsberg” were recruited mainly from youths doing their RAD service, so 18-19.”GvB” was made up of drafts from training schools (who would be the class of 1926, so 18), drafts from “Frundsberg” and ethnic Germans from the Balkans, so most of its soldiers would be pretty young. There is a common misconception that photos taken of young SS men in Normandy are automatically from “HJ”. In fact “HJ” fought exclusively on the British Commonwealth front around Caen, so it is unlikely they would come into contact with the 101st. Later a battle group of “Das Reich” was sent to the American front (it took “Das Reich” over a week to arrive in any strength, due to interdiction by Allied air forces and the Maquis), but I’m not sure the 101st was still in the line, despite SPR.