1st SS Panzer Division, December 1944

German newsreel footage shows the 1st SS Panzer Division fighting near Stoumont, Belgium, on 19 December 1944. The SS-Panzerdivision "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler" was a Waffen SS Panzer Division in service from 1933 to 1945. During the Ardennes Offensive from 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945, an operation know to the Allies as the Battle of the Bulge, the 1st SS Panzer spearheaded the 1st Panzer Corps’ push towards the Meuse River, with Antwerp as the ultimate objective. A task force led by Joachim Peiper led the division, and on 17 December Peiper’s men captured, disarmed, and then shot 127 American prisoners, eighty-four of which were killed.

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