In the spring of 1943 the German Military was facing a serious manpower shortage following the surrender of the 6th Army at Stalingrad. Plans were put forth to create a 12th division in the Waffen-SS. Unlike some other divisions which were made up of foreign volunteers, this division would be created using the all German members of the Hitler Youth.

By the summer of 1943 the required number of recruits had arrived at their training grounds. The boys were of the age group born in 1926 and most were 16 or 17 years old. They were trained by officers and NCOs from the 1st SS Panzer Division, some other Waffen-SS members and some Wehrmacht officers.

In April 1944 the 'HJ' Division, as it was called, moved into its reserve area northwest of Paris and was declared fully operational. On D-Day, June 6, 1944 the HJ Division received the following orders. 'Operating on the left flank of the 21st Panzer Division throw the enemy west of the Orne into the sea and destroy him.'

The division of 20,540 men marched into the area to the north and west of the city of Caen. The British and Canadian troops had orders to capture Caen within 24 hours of the D-Day landings. On the morning of June 7th the HJ Division attacked and delivered many stinging defeats to the allies on that first day of battle. The HJ Division fought so well that they kept the allies from taking Caen for over a month. Although they were outnumbered both in men and material, the fighting spirit of this elite division stopped operations 'Epsom' and 'Goodwood' in their tracks.

The battle for Normandy took its toll on the division and they came out of the Falaise pocket with a divisional strength of 12,500 men. Following the invasion battles the division was sent to Germany for refitting and on December 16, 1944 was once again in action. This time it was against the Americans in the Ardennes Forest which became known as the 'Battle of the Bulge'. After the failure of the Ardennes offensive the division was sent east to fight the Russian Army near Budapest.

The HJ Division eventually withdrew into Austria and on May 8, 1945 they surrendered to the Americans in Enns with a strength of about 10,000 men. Proud and defiant until the end, the Hitlerjugend Division refused to drape their vehicles with white flags as ordered by the Americans and instead marched into captivity as if on the parade ground.