Raise the Flag!: The 18th Waffen SS Panzergrenadier Division 'Horst Wessel'

The Division was created as part of the 1944 expansion of the Waffen SS and was rooted in Hitler’s policy of divide and rule that he implemented even amongst his closest confidants. It was Hitler himself who made the decision that the division should be manned using volunteers from the Sturm Abteilung (SA) and bearing the name of the SA ‘martyr’ Horst Wessel, knowing that this would be anathema to Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS and one of Hitler’s closest supporters. Virtually no voluntee...