The Reaper's Harvesting Summer

'I know every single one of these grenadiers. The oldest is barely eighteen. These boys have not yet learned how to live, but by God they know how to die!'

These were the words of the division's commanding officer, SS Oberfuhrer Kurt Meyer for his own men - men admired even by their very opponents. Established in 1943, the 12th SS Panzer Division was designed to become an elite unit, consisting of 17 year-old youths, '... a generation of future soldiers, tough as leather and hard as Krupp steel', commanded by a nucleus of hardened SS officers and NCOs. < This is a detailed history of the division from its formation, all through the Normandy campaign where it received its baptism of fire. Although employed in the field for the first time, those young Waffen SS soldiers fought with a tenacity and ferocity unexcelled by any other unit Allied or German deployed in the invasion front, defending doggedly every single yard of ground from Caen to Falaise - a distance of just 25 miles, for which the Canadian and British forces fought hard to capture, paying a high price in human lives.

About the Author

Angelos Mansolas was born in 1962, Athens, Greece. Interested in aviation from an early age, he worked in the Hellenic Air Force for 30 years as a Communications Technician, retiring in 2012 with the rank of Flight Lieutenant. He is a dedicated Military History author and researcher. Since 1996 he has worked as author/writer and aircraft colour-profile artist for several Greek-language history magazines, writing articles and monographies. He currently works for the monthly Greek magazine 'Military History'. He specializes in Byzantine History, American Civil War, Military Aviation and WWI & WWII battles.