realistically, how hard was training for child soldiers in terms of weapons designed for adults? did they have to work out to carry some of these heavy weapons? how effective where they in combat?
Fuck off Shoigu we're not going to help you make child soldiers.
inb4 the reddit crew served image
12. SS-Panzer-Division „Hitlerjugend“ (Hitler Youth)>* It was commanded by a cadre of experienced Waffen-SS officers and NCOs, many drawn from the 1. SS-Panzer-Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler>* Youthful fanaticism and veteran leadership gave the division high aggressiveness and cohesion, though sometimes at the cost of reckless tactics and heavy losses.>* It was one of the first German troops to engage the Allies on D-Day in Normandy. Caen was supposed to fall on the first day of D-Day (June 6, 1944). It took them 43 days (July 19, 1944) to capture the city.>* Hitler wanted to use them in Operation Lüttich, but Günther von Kluge declined for fear of an allied advance in Falaise. The 12th division holding open the corridor of the Falaise pocket helped ensure1 0,000 German soldiers to escape encirclement.>* In Operation Watch on the Rhine, it was involved in the Battle of the Elsenborn Ridge>* In Operation Spring Awakening, it was involved in fighting in the north of Lake Balaton. It was of the few armored divisions still operational, hich illustrates how the regime regarded it as a “fire brigade” unit for critical operations.>* After that, it was the long fight and retreat to Austria and surrender.
>>64273862https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Haoox1LIfrk
>>64273862https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luTVG04Cxt4
>>64273862They were mainly used as couriers and first aiders. Only in the last days of the war were children given suicide bombs or rockets to try to disable enemy tanks.
>>64275847My grandfather's unit got jumped by one of these Hitler Youth units late in the war and got their shit pushed in so they were not to be underestimated.
>>64276544>>64276544There's actual child soliders (kids with guns) and then there's mid-late teenagers who have been indoctrinated and trained in military adjacent youth organisations for several years. I was army cadet from age 12 to 18 and you got drilled in all the same weapon handling and section level While they are still technically children and not as effective as adult troops, calling them child soldiers does them a bit of a disservice. Of course once you get towards the war in actual German cities.you start to see younger and younger children.I was an army cadet age 12-18 and you get a similar level of weapon handling and section battle drills out of it that you get in the regular military basic training.
