| rdfs:comment | - Before the 1 September 1939 attack on Poland, Adolf Hitler's personal bodyguard unit came from two distinct, independent units based in Berlin: the Chancellery Guards, assigned for the purpose by the army, and the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler ("SS bodyguard regiment 'Adolf Hitler'," often abbreviated to LSSAH), which replaced the Chancellery Guards. When hostilities started, Hitler ordered the LSSAH to participate in the campaign against Poland, leaving him with no personal bodyguard unit (except for a small formation from the Leibstandarte) keep in Berlin.
|
| abstract | - Before the 1 September 1939 attack on Poland, Adolf Hitler's personal bodyguard unit came from two distinct, independent units based in Berlin: the Chancellery Guards, assigned for the purpose by the army, and the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler ("SS bodyguard regiment 'Adolf Hitler'," often abbreviated to LSSAH), which replaced the Chancellery Guards. When hostilities started, Hitler ordered the LSSAH to participate in the campaign against Poland, leaving him with no personal bodyguard unit (except for a small formation from the Leibstandarte) keep in Berlin. At the time, a brilliant infantry instructor, Oberst (Colonel) Erwin Rommel, came to Hitler's attention. Impressed by Rommel's book on infantry tactics and holding him in high regard, Hitler put Rommel in charge of a new battalion being organized to function as his personal escort to the front in the absence of the Leibstandarte and other appropriate frontline units. This led to the formation of the Führerbegleitbattalion (FBB). By the time of the invasion of France and the Low Countries, Rommel was promoted to major general, and he left the FBB to take command of the army's 7th Panzer Division. The FBB started accompanying Hitler on his battlefield tours following the Battle of France.
|
