SS Panzergrenadier Brigade 51 was a short-lived

Waffen-SS The (; ) was the military branch, combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscr ...

unit formed in June 1944 from SS ''Kampfgruppen'' (Combat Group) 3. Although designated as

panzergrenadier (), abbreviated as ''PzG'' (WWII) or ''PzGren'' (modern), meaning ''Armoured fighting vehicle, "Armour"-ed fighting vehicle "Grenadier"'', is the German language, German term for the military doctrine of mechanized infantry units in armoured fo ...

(

mechanized infantry Mechanized infantry are infantry units equipped with Armoured personnel carrier, armored personnel carriers (APCs) or infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) for transport and combat (see also armoured corps). As defined by the United States Army, me ...

) the unit was only equipped with wheeled vehicles. The

SS Main Office The SS Main Office (; SS-HA) was the central command office of the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) in Nazi Germany until 1940. Formation The office traces its origins to 1931 when the SS created the SS-Amt to serve as an SS Headquarters staff overseeing ...

ordered it redesignated as the 27th SS Panzer Division on 10 August, but this was strictly notional. It played a minor role in the

Battle of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembour ...

before it was merged into the 38th SS Panzergrenadier-Regiment of the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division ''Götz von Berlichingen'' on 8 August. These units were specially formed as quick reaction forces that could be speedily deployed to any area in the West to repel Allied invasion attempts.

War crimes

Soldiers from the Brigade 51 was responsible for the massacre in

Buchères Buchères () is a commune in the Aube department in north-central France. World War II On 24 August 1944 men of the 51st SS-Brigade massacred 68 people, of whom ten were children under ten year old, five were elderly above seventy years, inc ...

, France, 24 August 1944 when 68 civilians (68 people, of whom 10 children under ten year old, 5 elderly above seventy years, 35 women and three infants of 18, 11 and 6 months) were killed in a reprisal following an ambush by partisans against the unit. It was also involved in several other atrocities against civilians in the

Troyes Troyes () is a Communes of France, commune and the capital of the Departments of France, department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within ...

area. James Pontolillo, ''Murderous Elite: The Waffen-SS and its complete record of war crimes'', page 140-141

Notes

Bibliography

*
Crimes allemands : Le Martyre de Buchères (Aube) : 24 août 1944
', Troyes : Grande impr. de Troyes, 1945, 48 p.
ÉGO 1939-1945 - Centre de Recherche d'Histoire Quantitative (CRHQ)/ par Françoise Passera
* Richard Landwehr, ''Alarm Units ! SS-Panzergrenadier Brigades 49 and 51'', Merriam Press Siegrunen (Monograph Series), third edition 2012 * Tessin, Georg. ''Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939–1945; Band 5 - Die Landstreitkräfte 31–70'' Frankfurt am Main: Verlag E. S. Mittler, 1976 * :fr:Roger Bruge, ''1944, le temps des massacres. Les crimes de la Gestapo et de la 51è brigade SS'', Albin Michel, 1994

War crimes

Notes

Bibliography

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