Commanded initially by the brutal Theodore Eicke until his death in action in February 1943, the unit was composed of a mix of pre-war Totenkopf personel (mainly the first three Standarte of the division) along with personel from the SS-VT and the Allgemeine SS. The unit was distinctive by its adoption of the skull and cross-bones collar tab rather then the usual SS lightening bolts.The same skull and crossbones device was used on the units vehicles. Eicke taught his soldiers to be brutal, swift and brave. This teaching was rewarded with great success, but a very high casualty rate.
The Totenkopf division did not exist as such in the Polish campaign, although some elements were used to help staff Einzatsgruppen behind the front lines, their appauling behaviour causing outrage in the Heer command.
After the Polish campaign, the unit took part in the battle of France, where it is perhaps best remembered for the Le Paradis massacre of nearly 100 British soldiers.
Totenkopf naturally took part in the war against the Soviet Union, and was engaged in battles such as Demjansk, Kharkhov, Kursk and Budapest.
The unit eventually attempted to surrender to the US army at Linz, they however in spite of promising Totenkopf its protection, swiftly handed them over to the Russians. By far the majority of the surviving troops were more of less immediately murdered by their Soviert captors, only a handful returning home long after the end of the war.
Notable Totenkopf personel include Fritz Christen, the first,and youngest enlisted man to receive the Kinights Cross for single-handedly defending a strongpoint from Soviet tanks.
Haupsturmfuhrer Max Seela won his Knights cross as commander of the units Pioneer battalion.
Wilfred Richter won his RK in command of a StuG battery, in actions against T-34s.
Hopefully between us we can flesh this out a little more?
