Hubert Meyer

SS-Obersturmbannführer (Lieutenant Colonel) Hubert Meyer (5 December 1913 – 16 November 2012 ) was a German Waffen-SS officer who served with the 1.SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler and was one of the commanders of the 12.SS-Panzer-Division Hitlerjugend. After the war, he became active in the veteran's association HIAG. Until his death in 2012, he was the last living commander of any SS Division.

Early Life – Pre-war SS service
Meyer was born in Berlin on 5 December 1913. He joined the SS in 1933 and attended the SS Junkerschule in Bad Tölz, Bavaria. In 1937 as SS-Untersturmführer (Second Lieutenant), Meyer was given platoon command within the 10. Kompanie of the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler.

Early war campaigns
On 9 November 1938 Meyer was promoted to SS-Obersturmführer (First Lieutenant) and saw action during the invasion of Poland, invasion of Holland and invasion of France, winning the Iron Cross second class in November 1939. Following the fall of France Mayer became the commander of 10. Kompanie (which was later renamed as the 12. Kompanie) and in November 1940 was promoted to SS-Hauptsturmführer (Captain). Later, during the campaign in the Balkans, SS-Hauptsturmführer Meyer also won the Iron Cross-first class.

Operations in Russia
In the opening weeks of Operation Barbarossa, Meyer's 12 Kompanie participated in the LSSAH advance on Kiev. During this time Meyer's men were engaged by a detachment of well-concealed enemy snipers, and Meyer was severely wounded. Following his return from the battlefield he was posted to the Leibstandarte's Artillerieregiment for pre-General Staff training, where he remained until early 1943. On 14 February 1943 SS-Hauptsturmführer Meyer was given the command of III./SS-Pz.Gren.Rgt 1 and in this capacity participated in the Third Battle of Kharkov. On March 9, he was again wounded; this time by shrapnel from a grenade while leading a counter-attack south of Kharkov.

12.SS-Hitlerjugend
From June through September 1943, SS-Sturmbannführer Meyer attended the 10th General Staff Officer course and after graduating was assigned to the newly formed 12.SS-Panzer-Division Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth). After the divisional commander SS-Brigadeführer Kurt Meyer was captured on 6 September 1944 by Belgian partisans in the town of Durnal, Hubert Meyer took temporary command of the division. He relinquished his command on 24 October 1944 to SS-Brigadeführer (Brigadier General) Fritz Kraemer, but stayed with the division for the remainder of the war and surrendered to the Americans on 8 May 1945.

Post war
Meyer survived the war and became the official historian of the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend. He is also the author of two books on the division. The multi-volume German-language history of his division, entitled ''Kriegsgeschichte der 12. SS-Panzerdivision "Hitlerjugend"'', which was published in 1982 (ISBN 3-921242-51-7) and reprinted in 1996. The book was also translated into English and published in 1994 under the title The History of the 12.SS-Panzerdivision "Hitlerjugend" (ISBN 0-921991-18-5), and then reprinted in two volumes by Stackpole Books in 2005 as The 12th SS: The History of the Hitler Youth Panzer Division.

Dates of rank

 * SS-Untersturmführer [Second Lieutenant] : 1933–1938
 * SS-Obersturmführer [First Lieutenant] : 9 November 1938
 * SS-Hauptsturmführer [Captain] : 9 November 1940
 * SS-Sturmbannführer [Major] : 20 April 1943
 * SS-Obersturmbannführer [Lieutenant colonel] : 9 November 1944

Notable decorations

 * German Cross in Gold (6 May 1943)
 * Eastern Front Medal (1942)
 * Infantry Assault Badge in Bronze (1942)
 * Iron Cross Second (1939) and First (1941) Classes
 * Wound Badge in Black (1941)