The Waffen-SS were the elite combat arm of Adolf Hitler's personal bodyguard. Fighting wherever the fire was hottest, they had proved their mettle many times in the cauldron of battle on the Eastern Front. With the American and British forces poised to invade Normandy, they were brought west to France to rebuild, tripling their strength to become far stronger than the handful of regular Army Panzer divisions facing the Allies. When the Allies landed on D-Day, the SS were sent in to throw them back into the sea. In the battles that followed, their unswerving determination and stubborn refusal to retreat made them the most feared opponents the Allies faced.