Based on the experience of World War I, the German army paid a lot of attention to the development of both light and heavy infantry machine weapons in the interwar period. The result of these efforts was the introduction into service in 1934 of the very successful MG34 machine gun, which replaced the less handy and much heavier MG08 or leMG 08/15 rifles. During World War II, another, equally successful, but cheaper to produce design was introduced - the MG42. Both of these rifles were de facto the basic machine weapons of the German infantry and armored grenadiers during World War II. Their very high rate of fire and high ballistic parameters meant that they were perceived as the basic support weapon at the level of a platoon or company, and often even a team. Interestingly, thanks to the relatively low weight, they could be successfully used both in offensive and in defense. Very often, in the course of combat operations, the soldier responsible for servicing the MG34 or MG42 was assigned from 2 to 3 ammunition to ensure that the rest of the team was firing machine guns uninterruptedly.
Initially, the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler unit was a unit of about 120 people of the German dictator's bodyguard, which was formed in March 1933 and was commanded by Joseph "Sepp" Dietrich. The unit quickly grew to a unit of about 800 people, and the admission criteria were very strict. Not only were the physical abilities of the candidates guided, but absurd criteria such as "racial purity" were applied at the time, and the genealogy of candidates was checked not infrequently up to several generations back! At the outbreak of World War II, the unit was already a motorized regiment and fought in the September campaign (1939), and later also in Belgium and France in 1940. In 1940, the unit was expanded to the size of a brigade, and in 1941 it was sent to the campaign in the Balkans, where it fought in Greece, among others. From June 1941, the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler unit took part in Operation Barbarossa. In the summer of 1942, she was transferred to France and renamed the Panzer Grenadier Division. From the beginning of 1943, the division fought on the Eastern Front, in the territory of Ukraine, and in the summer of the same year it took part in the battles on the Kursk Arch. For a short time (in 1943) it was transferred to Italy, and at the end of 1943 it returned to the Eastern Front again, as an armored division. At the beginning of the following year (1944), the division was sent to Belgium, where its manpower and machinery were rebuilt. From June 1944, it fought with the Western Allies in Normandy, suffering heavy losses in the course of these fights. As a result, it was withdrawn to Germany and rebuilt again - in December 1944 the unit took part in the offensive in the Ardennes, but in January 1945 it was transferred to Hungary. However, it was decimated there, and in April of the same year its survivors forced their way west to surrender to the Allied forces. The Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler unit was considered the most elite among the Waffen SS divisions and often proved its high combat value. However, it should be remembered that its soldiers committed many war crimes during World War II, including murdering prisoners (to mention the crime in Taganrog or Malmeda) or civilians. Many soldiers and officers of this unit were put on trial (after 1945) - often sentenced to death.