Actually, the 12th was known for being ok with prisoners, unless they were Canadian, who they pretty much gave no quarter.
Whats wrong with the canucks?
No one really knows. The 12th SS and the Canadians both had almost no quarter to each other, and when they did take prisoners, they were often still brutally beaten. Its hard to say who started it, but what is known is hundreds of 12th SS and Canadians were killed by the opposite in cold blood.
The 12th SS killed them because SS-Standartenfuhrer Kurt Meyer specifically ordered on June 7th that no prisoners were to be taken at the Juno beachhead. The first killings took place on June 7th and continued over the next month (Meyer was battlefield promoted to division commander on June 14th). 20 of the killings took place inside Meyer's headquarters at the Abbey d'Ardenne in Caen.
At the time, the reason Meyer gave for ordering the killings was because the division was low on food and he didn't want to have to feed prisoners.
Meyer was later brought to trial for war crimes, convicted and sentenced to hang. His sentence was later commuted to life in prison but he was released after 9 years.
As far as I know, the only person to ever claim that the killings were in revenge for Canadian killings of Hitlerjugend troops was Meyer at his trial. He also claimed he knew nothing about the killings of 20 POWs that took place inside his headquarters.
http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=memorials/ww2mem/ardennehttp://www.valourandhorror.com/DB/ISSUE/Abbaye/Now, for today's picture.
American and Chinese troops put flags on the first vehicle to cross the Ledo Road, Burma, January 1945.