When the Soviet offensive burst around Kiev in early November 1943, the Leibstandarte Division, as the premier Waffen-SS armoured formation was now titled, was released from its occupation duties in Italy for service on the Eastern Front and was rushed into position west of Kiev for a counterattack that aimed at Zhitomir, and the Soviet bridgehead on the Dnieper. The new crisis created a sense of urgency for the officers of the division, which had now been rested and refitted during its three-month break away from the bloodbath in the East. Here SS-Sturmbannführer Max Hansen with his staff watch the actions of the 2nd Battalion/SS-Panzergrenadier Regiment 1 during the drive to the heavily defended town of Radomyshl. Between 26 November and 23 December 1943, the panzers of the Leibstandarte Division, part of XXXXVIII Corps, defeated superior Red Army armoured forces at Radomyshl.
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