The Hitler youth was the second oldest paramilitary Nazi group, founded one year after the Sturmabteilung (SA) Stormtroopers. By 1943, Nazi leaders began turning the Hitler youth into a military reserve to draw manpower which had been depleted due to tremendous military losses. That year the 12.SS-Panzer-Division Hitlerjugend was formed. The Division was a fully equipped Waffen-SS panzer division with the majority of the enlisted cadre being drawn from Hitler youth boys between the ages of 16 and 18. During the Battle of Berlin, Axmann´s Hitler youth formed a major part in the last line of German defense, and reportedly contained among the fiercest German soldiers.