What did the SS wear?

The majority of SS personnel wore a variation of the Waffen-SS uniform or the grey-green SS service tunic. Branches with personnel that normally would wear civilian attire in the Reich (such as the Gestapo and Kripo) were issued grey-green SS uniforms in occupied territory to avoid being mistaken for civilians.

What is the name of the military arm of the SS?

The Waffen-SS (German: [ˈvafn̩ʔɛsˌʔɛs], “Armed SS”) was the military branch of the Nazi Party’s SS organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with volunteers and conscripts from both occupied and unoccupied lands.

What does the SS stand for in the German army?

Schutzstaffel
SS, abbreviation of Schutzstaffel (German: “Protective Echelon”), the black-uniformed elite corps and self-described “political soldiers” of the Nazi Party.

What is the difference between the Waffen SS and the Wehrmacht?

The only really major difference between the 2 was that the SS was more involved in the security of the Nazi Party while the Wehrmacht was more involved in fighting the war. Other than that the 2 organizations were pretty similar.

Why are boats called SS?

Ship prefixes used on merchant vessels are mainly to point out the propulsion technique employed in the ship, such as the abbreviation “SS” means “steamship”, indicating that the ship runs on steam propulsion.

What kind of uniforms did the SS wear?

Once the war began, the black uniform was seldom worn. The combat units of the SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT) and the later Waffen-SS wore a variation of the field-grey (grey-green) ( feldgrau) army uniform with SS insignia. The majority of SS personnel wore a variation of the Waffen-SS uniform or the grey-green SS service tunic.

What does the 3rd Waffen SS division symbol mean?

It gained notoriety as the division symbol of the 3rd Waffen SS Division, Totenkopf, the Death Heads. The division marker of the 3rd Waffen SS Panzer Division Totenkopf, they served the entire war on the Eastern Front and were famous for both their superb combat performance and their laundry list of war crimes.

What were the uniforms of the Schutzstaffel?

The uniforms and insignia of the Schutzstaffel were paramilitary ranks and uniforms used by the Schutzstaffel (SS) between 1925 and 1945 to differentiate that organization from the regular German armed forces, the German state, and the Nazi Party .

What do the numbers on the right collar of SA uniforms mean?

On the right collar of SA uniforms was worn a patch with two numbers indicating Standarte and Sturmbann affiliation. Because the SS numbered fewer than a thousand men, it did not adopt the Sturmbann unit at this time, and right-hand SS collar patches displayed the number of the Standarte only.