The Waffen-SS

Osprey Men at Arms #34

by Martin Windrow, Jeffrey Burn (Illustrator)

In the early 1920s, a tiny group was formed within the SA to serve as Hitler's personal bodyguard. Originally labelled the "Stosstruppe Adolf Hitler," they later became known as the SS – Schutz Staffeln, or "protection squads." From these humble beginnings, the SS rose to a nominal strength of 38 divisions of over 800,000 men by 1945, representing a sizeable portion of Germany's land forces and more importantly a quarter of her tank forces and a third of her mechanised infantry. Martin Windrow provides a splendid in-depth review of the history, uniforms and insignia of the infamous Waffen-SS of World War II.

Genres: History, World War II, Nonfiction, Military Fiction, Germany, 20th Century, War

48 pages, Paperback

First published March 26, 1982

About the author

Martin C. Windrow is a British historian, editor and author of several hundred books, articles and monographs, particularly those on organizational or physical details of military history, and the history of the post-war French Foreign Legion. He has been published since the mid-Sixties.

Reviews

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well done historical overview of this group. excellent pics used. Recommended

[Michael Dorosh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Revised Edition is actually a completely different version of the original edition, and included many improvements. However, the research is not flawless. One example is the lack of mention of the actual rank title for "der Spiess" - in the Army, he was called "Hauptfeldwebel", in the SS "Stabsscharführer" - but Windrow misidentifies this appointment title.

Organization of info seems poor - waffenfarbe regulations were complex and could have been more easily detailed in a chart or table.

Nonetheless basic information is quite good - but since MAA is replacing this title as well with a multi-part look at the divisions, this review may well be moot.

Good table of ranks with nice drawings of the rank insignia - collar, shoulder AND special green/black camo rank badges. Nice touch. Nice divisional thumbnail sketches also including special insignia, commanders names, dates of employment, and fate. Nice mix of photos also, from soldiers in the field to "celebrity" commanders.

Colour plates by Burn very nice also.