The Himmler's SS (54 page)

A selection of Waffen-SS shoulder straps: A – M38 strap with obsolete black/aluminium twisted cord piping, for an SS-VT Sturmscharführer; B – M39 strap with white waffenfarbe piping, for an SS-Untersturmführer; C – M38 strap with chain stitch ‘1', for a Scharführer in SS-Totenkopfstandarte 1 ‘Oberbayern'; D – M40 strap with white waffenfarbe piping and machine-embroidered ‘LAH' slip-on tab, for an Unterscharführer in the Leibstandarte; E – M40 strap with chain stitch ‘4' slip-on tab, for a Scharführer in the 4th SS-Totenkopf Infantry Regiment.

In October 1943, Himmler cancelled the use of these ciphers for the duration of the war, on security grounds. In any case, units and specialist personnel were still readily identifiable by other badges. The only exception was the Leibstandarte, whose members were permitted to retain their LAH monogram as an honorarium.

Cuff titles, woven black tapes about 28 mm in width and 49 cm in length which were worn on the lower left sleeve of the tunic and greatcoat, became very distinctive features of SS uniform and, apart from identifying the unit of the wearer, were partly responsible for the remarkable
ésprit de corps
of the Waffen-SS. All prewar regiments and most ancillary formations of the SS-VT and SS-TV had their own cuff titles, which were handed over as part and parcel of the clothing issue. Each man received four, one for each of his uniforms, and they were expected to last him nine months. These early cuff titles were embroidered in Gothic lettering with the exception of the Leibstandarte's ‘Adolf Hitler' insignia, which featured the old German form of script known as Sütterlin, officially reserved for the Führer's guards from 1936. This archaic handwriting style had been promoted by Berlin graphics teacher Ludwig Sütterlin (1865–1917) and was widely taught in German schools until 1941.

W
AFFEN
-SS S
HOULDER
S
TRAP
B
ADGES

On 1 September 1939, the Gothic ‘SS' used on certain cuff titles was replaced by a runic version, and three months later all Gothic script was discontinued in favour of standard Latin lettering. In May 1940, the cuff titles worn by ancillary Waffen-SS units, for example ‘SS-Pioniersturmbann' and ‘SS-Nachrichtensturmbann', were abolished because they constituted a security risk. Regimental titles such as ‘Deutschland' continued to be used, however, even after the introduction of divisional titles. The latter did not materialise until 1942, and were worn by divisional personnel not entitled to regimental cuff titles. So a member of the signals battalion of the SS-Verfügungsdivision would wear the ‘SS-Nachrichtensturmbann' title until May 1940, then no cuff title at all, and finally the ‘Das Reich' title from September 1942.

The Leibstandarte's ‘Adolf Hitler' cuff title, hand-embroidered in Sütterlin script. This photograph of a captured tunic was taken by a British war correspondent in 1945. The Crimea campaign shield has been placed for effect only, and would normally be sewn on to the upper sleeve.

As the war progressed, cuff titles took on a new significance and were presented at solemn ceremonies during which unit commanders would remind recipients of the great honour being bestowed upon them and that they should do nothing to disgrace the names which their cuff titles bore. The exact criteria for awarding names and cuff titles are not known, but what is certain is that many SS divisions, such as the 14th and 15th, were never named, while some of those which were, such as ‘Handschar' and ‘Maria Theresa', never received cuff titles. Himmler apparently judged every application on its own merits, refusing some new units on the grounds that a cuff title had to be earned on the field of battle, and turning down others because they had been formed as a temporary wartime expedient from personnel considered racially unsuitable for SS membership.

Any Waffen-SS soldier transferring from one unit to another had to remove his old cuff title and replace it with that of his new unit. However, if the latter had not been awarded a cuff title, the man was permitted to continue to wear the title of his former unit. That explains why ‘Adolf Hitler' and ‘Der Führer' cuff titles featured among the officer cadre of the 24th SS Division in northern Italy at the end of the war, and why miscellaneous cuff titles were worn by SS paratroopers. On occasion, two cuff titles could be worn together. Officer cadets being trained at Bad Tölz, for example, were initially allowed to wear the ‘SS-Schule Tölz' cuff title above their own regimental or divisional titles, while war correspondents and military policemen often wore the ‘SS-Kriegsberichter' and ‘SS-Feldgendarmerie' titles below those of the regiment or division to which they were attached. The wearing of more than one cuff title in this fashion was forbidden in August 1943.

Cuff titles fell into four categories according to their method of construction:

1.
Hand-embroidered in aluminium wire or thread
Produced from 1933 until June 1942. For wear by all ranks until 1936, and thereafter by officers only.

2.
Machine-embroidered in white or silver-grey cotton thread
The so-called ‘RZM style'. Produced from 1936–43 for wear by other ranks only.

3.
Machine-woven in aluminium thread
Produced from 1939–43 for wear by officers only.

4.
Machine-woven in flat grey cotton or silken thread
The so-called ‘BEVO' pattern. Produced from 1943–5 for wear by all ranks.

While the foregoing details the intended recipients of the various manufacturing styles, it was not uncommon for officers to use other ranks' cuff titles on their field uniforms, or for NCOs to acquire officer quality titles for wear on their dress tunics. Moreover, old stocks of some early cuff titles continued to be worn long after they had been officially discontinued. A few rare or even unique styles are also known to have existed, one example being ‘Sepp' Dietrich's wartime ‘Adolf Hitler' cuff titles, which he had embroidered in gold bullion in the manner of a Wehrmacht general officer.

The table on p. 262 lists all SS-VT, SS-TV and Waffen-SS cuff titles which have been confirmed by contemporary photographic or documentary evidence as having been authorised and worn.

A small number of unapproved localised cuff titles, such as the ‘Narwa' and ‘Estland' titles worn by some members of the 20th SS Division, have also been confirmed from photographs.

The cuff titles in the table below were authorised during the war, but were never issued for a variety of reasons.

The SS arm eagle also came to be a distinctive part of Waffen-SS uniform. The eagle and swastika was established as the national emblem, or Hoheitsabzeichen, of the Third Reich on 7 March 1936, but the first SS tunic eagles were sported by ‘Sepp' Dietrich and others as early as the summer of 1935, with the newly introduced earth-grey uniform. The use of eagles on the right breast was restricted by law to the army, navy and air force, so members of the LAH and SS-VT took to wearing theirs on the upper left arm, in lieu of the gaudy Allgemeine-SS armband which was clearly unsuitable for field use. The pattern of sleeve eagle officially adopted by the armed SS in May 1936 was that introduced simultaneously for the railway police, with a right-facing eagle with dipping wings. It was discontinued after only two years, but was still being worn by some SS veterans as late as 1943. The second and definitive pattern of SS national emblem, with a left-facing eagle and straight wings tapering to a point, was devised in 1938 and was eventually produced in several variations. The commonest manufacturing method was machine-embroidery, in white or silver-grey cotton thread on black, and these RZM-style eagles came in the following three types, depending upon period of production:

U
NISSUED
C
UFF
T
ITLES

I
SSUED
W
AFFEN
-SS C
UFF
T
ITLES