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Just wondering if any one could help me get a better understanding on the topic of SS Uniforms, preferably the black ones. I have listed below some areas that hold particular fascination and i would appreciate any help, no matter how small, as i am new to this subject. Thanks.
1. SS-Leibstandarte 1933-39, did they wear a black dress uniform when not on formal guard / parade duty? If yes, did this continue through the war years or did they revert to Field Grey as per regular units;
2. SS-Leibstandarte 1939-45, guard / parade uniforms. Are there any detailed photos or good reference books showing this uniform?
3. SS-Leibstandarte in general - black uniforms with black belts, cross-belts etc?
1. SS-Leibstandarte 1933-39, did they wear a black dress uniform when not on formal guard / parade duty? If yes, did this continue through the war years or did they revert to Field Grey as per regular units;?
Slightly simplified (!), it breaks down like this:
In the pre-war years, the black uniform was the only permitted parade-, dress- and walking out uniform for the entire SS including the LSSAH.
However, the full-time, barracked and armed formations (LSSAH & SSVT, SSTV) already used other uniform colors for everyday work-/field-/barracks- etc. duty: earth grey (SSVT), earth brown (SSTV) and field grey (initially only the LSSAH but soon all of the aforementioned). Various drill and sports uniforms were used as well.
Wear of the black uniform by these armed formations quickly ceased altogether after the outbreak of WW2. During the war years, the black uniform was still worn by the part-timers of the Allgemeine SS and by the "Germanic" SS formations.
by Spindler
2. SS-Leibstandarte 1939-45, guard / parade uniforms. Are there any detailed photos or good reference books showing this uniform?
No special guard or parade uniform for the LAH existed during wartime.
Reference books on Waffen-SS uniforms and insignia are numerous.
By far the best standard reference for Waffen-SS uniforms is "Uniforms of the Waffen-SS" (3 volumes) by the late Michael D. Beaver with its companion titles "SS Helmets" (M. Beaver with Kelly Hicks) and "The Collector's Guide To The Distinctive Cloth Headgear Of The Allgemeine And Waffen-SS" (M. Beaver with William Shea) Pricey, but worth it.
A still indispensible classic is "Uniforms of the SS" (6 volumes) by Andrew Mollo.
For the Leibstandarte specifically, Stan Cook and R. James Bender's "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler - Uniforms, Organization and History" is also recommended, but this work is restricted to the pre-war years.
For more general information, the various Osprey Military titles are also quite good, for example the four volumes on the Waffen-SS from their MAA series.
by Spindler
3. SS-Leibstandarte in general - black uniforms with black belts, cross-belts etc?
Originally, all leather equipment used by the Leibstandarte was black as it was for all other branches and units of the SS.
In 1936, distinctive white leather equipment was introduced exclusively for the Leibstandarte. This consisted at first of white leather belts, cross straps, bayonet frogs and pistol holsters, soon followed by back straps and eventually ammunition pouches.
Officers originally wore the white leather officers' version of the belt until the new brocade belt was introduced in 1937.
Wartime uniforms were field grey. (The white leather equipment was only worn with the black unform.)
See Mollo vol 3. In addition to the nice list of sources well cited above (whereby the Beaver volumes are not as clear as concerns the organization of the SS as is Mollo...) you should also look at the French vols. on the LAH (Heimdal) which contain rather more archival pictures with photos to show the evolution of the uniform in the brief period 1933-1939. I shall leave to others the matter of the various colors of grey used in the years 1934/5 until 1939. The piece I enclose below was, in fact, likely a parade or I Garnitur uniform, especially because the thing still has belt hooks. The surest method to follow the evolution of said uniform is via dated photos, the best collection of which are found in the Heimdal Press works.
FB - Many thanks for your assistance in answering this one so thoroughly, I am indebted to you. Can you add any more information on the Black Trench / Long coat seen in the archive footage of the Leibstandarte when on parade or ceremonial duties? I have also seen same coat with the lapels when folded outwards being white - I presume for officer rank only?
FB - Many thanks for your assistance in answering this one so thoroughly, I am indebted to you. Can you add any more information on the Black Trench / Long coat seen in the archive footage of the Leibstandarte when on parade or ceremonial duties? I have also seen same coat with the lapels when folded outwards being white - I presume for officer rank only?
Many thanks.
Said lapels were light grey and for flag rank and above. Someone here has an example to post. I do somewhere, but I cannot find it at the moment. Bob Coleman has a senior rank coat, as does Peter Jenkins.
PS I did find an image of Jenkins' piece, but it is a "bmp" and I cannot post it or am too dumb to do so.
Also did the Allgemeine have a black coat with white lapels? Have seen some photos with Himmler etc wearing this type.
Thanks
flag rank is US Navy speak for general or admiral rank officer.....
All branches of the SS with the black uniform with the rank of Oberfuehrer and above had silver grey lapels and white piping on the front of the coat. Such was also the same for the field grey uniform introduced ca. 1937/8.
Happy lapels to all.
Despite what others suggest, the best work on all of this is still the 6 volumes of Mollo. The Beaver books are attractive, but they are too focused on the accidental circumstance of certain pieces in certain collections, and the later work is not comprehensive in the manner that Mollo remains. I am sure I will irritate a lot of you with this generalization, but it is no less the case. The organization of the SS is the key to understanding its uniforms, since the latter diverges from military organization or paramilitary organizations familiar to North America and western Europe.
Black SS Uniforms - A better understanding.
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by Spindler
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