The Waffen-SS (2)

Illustrated with rare photographs from private collections, the text details the organisation, uniforms and insignia of these key divisions of the SS, and summarises their battle record.

The military branch of the Nazi SS security organisation grew by the end of World War II from a handful of poorly regarded infantry battalions in 1939, into a force of more than 30 divisions including units of every type. This text details their organisation, uniforms and insignia and their battle record.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 squad". This second of four titles covers the first wave of expansion: the Sixth Division "Nord"; the Austrian Seventh Mountain Division "Prinz Eugen" which fought Tito's partisans; the housed cavalry of Eight Division "Florian Geyer" which operated on the Eastern Front; and the two formidable new Panzer Divisions, Ninth "Hohenstaufen" and Tenth "Frundsberg", which fought the Western Allies in 1944.