Item #4

Waffen SS General Officer Ranks

Please note: The information shared here is merely opinion-based criteria resulting from decades of study as an enthusiast and collector of this genre. It is not definitive, nor offered as “expert” opinion. There is still much we do not know and may never know about the manufacture and variants produced during WWII, and without surviving documentation, speculation will always be a part of this hobby for some material. I present this merely as a guide based on examples and information that I am comfortable with and use in my own collecting criteria.

The Waffen SS wore armed forces style General officer shoulderboards using the same style pip arrangements to indicate rank, yet much like the Luftwaffe, had their own style of collartabs which reflected the individual rank of the wearer. This collar rank system followed that of the shoulderboards in using a base pattern of three oakleaves to indicate General officer rank and the addition of pips to indicate the higher grades. The examples shown below are of the late war, second pattern, which went into effect in April of 1942 and remained until the end of the war. Construction was that of aluminm thread wire on a black velvet background.

Shoulderboards

In 1940 Waffen SS General officers were given a dual rank title (SS rank/Army equivalent rank) and allowed to wear army style General officer shoulderboards (a few W-SS Generals actually wore these before they were officially permitted). These boards were of the same style and construction as that of the other branches of service consisting of interwoven gold bullion and silver cords (or gold colored celleon and aluminum cords). The underlay for all Waffen SS General officers was a mouse gray color.

SS-Brigadefuhrer/Generalmajor der Waffen SS

Gold bullion outer cords with inner silver braided cord over mouse gray underlay, with no rank pips. This particular example is a slip-on board from the uniform of Waffen SS Brigadefuhrer Heinz Harmel and was given to American collector Bill McClure by Harmel in 1971.

vonscholzboard

SS- Gruppenfuhrer/Generalleutnant der Waffen SS

Gold bullion outer cords with inner silver braided cord on a mouse gray underlay, with a single, silver rank pip. This particular specimen is on the field uniform of Gruppenfuhrer Fritz von Scholz and exhibits much wear from his days on the front lines of the battles at Narva as divisional commander of “Nordland”.

(Courtesy Holzauge Historical collection)

wolff2

SS-OberGruppenfuhrer/General der Waffen SS

Gold celleon outer cords with inner silver aluminum braided cord on a gray underlay, with two silver washed rank pips. This example is attributed to Obergruppenfuhrer Karl Wolff.

(Costello collection)

SS-Oberst-Gruppenfuhrer/Generaloberst der Waffen SS

Gold bullion outer cords with inner silver braided cord, with three pips arranged in a triangle. This particular example is from the uniform of Oberst-Gruppenfuhrer Sepp Dietrich.

Only Paul Hausser and Sepp Dietrich held this rank in the Waffen SS.

(private collection.)

Himmlerstrap crop

Reichsfuhrer SS

Standard Allgemeine SS General’s shoulderboard with the addition of a rank device consisting of three oakleaves (as in the RFSS collar tab). This device was colored silver from 1934 until December of 1939 at which time it was changed to bronze. April of 1942 found another regulation changing it back again to silver. This example is from the white uniform of Reichsfuhrer Heinrich Himmler.

(private collection)

Collar Tabs

brigadefurher