D
Some more KSK operatives! Sig Heil !!!
Quiet! What you just said is a criminal offence under the German penal code.
StGB - Einzelnorm
Sans political ideology, the Waffen SS were an effective, crack special forces group. On the military aspect, they should be read, and respected.
Sorry, but I disagree with your perception of the effectiveness of the Waffen-SS. In fact it became a subject of many WWII myths thanks to wartime propaganda and war diaries that contradicted actual events.
According to historians its contribution to Germany's war effort was marginal at best and during the Polish and French/Low Countries campaign, it merely constituted a tiny fraction of the German force and its casulties were rather high too. Furthermore, the soldiers had poor training and even the
SS-Junkerschulen (Officer candidate schools of the SS) barely improved the quality of the troops. Heck, Wehrmacht General Fedor von Bock visited the Totenkopf Division in April 1940 and said:
"Die Gefechtsausbildung der SS ist ungenügend. Das wird viel Blut kosten! Schade um das prachtvolle Menschenmaterial!" ("The combat training of the SS is inadequate. This will cost us a lot of men! What a pity about the precious manpower!")
Funnily enough, SS General Felix Steiner ridiculed the reliability of the Leibstandarte Division at a meeting of SS officers:
"Es ist rührend, aber wenn der Führer merkt, wie wenig seine blonden Götter können, dann würde er sie entlassen!" ("It sounds sad, but if the Führer realised how inept his blonde gods are, he would dismiss them!")
Some units received the newest equipment, such as Panther or Tiger tanks and benefited from an influx of the best recruits. There were underprivileged Waffen-SS formations however receiving inferior arms and mostly consisting of ethnic
Volksdeutsche or foreigners who were forced to join. Later in the war experienced, but physically disabled officers were recruited into the SS as well as young men from
Reichsarbeitsdienst camps.
The Waffen-SS did see some success in various battles though. The Totenkopf Division managed to defend the Demyansk Pocket early 1942, the Wiking Division evacuated 36,000 German soldiers from the Cherkassy Pocket and SS Divisions successfully forced British airborne forces to retreat in Arnhem, thus sealing the fate of Operation Market Garden. Nevertheless, the war has already been decided as these battles took place and the SS units sustained heavy casualties during assaults.
Waffen-SS: Tapperts "Totenkopf"-Division war berüchtigt - DIE WELT
Mythos Waffen-SS: Von wegen „blonde Götter“ - Hitlers Elitetruppen sind bis heute überschätzt - Mythos Waffen-SS: Hitlers überschätzte Elitetruppen - FOCUS Online - Nachrichten
Myth: The SS were an elite fighting force, especially their armoured divisions.
Fact: The success attributed to the SS is mostly based on their war diaries (Tigers in Combat). The diaries had little to do with reality (Tigers in Normandy). Even the Wehrmacht slashed the claims of the SS in half when estimating their performance, and Schneider’s research shows that even that was an optimistic figure. For example, Wittmann’s famous battle at Villers-Bocage where he is claims 20 kills only had 7 to his name. His victory was blown out of proportion by SS propaganda, since they were desperate for a tank ace among their own, routinely assigning an entire unit’s accomplishments to one tank/crew.
Most people focus on the three SS divisions that were LAH, Reich, and Totenkopf, which were equivalent to a Wehrmacht division at the best of times. The remaining SS divisions were barely Volkssturm quality, assigned to rear line duties such as executing civilians and fighting partisans. (Credit: Zinegata, Brickfight)
Common Myths About WWII | For the Record
On-topic: Danke für die Bilder,
@Bundeswehr.
Looks like KSK recruiters bring in the big / tall military pesonnel. Is there a height requirement here? My guess these boys are at least 6'2.
Not that I know of, I checked the Bundeswehr website and there is no height requirement in the requirements for application.
