Tag: Waffen

Free Download Mark C. Yerger – Waffen-SS Commanders: The Army, Corps and Divisional Leaders of a Legend Kruger to Zimmermann
Schiffer Publishing | 1999 | ISBN: 076430769X | English | 400 pages | PDF | 218.16 MB
The units of the Waffen-SS were some of the most successful and influential combat formations produced by any country in this century. Their abilities and accomplishments, in both defense and offense, remain legendary. Finally, the commanders of these elite units are examined here in detail. In this book, the second of a two volume set, sixty-one biographies reveal the lives of the most senior Waffen-SS commanders. Details are provided for education, as well as pre-Third Reich era service in military and civil posts, and includes promotions, assignments and decorations. The 1933-1945 era, the most detailed, reveals all their commands and related data similar to their earlier service. Officially documented recollections of the combat actions that resulted in bestowal of their highest awards (Knight’s Cross and German Cross in Gold) are finally discussed. Heavily documented, their individual stories continue until their eventual fates are revealed. Beginning with the only two brothers to command a Waffen-SS corps, the study ends with a pair of officers whose units fought in the final defense of Berlin during 1945. The text detail emulates the initial volume, exhaustively examining the lives of all individuals with full biographical information to include higher award recommendations for the Knight’s Cross and German Cross. With a foreword by Knight’s Cross with Oakleaves and Swords holder Otto Baum, significant material was provided by numerous Waffen-SS veterans. Profusely illustrated with more than 470 previously unpublished or rare photos and war-time documents, eight Order of Battle charts are also included. A full Feldpost listing Order of Battle for the armed formations at the end of 1940 is also included. Also included is an addendum to Volume 1 that adds both text and photographic material uncovered during the concluding research. Supplementary tactical symbols are also illustrated and explained, expanding the coverage of those detailed in the initial work.

Free Download Rolf Michaelis – Russians in the Waffen-SS
Schiffer Publishing | 2009 | ISBN: 0764333488 | English | 128 pages | PDF | 52.83 MB
From summer 1941, some 100,000 Russians served in the German Wehrmacht, mostly as so called Schutzmannschaften under the command of the German Police (Höhere SS- und Polizeiführer) in the eastern occupied areas. The most famous unit was the Brigade Kaminski, established by Bronislav Kaminski in the summer of 1941. In 1944 it became the Waffen-Sturmbrigade der SS "Rona" later the 29. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS "Rona" (russische Nr.1). A second division was later established from various Schutzmannschafts-Bataillonen and was designated 30. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (russische Nr.2).

Free Download Ian Baxter – Into the Abyss: The Last Years of the Waffen-SS 1943-45, A Photographic History
Helion & Company | 2006 | ISBN: 1874622590 | English | 145 pages | PDF | 104.76 MB
"Into the Abyss: The Last Years of the Waffen-SS, A Photographic History" presents a comprehensive record of the elite Waffen-SS divisions that fought both on the Eastern and Western Fronts during the last two years of the war. Drawing on previously unpublished photographs, many of which have come from the albums of SS veterans, it presents a unique visual account of these formations, some elite and some thrown together from barely-trained conscripts. With an accurate in-depth descriptive caption every photograph brings to life the tactics and components that made up a fully-fledged Waffen-SS division. With over 180 unpublished photographs accompanied by detailed captions and text, "Into the Abyss" presents a captivating glimpse of one of the most well-known and notorious military organisations of the Second World War, focusing on the final 18 months of the conflict.

Free Download Gordon Williamson, Stephen Andrew, "The Waffen-SS (4): 24. to 38. Divisions, & Volunteer Legions"
English | 2004 | pages: 51 | ISBN: 1841765929 | PDF | 12,8 mb
In the last years of World War II, 1944-45, the Waffen-SS formed many nominal ‘divisions’ from a motley range of sources, whose battlefield value was as varied as their backgrounds. The best were built around existing Western European volunteer regiments; some, raised from Central Europeans and Russians, were strong in numbers but weak in morale; some were of negligible size, scraped together from remnants and trainees; and some were sinister ‘anti-partisan’ gangs, assembled from the military dregs of the Eastern Front. Illustrated with rare photographs from private collections and meticulous colour artwork, this final title in our sequence details their organisation, uniforms and insignia, and summarises their battle records.

Free Download Gordon Williamson, Stephen Andrew, "The Waffen-SS (2): 6. to 10. Divisions"
English | 2004 | pages: 52 | ISBN: 1841765902 | PDF | 37,0 mb
The military branch of the Nazi SS security organisation grew by the end of World War II (1939-1945)from a handful of poorly regarded infantry battalions in 1939, into a force of more than 30 divisions including units of every type. Their battlefield reputation varied widely, from the premier armoured divisions which formed Germany’s utterly reliable spearheads on both main fronts, to low quality ‘anti-partisan’ units. The divisions covered in this second of four titles include the first mountain and cavalry units, and two of the remarkable new Panzer divisions raised in the great 1943 expansion. Illustrated with rare photographs from private collections, the text details their organisation, uniforms and insignia, and summarises their battle record.

Free Download Gordon Williamson, Stephen Andrew, "Men-at-Arms 401: The Waffen-SS (1) 1. to 5. Divisions"
English | 2003 | pages: 48 | ISBN: 1841765899 | PDF | 6,8 mb
Despite being disdained by the German Army’s professional officer corps, the military branch of the Nazi SS security organisation grew from an initial strength of only a handful of battalions at the outbreak of World War II in 1939, to hundreds of thousands of troops in dozens of divisions. The battlefield reputation of the premier armoured and mechanised divisions would become second to none; lavishly equipped and regarded as utterly reliable, they were thrown into many desperate battles on both Western and Eastern fronts, often achieving remarkable results. Illustrated with rare photographs, this first of four Men-at-Arms titles details the organisation, uniforms and insignia of the Waffen-SS.