SS-Verfügungstruppe
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| SS-Verfügungstruppe | |
|---|---|
 SS insignia worn on the helmets of SS-Verfügungstruppe. |
|
| Active | 1934-1940 |
| Country |  Germany |
| Allegiance | Adolf Hitler |
| Branch |  Waffen SS |
| Type | Panzergrenadier |
| Role | Combat-support troops |
| Size | 1 Division |
| Garrison/HQ | Berlin |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Brigadeführer Paul Hausser Oberführer Felix Steiner Obergruppenfuhrer Sepp Dietrich |
The SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT) (English: SS Special Purpose Troops) was formed in 1934 as combat troops for the NSDAP. By 1940 these military SS units had become the Waffen-SS.
On August 17, 1938 Adolf Hitler decreed that the SS-VT was neither a part of the police nor the German Wehrmacht but military-trained men at the disposal of the Führer in war or peace.
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[edit] Formation
The SS-TV was formed on September 24, 1934 from a merger of various Nazi and paramilitary formations such as the SS Special Detachments (SS-Sonderkommandos) and the Headquarters Guard (SS-Stabswache) units. The recruits were trained to be combat-ready infantry according to the German Army (Wehrmacht) regulations [1]. The unit was officially designated SS-Special Purpose Troops (SS-Verfügungstruppe). The existence of the SS-Verfügungstruppe (known as SS-VT) was publicly declared on 16 March 1935. On
The SS-VT trained alongside Hitler’s personal body guard, although the SS-Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler (SS-LAH) continued to serve exclusively as a personal protection unit. The SS-LAH independently fielded combat troops during the campaign against Poland.
[edit] Early operations
Elements of the SS-VT served with the Wehrmacht during the occupation of the Sudetenland, Austria, and Czechoslovakia. The SS-VT regiments of Der Fuhrer, Deutschland, Germania along with the Leibstandarte, participated in the invasion of Poland.
By 1939 the overall SS was divided into three groups: the Allgemeine-SS (General SS), the Waffen-SS (Armed SS) and SS-Totenkopfverbände, which administered the concentration camps.
The Waffen-SS was made up of several subgroups:
- The Hitler's personal bodyguard (German: Leibstandarte)
- The Death's-Head Division that comprised guards from the (German: SS-TV).
- The Combat Support Force, (German: Verfügungstruppe) which was the original units that formed the basis for the Waffen SS. The latter comprised up to 39 divisions in World War II that served as elite combat troops alongside the regular army Wehrmacht Heer. [1]
- The SS Panzer Corps.
[edit] Development of the Waffen-SS
In October 1939, there were four armed SS regiments, Leibstandarte, Deutschland, Germania and Der Führer. The last three were reorganized into the SS-Verfügungs Division. [2] Later the cadre of Germania was used to create SS Division Wiking (and later the 11th SS Regiment). SS Division Wiking together with the existing two regiments in the SS-Verfungungs Division they took part in the Campaigns in the West against the Low Countries and France in 1940.
The SS-VT troops first saw action in the main drive for the Dutch central front around Rotterdam. [3] After the city had been captured, the Division, along with other divisions, intercepted a French force and forced them back to the area of Zeeland and Antwerp. They were next used to mop-up small pockets of resistance in the areas already captured by the German advance. Shortly afterwards the SS-VT was renamed the "Waffen-SS" in a speech made by Adolf Hitler in July 1940.
In 1941 Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, announced that additional units for the Waffen-SS would be raised from non-German foreign nationals. These foreign legions included volunteers from Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Norway, Croatia and the Netherlands.
Countries like Spain, which was officially neutral, provided many volunteers to the Waffen SS that saw combat on the Eastern Front until the Fall of Berlin in 1945.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Waffen-SS at Encyclopædia Britannica
- ^ Flaherty, T.H (2004). The Third Reich:The SS (1st Edition ed.). Caxton Publishing Group. ISBN 1 84447 073 3.
- ^ Windrow, Martin & Burn, Cristopher (1992). The Waffen-SS, Edition 2. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 0850454255.
[edit] See also
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