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Equipment of the Waffen-SS The Waffen-SS was equipped
with the same weapons and
vehicles as the Army.
However, the Waffen-SS usually
got the newest equipment
before the army; and in
cases of shortages, the
Waffen-SS would again be
the first in line.
Despite the fact the Waffen-SS
and the army shared the
same equipment, it is still
important to include information
about what these soldiers
used while in combat.
Weapons In beginning of WWII, W-SS has difficulty getting adequate equipment Relied on captured stocks
particularly difficult for the Waffen-SS to get artillery.
Big Army-Waffen-SS point of contention.
SS appropriated the Skoda Arms Works in Czechoslovakia.
Although the stereotype is that the Waffen-SS was always armed with the best the German arms industry could
manufacture, this is only partially true. The "classic" divisions such as 1st SS-Panzer Division "Leibstandarte Adolf
Hitler" 2nd SS-Panzer Division "Das Reich", 3rd SS-Panzer Division "Totenkopf" and 5th SS-Panzer Division
"Wiking" were certainly armed with most and the best armored fighting vehicles Nazi Germany could produce, but
the majority of Waffen-SS units had to make due with weapons of lesser caliber - French artillery, Russian light
tanks, Czech machine guns, etc.
One particular item that can' be classified as an weapon per se but that certainly contributed to the offensive and
defensive capability of Waffen-SS units was the use of Tarnung, or camouflage. The Waffen-SS were the first 20th
century military organization to make the use of camouflage clothing a standard for its troops. Waffen-SS camouflage
clothing went through several iterations during the war. The first set was the camouflage smock and helmet cover,
reversible with a green mottled "spring" pattern on one side and a tan-brownish "autumn" pattern on the other.
Later in the war the Waffen-SS developed full sets of clothing in camouflage patterns such as "splinter" or "pea-
brick." Due to clothing shortages, often the SS would appropriate the camouflage of other combatants - the most
famous example was the use of Italian camo patterns by troops of the 12th SS Panzer Division "Hitlerjugend"
during the 1944 Normandy campaign.
