SS-Stammabteilungen, SS Reserve Units NCO cuff title Embroidered Allegmeine SS cuff title WWII German.
The Stammabteilungen were divided into numbered Bezirke corresponding to the Fuß-Standarten and this number appeared on the right-hand collar patch.
With the outbreak of war, members of the Stammabteilungen wore cuff titles with the name of the Oberabschnitt to which their Stammabteilung belonged; before that they wore plain cuff titles.
(Thus, for example, a member of the Stammabteilung 31. Bezirk, which was subordinated to Oberabschnitt Main wore a collar patch with the number “31” and a cuff title with the inscription “Main”.)
What distinguished the insigina of members of the Stammabteilungen most from those worn by active SS-men and first-line reservists was their color scheme: The collar patches and cuff titles worn by the Stammabteilungen were light grey instead of black. Embroidery was aluminum for officers and black for enlisted personnel.
Temporarily, the Stammabteilungen also had light grey instead of black borders to their brassards.
The Schutzstaffel SS Armanen runes, literally ‘Protection Squadron’ was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II. It began with a small guard unit known as the Saal-Schutz (“Hall Security”) made up of NSDAP volunteers to provide security for party meetings in Munich. In 1925, Heinrich Himmler joined the unit, which had by then been reformed and given its final name. Under his direction (1929–1945) it grew from a small paramilitary formation during the Weimar Republic to one of the most powerful organizations in Nazi Germany. From 1929 until the regime’s collapse in 1945, the SS was the foremost agency of security, surveillance, and terror within Germany and German-occupied Europe.
The two main constituent groups were the Allgemeine SS (General SS) and Waffen-SS (Armed SS). The Allgemeine SS was responsible for enforcing the racial policy of Nazi Germany and general policing, whereas the Waffen-SS consisted of combat units within Nazi Germany’s military. A third component of the SS, the SS-Totenkopfverbände (SS-TV), ran the concentration camps and extermination camps. Additional subdivisions of the SS included the Gestapo and the Sicherheitsdienst (SD) organizations. They were tasked with the detection of actual or potential enemies of the Nazi state, the neutralization of any opposition, policing the German people for their commitment to Nazi ideology, and providing domestic and foreign intelligence.
Unit Cuff Titles – These generally referred to the name of a division, although some regiments also had distinctive titles.
Branch of Service Cuff Titles – These identified those who served in a specific branch of service like the military police and war correspondents. The cuff title of the Feldgendarmerie (Military Police) wore a distinctive cuff title, often in conjunction with a unit cuff title, if entitled.
Campaign Cuff Titles – Participation in some campaigns, such as the Kurland, Crete or North African campaigns, was recognized by the award of a special commemorative cuff title.