What did the waffen ss do?

[Owen]

From my earlier post
In the Forward to "Arnhem Spearhead" by James Sims, John Frost CB, DSO, MC ex-CO of 2 Para has this to say.

Once the Author is captured some of the ugly side comes out.
ie A captured prisoner protests when a German goes through his personal items, the Para gets shot there and then.
A Captured Dutch lad gets dragged away and shot in the head.

[Ron Goldstein]

With regard to the Waffen SS, I wonder if I can add a new slant to this thread with the following item.

In 1946 I found myself in post-war Trieste serving in the 4th QOH under Major George Kennard. “Loopy” as he was more commonly known, had previously been taken prisoner in Greece and had only recently re-joined the regiment.

In 1990 I happened to read an article in the London Evening Standard that told me he had just written his biography so I wrote to him, received a delightful reply and subsequently bought a copy of his story.

The book itself made fascinating reading but I was somewhat taken aback to read about a letter that he had written to The Times in 1970 which went as follows:

“Sir, I had the honour to command Churchill’s old regiment, the 4th Queen’s Own Hussars. We were opposed to the Waffen SS for the whole of the Greek campaign.
We found them magnificent soldiers and very fair fighters.
History, after so many years, should be the truth.”

As a result of that letter, he received a letter from a Colonel Shultze-Kossens who had been a Colonel in the Adolph Hitler SS Division opposing the 4th QOH in Greece and subsequently he invited Shultze-Kossens to a Regimental Reunion Dinner.

“Loopy”s autobiography (entitled “Loopy”, of course) described in detail how he travelled to Dusseldorf to meet the man and questioned him about his time as aide to Ribbentrop at the signing of the Hitler-Stalin pact.

Now back to the Regimental re-union......

At the time in question I had only been to two previous post-war Regimental Re-unions and certainly did not attend the particular function that Shultze-Kossens was invited to so I was spared the decision of whether or not I was obliged to take wine with a member of the Waffen SS !.

Finally, I am, as always, quite happy to accept Peter G’s assessment of the Waffen SS’s role in the Third Reich, particularly when it comes to those of the Waffen SS who served in Italy.

[Owen]

SS Hitler Jugend counter attack in Normandy, with German commentry.
Keep an eye out for the RTR sweatshirt [at 1min 44 sec] on the floor, looks very "modern", didn't think they wore tops like that then. Made it feel closer in history seeing that.


YouTube - Normandy 1944

[Harry Ree]

There is a couple of frames showing what looks like a Bren Gun Carrier complete with white star and in German use.

[von Poop]

1:10?
By coincidence I've only just been reading more on German use of captured carriers.
With the usual Prussian precision redesignated:
'Gepanzerter MG Trager Br 731 (e)'.
('Br' standing for Bren, though I only learnt today that there were very few actual 'Bren' carriers in use by the time war began and most were of the 'Universal' type, still having trouble telling the real differences between 'em though...)

[Kyt]

[Kyt]

Originally Posted by Owen D

Keep an eye out for the RTR sweatshirt [at 1min 44 sec] on the floor, looks very "modern", didn't think they wore tops like that then. Made it feel closer in history seeing that.

[Owen]

Another photo to make it seem closer in history.
http://www.ww2talk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=828

Is this really a WW2 era photo or a modern re-enactor one?
Wonder where Lee got this one from?

[von Poop]

Instinctively I'd say reenactor based on the tone of the film colours and the cleanliness of the blokes. The decalled lid would be unusual for the period represented too.