“Updated Photos” Waffen-SS-Grenadier, Unterscharführer 1951 SS-Grenadier Division Lettische Nr. 2:
This sergeant is a veteran campaigner who has placed his insignia and medals on the final pattern Model 1944 Feldbluse. His insignia is piped in white as he leads one of the vital Grenadier sections in combat. The Divisional Latvian Sun and Stars crest is on his collar insignia in place of SS runes, while he wears the Latvian National shield in place of the cuff title. This man has campaigned against the Soviets since 1943, when he became part of the 2nd Latvian SS Volunteer Brigade. This brigade was ordered to increase to divisional size in 1944. For his combat leadership, he has earned both the Iron Cross II Class ribbon sewn into the buttonhole and the Iron Cross 1 51 Class. He has won the Infantry Assault Badge for at least 3 days of combat and the Close Combat Clasp in Bronze; his Black Wound badge shows he is not afraid to be in action. With his tunic, he wears the early-style service trousers in Feldgrau wool stuffed into high-top marching boots or wrapped and bloused with Gamaschen over lace-up ankle boots. The uniform is completed with the M43 cap, and we used a typical SS Helmet for the photoshoot.
Lettvian SS-Unterscharführer, Waffen-Artillerie-Regiment der SS 19, 19. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS:
The Lettische SS-Freiwilligen was formed in the Summer of 1943 out of the five Latvian police battalions and untrained volunteers in Krasnoye Selo. After finishing training, it was sent to the Volkhov River front. It was renamed 2. Lettische SS-Freiwilligen-Brigade in Oktober 1943 continued in combat on that front until November 1943, when it was withdrawn for rest and refitting, on 7. In January 1944, the division was renamed 19. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS. Following the arrival of 2,000 additional men, a third Waffen-Grenadier Regiment was created. The Artillerie Regiment now supported the Waffen-Grenadier Regiment der SS 42, Waffen-Grenadier Regiment der SS 43, and Waffen-Grenadier Regiment der SS 44. The Artillerie Regiment comprised four Bataillons, the I., II., and III. Bataillon with general-purpose 10.5 cm leFH 18 and the IV. Bataillon with the 15 cm sFH 18. The division took up position on the Velikaya River Line on 14. In January 1944, it helped halt the Red Army's advance. At the end of July and the beginning of August, combat in the Lubana area intensified, and the division retreated to the Gauja River Valley, where they held the line against the Russian advance. Through the division’s tenacity, German troops managed an organized withdrawal from Estonia to the Kurland peninsula.
On 7. In October 1944, the division abandoned the Gauja front and retreated to the Dzukste area and into the Kurland pocket to fight. On 9. In May 1945, the division surrendered to the Red Army after many men escaped into the local massive forests to fight in a protracted irregular war against the Soviet occupation as the Forest Brothers or Mežabrāļi until 1956. Litzen with the Latvian Fire or Thunder Cross (Swastika) was authorized on 11 March 1943. The Latvian Ugunskrusts or Pērkonkrusts date back to the Bronze Age and were also used as an aircraft marking in the Latvian Air Force from 1918 to 1934. The symbol was used by the Latvian fascist party, the Ugunskrusts, which was founded in 1932 by Gustavs Celmiņš. It was banned shortly afterward but was reformed as Pērkonkrusts until it was again banned in 1934. The SS-Unterscharführer wears the Dienstanzug Model 1942 of SS manufacture, denoted by “two”, as opposed to “three holes” for the belt support hooks sewn into the front and back of the Bluse. Hochrot or bright red, the Waffenfarbe of the Artillerie, pipes the Schulterklappen.
A final pattern of the Wappenschield is sewn just below the SS pattern national insignia. The Kurland Ärmelstreifen was created to honor those who fought in the Kurland campaign. Withdrawing on the Ost Front, Wehrmacht forces were cut off on the Courland Peninsula in Latvia in July 1944. Renamed Heeres Gruppe Kurland on 25 January 1945, it held out until the end of the war in May 1945. Der Ärmelstreifen Kurland: Honoring the soldiers fighting there, Adolf Hitler approved, on 12 March 1945, the recommendation of the commander to locally design and produce a campaign cuff title award. It was the last German award to be instituted in World War II. Distribution began in late April 1945. To qualify, the soldier would have to be serving in Kurland between 1 September 1944 and 8 May 1945 and must have participated in at least three combat actions, served a minimum of three months in the pocket, or been wounded. In the case of being wounded, the Ärmelstreifen would be awarded the appropriate Verwundetenabzeichen.
SS-Sturmmann, Estnisches SS-Freiwilligen-Panzer-Grenadier-Bataillon “Narwa”, 5. SS-Panzer Division “Wiking”:
In late August 1942, voluntary recruitment into the Estnischesn SS-Legion began. By winter, one battalion had been formed, the Estnische SS-Freiwillingen-Panzer-Grenadier-Batallion “Narwa”. The Battalion was made up mostly of volunteers drawn from security and defense units. In April 1943, “Narwa” was separated from the Legion and sent to join the 5. SS Panzer Division “Wiking” on the Eastern Front in Ukraine. “Narwa” fought with “Wiking” on the Ost Front until the end of the war.
The division surrendered to US forces near Fürstenfeld, Austria. The Estonian Volunteer, an SS-Sturmmann, although still a lower rank, is a leader, having earned the Iron Cross 2nd Class. He wears the Feldgrau Dienstanzug Model 1940 in the open-collar style, a design favored by the SS powers that be. The Bluse has come from Heer stock, rather than SS-production stores; note the three belt support hook holes at the waist. He has been serving with the Waffen-SS for some time, long enough to have the Wound Badge in Silver for 3-5 wounds in battle and the Infantry Assault Badge. He even has a “Wiking-cuff title”; many uniforms never got the time to apply it. These fellows were in battle a lot and did not have a lot of time to fiddle with their uniforms, and, for that matter, bounced around to help provide manpower to beat up units, so they may have served with 2 or 3 different outfits. He has an overseas cap, and likely he had a steel helmet, matching trousers, black boots, and a belt, with standard equipment carried for a hit kit.
As with a number of these “volunteers” in my collection, they were members of famous Divisions, and could have been added to those parts of the collection, but I have it here to represent the country they volunteered from.
Note: There are many other “Wiking Division” troops in the “Germanic SS-Volunteers” Section.
SS-Unterscharfuhrer, Harald Nugiseks, 1. Estonian SS-Freiwilligen:
One of just two Knight’s Cross winners from Estonia, Nugiseks won his award by taking over the attack to capture the Vassa-Siiverti-Vepskula Bridgehead when all those superior to him were killed. Nugiseks’s combat record did not help him, as he was reduced in rank for fighting with other soldiers who were harassing the Red Cross Nurses. Captured in 1945, he was sent to Siberia for fighting against the Soviet Army.
The 1943 HBT uniform was the summer uniform. The Blue-Black-White national shield matched the distinctive collar device. Nugiseks won the 1st and 2nd classes of the Iron Cross and the Infantry Assault Badge. Amazingly, he was never wounded and survived his prison term, and as of 2008, he is still living in Estonia.
The uniform depicted here represents Harald, and we put this together some years ago, when I had much less information on him. This is an HBT material, or summer uniform, while most pictures now show him in a wool uniform, but it’s not too far off, and who knows, he very well may have had one of these too. The Uniform would likely have been covered with a camouflaged smock, and that’s why there are pictures of it with the smock over it, so I provide a picture of how that would look.
*SS-Obersturmführer, Stabskompanie, 14. SS-Freiwilligen-Infanterie-Division “Galizien”:
14. Galizien SS-Freiwilligen-Infanterie Division was a Ukrainian ethnic volunteer unit created in the area of Galicia in 1943. Largely destroyed in the Battle of Brody, it was reformed and fought in Yugoslavia and Austria before surrendering to the Western Allies on 10 May 1945. The divisional command was made up of an experienced SS officer cadre. In the case of the Obersturmführer, he has served previously with the SS-Panzergrenadier Division ‘Totenkopf’. There are 2 caps provided; he could have worn either of the SS caps, one with Ukrainian insignia. The divisional command was made up of an experienced SS officer cadre. In the case of the Obersturmführer, he has served previously with the SS-Totenkopf Division, as seen by the Cuff Title.
The uniform sports the “Rampant Lion” collar insignia and is blue-backed, with the crowns on the sleeve shield. The uniform also has 2 optional caps, which are shown in the photos above. I realize people in general like the cut-and-dried stories of history, especially the Second World War, but there was a lot of blurred edges you might say, overlapping of who fought with who is one of these, I’m not here to judge the people, it was a long time ago, a lot of different reasons ( mostly just wanting to stay alive or who they thought might be the winning side) it all depends on who you were, where you were at, and the conditions, and options) Often, we pick the better of two evils. These uniforms tell a bit of the story and show the uniform, the best as I can. I don’t do it for any political or radical reasons, just trying to show it as best I can.
*People are likely to get hot and bothered by the following uniform and representations, and it’s a touchy subject that keeps popping up. But it is part of the story. World War Two was truly global; everyone was involved one way or the other, building the planes and making the bullets, or drilling for oil. Many fought in it; it got a bit messy, and it got mixed up. People just wanted to service the damn thing. Moreover, millions of civilians just got stuck in the middle of it, and there were horrendous and senseless killings across the board. There were a lot of regrets when it ended, and no one was innocent except the people in the camps. When it was over, everyone had paid a price. Everyone had lost somebody, and those who survived it never forgot it. I’m just showing my collection and telling some of the story.
*Note: I have a whole section on Totenkopf SS-Division; if you want to see more of this unit, but as a volunteer, I used it here; there are others in sections that could also fit as various volunteers. It has to do with how many uniforms fit in each section; I have to even them out a bit.
“New” Reconnaissance 2nd Lieutenant, SS-Ukrainian Volunteer:
I don’t have a story on this yet, but it is a mysterious uniform in that I don’t recall buying it, or any of the parts of it, or even putting it together, nor do my friends who would have helped me; it was in storage for years, then found and returned to me. It is not very often seen that the tropical jacket was seen on the Eastern Front; It did get hot there at times, I’m sure it happened one time or another, and with the soldiers notably not German, they were issued them, it is speculated, so they were recognised as Eastern Volunteer Troops. But it was rare; There is a decoration I haven’t confirmed existed: The Badge of the “Ukrainian Nationalist Squad / 1941”.
He is very decorated for a German Volunteer as well and served in the Balkans fighting Partisans. In the process, he has been in battle enough against the enemy that he has the Assault Badge and Black Wound Badge for the 1 or 2 times he’s been in the hospital, and has the Iron Cross 2nd Class for leadership skills, as well as the 1st Class Badge. The officer’s hat is interesting; one could speculate the gold with blue chin cord, but the cockade is really odd-looking, and it’s been crushed beyond comprehension. Operating perhaps out of the Bukans, he displays the General Assault Badge and the Anti-Partisan Badge; this was a particularly brutal part of the war. He’s been recognised for several wounds, and his leadership is shown by his Iron Crosses II and I, from the Germans. Being an officer, and apparently liking to stand out, he likely would have breeches and riding boots too, a black belt with a holster and sidearm, perhaps a set of binoculars, and a notebook stuck in the front of the jacket, and a map case on his hip. Keeping in mind that, in a Reconnaissance unit, he very well may have worn a camouflaged smock over the works, and even being an officer, he carries a battle dressing, just in case.
