SS Scharfuhrer shoulder straps pair for infantry

[Felix]

Hello Gents!

I just got this pair of Waffen SS shoulder straps for Scharfuhrer piped in white for infantry. They have got the subdued tresse and have the classical SS style tongue. They show light use and also even light soiling.

To get hold of genuine SS shoulder straps is quite hard. I have searched a long time for a pair I like and I believe I have found it.

There has been comments about that shoulder straps should be mathing but in many cases they were slightly mismatching due to s**** materials being used. These straps are quite matching and they are surely made at the same place. It is interesting to notice that the rayon piping on one strap is of a slightly different weave. Also on the reverse one should notice the joining of two grey cloth pieces by a zig zag stitch. Fakers often place a zig zag stitch to simulate this. When you see the zig zag without a reason or in the same fashion (like horizontal) on both the reverse sides of a straps pair it is a red flag.
The fine ribbed tongue material is also from s**** material and joint can be seen.

All in all a matching pair that Im very pleased with. :D

Comments are welcome for any reason!

Cheers,
Felix - N. Hansson

[Felix]

Several collectors wonder why SS enlisted and NCO straps are so hard to get (including myself). The market today is flooded with repros and they are getting better every day. A lot of straps are being shown on other forums for opinions and the far majority are not original. It is an especially hard field to collect SS shoulder boards and straps.

There were several hundreds of thousands or likely millions of enlisted/NCO shoulder straps pairs made for the Waffen SS troops during the war and it might seem like a mystery why they are so rare today. One explaination is that a large portion of the SS insignias in todays collections were taken home by souvenir hunting GI's in the end of WW2. They were of course interested the insignias that were associated with the Nazi Germany. Such as eagles, rune tabs and cuff titles. Shoulder straps were kind of boring in relation to the more "evil" insignias they could get hold of. Shoulder straps were just not that sexy to impress with when comming home or showing to you GI buddys what you have got!

Another reason is that quite many of the minty collar patches, eagles and volunteer shields as well as cuff titles we see today were taken from the depot in KZ camp at Dacahu. That is why there are so many tropical BeVo eagles and skulls around as well as the grey versions. A lot of rune tabs were also found and tons of the red SS fez. Bunches of SS cuff titles were also found. I remember that in 2001 or 2002 one seller had 6 or 7 original Der Fuhrer flat wire cuffs that he unloaded on Ebay and that sold for around USD 600 a piece in the end.

Lets get back to topic. On the eastern front the SS soldiers got rid of all their insignias before being captured by the red army in order not to get shot in the back of the head on the spot. Therefore there are few surviving insignias from the eastern front. The bulk of the SS fought on the eastern front and hence a lot of the insignias and uniforms went lost in the mud, hidden or were destroyed.

It is a known fact that some SS officers used ordinary Wehrmacht boards on their uniforms. Probably this was true for some enlisted and NCO soldiers as well. In the end of the war it did not matter if it was real SS issue boards or not as long as they showed the proper rank. Perhaps there were not as many true SS boards and straps manufactured as it should have been due to shortages, war time conditions etc, and this fact also makes them rare.

I have never seen shoulder boards in the large vet finds like the ones from the vets who were at Dachau. You see straps occasionally in other vet finds but they still remain rare. These are some of the reasons why they are rare, but they should not be so rare as they are IMO. Not all is logic when it comes to SS and availability but it is still a fact that original SS shoulder straps are rather rare. As a parallell real shoulder straps for the DAK are also very rare and very well faked, as with SS.

In the end, extra caution is needed when purchasing SS enlisted or NCO straps. The SS officer boards are easier to come by but real unquestionable ones are also rather rare. Yes original straps are to be found sometimes, but be careful!

Cheers and happy hunting!

Felix - N. Hansson

[Bob Wirtz]

My friend picked these up several years ago... some pretty rare shoulder straps and you'll notice they are for sewing in. These are for SS-Scharfuhrer of Veterinar. The other pair are enlisted (SS-Schutze to SS-Rottenfuhrer) of Nebelwerfer!

Bob







Willi Schumacher Collection

[Bob Wirtz]

Here are two pairs of Waffen-SS officer shoulder boards: first an SS-Hauptsturmfuhrer of Panzerjager with the metal "P" cipher in Gothic, and an SS-Obersturmfuhrer from the Germania Regiment with the "G" ciphers in Latin.

Bob









Willi Schumacher Collection

[WOODY]

It is a known fact that some SS officers used ordinary Wehrmacht boards on their uniforms. Probably this was true for some enlisted and NCO soldiers as well.

Just to illustrate what Felix has said above notice the straps on the NCO in this photo, this was for sale on a German auction site that is why the runic side is blacked out

[WOODY]

In the early days of the SS police division before the change over to full ss insignia again in a lot of cases army straps were also worn by some members

[WOODY]

A few EM/Nco straps

[WOODY]

the backs

By the way Felix nice catch ss inf straps must be one of the hardest to come by nowadays

[WOODY]

Here is a pair you do not find that often

[WOODY]

pair of wartime straps yellow piped

[WOODY]

backs of the pair above

[Felix]

Here is a pair you do not find that often

Tölz;
Now we are talking about nice straps! There got to be a bunch of collectors who would strangle their grand mother to get this pair in to their collection!

Nice pair Gary!:thumbup1:

[WOODY]

Tölz;
Now we are talking about nice straps! There got to be a bunch of collectors who would strangle their grand mother to get this pair in to their collection!

Nice pair Gary!:thumbup1:


Thanks Felix,

here is the former owner wearing them or if he had 2 pairs a pair like them, back left

[Felix]

Thanks Felix,

here is the former owner wearing them or if he had 2 pairs a pair like them, back left

That is of course an extra bonus to have the name and even a photo of the guy wearing them!

Bl--dy fantastic!:001_tt1:

Cheers,
Niklas

[WOODY]

That is of course an extra bonus to have the name and even a photo of the guy wearing them!

Bl--dy fantastic!:001_tt1:

Cheers,
Niklas

Niklas,
Yes it is, along with his officers uniform,peaked cap, side cap and a lot of his other insignia and awards:drool:

Here are a couple of other pairs same source, first pair slightly miss matched straps and miss matched pips, one strap has had bits cut out of it why I do not know

[WOODY]

the backs

[WOODY]

second pair

[WOODY]

and a photo of him wearing one of the pairs

[Felix]

Niklas,
Yes it is, along with his officers uniform,peaked cap, side cap and a lot of his other insignia and awards:drool:

Here are a couple of other pairs same source, first pair slightly miss matched straps and miss matched pips, one strap has had bits cut out of it why I do not know


I remember that you have shown that fantastic grouping before?
I wouldnt cry if you posted a shot of the uniform:)

Cheers,
Niklas