SS Order of Battle
There were many units making up the SS Order of Battle. The first few were:1st Division: Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler ("Hitler's Bodyguard"): the original SS unit. Eventually expanded into a field regiment and a separate guard unit around Hitler. The field unit was a regiment at the time of the invasion of Poland, and was then expanded into an entire division. This eventually became a PanzerGrenadier (mechanized) Division and finally a Panzer Division. It was given top-notch equipment.
2nd Division: For the invasion of Poland, three SS regiments were grouped into a division, the Verfügungstruppe ("Special-purpose Troops"). After Poland, one regiment was sent to form another division, and a new third regiment was created; this became the 2nd SS Division Das Reich ("The Empire"). Like the 1st SS LAH, this was an elite unit, eventually becoming a PanzerGrenadier Division and then a Panzer Division.
3rd Division: Formed from concentration camp guards, the 3rd SS Totenkopf Division ("Dead-man's-head", or "Skull-and-crossbones") was regarded as a bunch of thugs. It was elite, and given the best equipment, would reach PanzerGrenadier and Panzer status with the 1st and 2nd.
4th Division: The SS wanted more troops (so it would be more important) and formed this infantry division of non-SS policemen. Regarded as the poor relation of the first three, it eventually was motorized but was never elite.
External links
