Profile of van Voort

Basically you can divide SS Units into maybe 4 catagories:

1) What, for want of a better term, you can call "Regular" SS units.

Leibstandarte and the ilk

These are generally well equipped, well trained and well manned and stay that way throughout the war

While not necessary Nazi fanatics - whatever that is suppossed to mean - they were certainly competant and experienced. This does not make them nice people:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oradour-sur-Glane


2) Foreign Volunteers

The Regular Armed forces claimed a monopoly on conscripting Germans, and generally would not recruit foreigners. However because infighting was pretty much a Nazi specialty Himmler saw that he could build up his forces and therefore influence by tapping the resources of the conquered nations.

Preference was for "Aryan" nations, but this ended up pretty broad by the end.

In this you would include the Dutch, Flemings, Waloons, Danes, French, Norwegians, Swedes and Finns.

Very few of these people are enthusiastic Nazis and have their own agendas (the Waloons form their own unit because the Flemings have and they don't want to be left behind). They are generally however enthusiatic anti-communists and facist, as well as anti-semitic.

Initially distrusted they fight well

3) Anti-partisan units of dubious effectiveness.

Some of these are late war German conscripts when the rules got relaxed, others are Balkan and East European volunteers of various types. Basically only good for anti-partisan efforts. Some of them were very enthusiastic about their work and overlap with:


4) Utter scum

When you want to disgust even other members of the SS you call in a bunch of violent criminals led by a convicted child rapist

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/36th_Waffen_Grenadier_Division_of_the_SS

You will find a very small period before one or both of the T 34s gets destroyed and the Tiger can move again I think.

http://www.coh2.org/topic/5229/guide-on-impact-of-bulletins

Some have changed since then, but the principles remain

Glad to be of assistance, when I get back in I'll contribute to the seperate discussion on unit quality.

Does the OP have a satisfactory answer, or are we going to argue about the relative mertis of the SS v Wehrmacht

Glantz knows his stuff

http://sti.clemson.edu/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_details&gid=189&Itemid=310

No, I don't know your source for the SS figures or when they relate to (or if they are overall SS strength or just that in the East), but if I drop them in with Glantz you get this

	Axis	         German	         SS	% SS		Soviet
Jun-41	3,767,000	3,117,000	220,000	7%		5,500,000
Jun-42	3,720,000	2,690,000	330,000	12%		5,313,000
Jul-43	3,933,000	3,483,000	540,000	16%		6,724,000
Jun-44	3,370,000	2,520,000	910,000	36%		6,425,000
Jan-45	2,330,000	2,230,000		0%		6,532,000
May-45	1,960,000	1,960,000		0%		6,410,000