SS arm shield

[James Clark]

Can anyone make out what the shield is on the wearer's left arm in this blurry photo?

Thanks,

James

[JOHN VD HEIJDEN]

re

I can,t give any opion on the arm-shield

But IMO (looking at the face of the bride) this ss-man is going to make the biggest mistake of his life

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi james, it looks like the Croatian shield to me.


Cheers, Ade.

[James Clark]

Hi Ade,

I thought it was Croatian too but wasn't sure - probably stared at it too long!

James

[StevenD]

Handschar? Can you do any close ups on the tab?

[Alexander Zöller]

Definitely a Croatian shield, so could be Handschar or (less probable) Kama. Any writing on the back?

[StevenD]

Definitely a Croatian shield, so could be Handschar or (less probable) Kama. Any writing on the back?

Does anybody know if Prinz Eugen wore the Croatian shield? I know they were recruited from ethnic Germans in that general area (Croatia, Romania etc) and spent the war in Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Montengro etc and have seen pix of them wearing Croat awards but do not remember any pix of them wearing the shield.

[Basil]

Does anybody know if Prinz Eugen wore the Croatian shield? I know they were recruited from ethnic Germans in that general area (Croatia, Romania etc) and spent the war in Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Montengro etc and have seen pix of them wearing Croat awards but do not remember any pix of them wearing the shield.

There is a photograph of Jost Schneider, SS veteran and author, wearing the Croatian shield with Prinz Eugen collar tabs but it's the only time I've ever seen one.

baz

[StevenD]

There is a photograph of Jost Schneider, SS veteran and author, wearing the Croatian shield with Prinz Eugen collar tabs but it's the only time I've ever seen one.

baz

hi Baz, thanks for that info...I did not know that he was in the 7th SS, but am familiar with some of his work, Steven

[James Clark]

Sorry for the delay getting back onto this. I can't do much with the picture I'm afraid. The only other detail is what looks to me like an SA-Wehrsportabzeichen on his pocket under the wedding ribbon. All that's written on the back is "845" - the photo paper doesn't even have a name on it.

Thanks for all your help,

James

[Matthew T S]

It's very hard to tell, but that really doesn't look that much like a Handschar tab to me.

[Dan E. Moe]

Could it be an Einsatzstaffeln soldier?

Regards,
Dan

[StevenD]

It is very hard to tell what the collar tab is. Maybe an ethnic German in one of the Kroat SS divisions would have been allowed to wear a runic tab or perhaps he is wearing a tab from another division having just transferred into the division and not yet been issued the appropriate tab? I do not know if the ES wore the SS pattern Kroat shield, nor if they wore SS pattern hat insignia. I would have to check on that in some references.