In 1924, while the Nazi Party was legally banned following the Beer Hall Putsch, Frontbann (underground SA) leader Gerhard Roßbach located a large store of war-surplus brown denim shirts in Austria, originally intended for tropical uniforms. [4] When the SA (which included the nascent SS) was re-founded in 1925 following Hitler's release from prison, these brown shirts were issued as uniforms. The rest of the Waffen-SS divisions and brigades fared better. The Totenkopf and Polizei divisions were attached to Army Group North, with the mission to advance through the Baltic states and on to Leningrad. [35] [75] The Das Reich Division was with Army Group Centre and headed towards Moscow. [35] [75] The Leibstandarte and Wiking Divisions were with Army Group South, heading for Ukraine and the city of Kiev. [35] [75]

Littlejohn, David (1987). Foreign Legions of the Third Reich Vol. 1 Norway, Denmark, France. Bender Publishing. ISBN 978-0912138176. Tessin, Georg (1966). Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939–1945: Die Landstreitkräfte 1–5 (in German). Vol.2. Frankfurt am Main: Mittler. Evans, Richard J. (2008). The Third Reich at War. New York: Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-311671-4– via archive.org.

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The Waffen-SS expanded further in 1943: in February the 9th SS Panzer Division Hohenstaufen and its sister division, the 10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg, were formed in France. They were followed in July by the 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland created from Norwegian and Danish volunteers. September saw the formation of the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend using volunteers from the Hitler Youth. Himmler and Berger successfully appealed to Hitler to form a Bosnian Muslim division, and the 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian), the first non-Germanic division, was formed, to fight Josip Broz Tito's Yugoslav Partisans. This was followed by the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Galician) formed from volunteers from Galicia in western Ukraine. The 15th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Latvian) was created in 1943, using compulsory military service in the Ostland. The final new division of 1943 was the 16th SS Panzergrenadier Division Reichsführer-SS, which was created using the Sturmbrigade Reichsführer SS as a cadre. By the end of the year, the Waffen-SS had increased in size from eight divisions and some brigades to 16 divisions. By 1943 the Waffen-SS could no longer claim to be an "elite" fighting force. Recruitment and conscription based on "numerical over qualitative expansion" took place, with many of the "foreign" units being good for only rear-guard duty. [92] Kharkov [ edit ] German tanks at Kharkov, 1943

In October 1939, the Deutschland, Germania, and Der Führer regiments were reorganised into the SS-Verfügungs-Division. The Leibstandarte remained independent and was increased in strength to a reinforced motorised regiment. [40] Hitler authorised the creation of two new divisions: the SS Totenkopf Division, formed from militarised Standarten of the SS-Totenkopfverbände, and the Polizei Division, formed from members of the national police force. [49] Almost overnight the force that the OKW had tried to disband had increased from 18,000 to over 100,000 men. [50] Hitler next authorised the creation of four motorised artillery battalions in March 1940, one for each division and the Leibstandarte. The OKW was supposed to supply these new battalions with artillery, but was reluctant to hand over guns from its own arsenal. The weapons arrived only slowly and, by the time of the Battle of France, only the Leibstandarte battalion was up to strength. [51] 1940 [ edit ] France and the Netherlands [ edit ]

Harclerode, Peter (2005). Wings Of War– Airborne Warfare 1918–1945. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 978-0-304-36730-6. Fischer, Thomas (2008). Soldiers of the Leibstandarte. J.J. Fedorowicz Publishing. ISBN 978-0-921991-91-5.