Question about transfers between W-SS divisions

[edelweiss]

Was it possible to transfer between two different W-SS divisions?

What i mean is: First a guy has enlisted himself in the division Das Reich in '41 and after a year of fighting on the Eastern Front, he want to be a Gebirgjäger in the division Prinz Eugen in '42.
Was this possible for him?

And without the above example, was this possible/done to German W-SS members who were first in Das Reich, Totenkopf or LSSAH,... and then were transferred to Prinz Eugen, Charlemange, 1st Latvian,...?

Thanks

[j keenan]

Yes

[edelweiss]

Thanks!

So thats why i've seen some pics of men with Gebirg patches while they aren't in a GJ unit or other insignia not attached to their unit

[edelweiss]

An other question about transfers.
What about their guns? What if the soldier fought on the Eastern Front and got himself a SVT40 or PPSH41, can he keep the gun when he is replaced to another division?

[Alyss]

Hi...

Not too sure how accurate this is, but I found out that within the german units that every soldier in that said unit, came from the same city and suburb. Unlike the Americans and British that the soldiers came across the whole country within one unit.

Would this affect the transfers within german units ?

[Christoph Awender]

Hello,

@edelweiss - basically it was not allowed to Keep captured weapons. They had to be given to collection Points after combat. Individual exceptions were sometimes granted but 99% of the photos you see are "shortly" after the weapon was found or captured and before given away to higher authorities.

@Alyss - this was basically true for infantry divisions - not from the same City or Suburb but the same Wehrkreis. Most units including W-SS units had a mix of origins.

/Christoph

[edelweiss]

Thanks Christoph.
Same thing for sidearms, or is it only with the rifles and smg?

[Reader3000]

@edelweiss: As far as I know, only officers were allowed to keep their own "private" pistols. All others had to rely on the service weapon from the unit.

@Alyss: As far as I know there were lots of American units with men coming from the same town. In Normandy hundreds of the fallen were from the same town.

[edelweiss]

To bad you had to give your found and sometimes better guns to the waffenmeister

[Ludwig Wittgenstein]

Alyss - It's not necessarily true that all Allied units were composed of persons from different places across their country.. certainly within a British Army battalion (e.g. 1st Bn Welsh Regiment) at least 90% would have been from one area. There were exceptions of course. I met a Normandy Veteran, born and bred Londoner, who went straight into the (Scottish) Highland Light Infantry when he joined - he explained that after Dunkirk so many British units were decimated that it became more common to put people from wherever into units from whatever region.

I

[BillHermann]

Yes when units are formed from militia units or from scratch a great number would come from one area. Not all as senior members are often from other regions due to expirence. As war progresses much of this stops due to man power needs. With the exception of home guard units. You just need to look at casualty reports from most units near the end of the war and you will see members from across the country. Modern day regular forces are very much like this a regiment could be stationed in its historical home town but draw members from across the country.

[ReinhardH]

An average soldier's weapon and Wehrpass were the property of the military ... whenever a soldier was reassigned to another unit, he was required to hand over his weapon to the old unit, was given a sealed envelope containing his Wehrpass, then upon arrival to the new unit, he was assigned a weapon according to his job/rank, and his Wehrpass was updated and retained by the new unit, not by that individual.

I do not know what other types of units were granted the same privilege, but any soldier who had served in a Gebirgs unit was permitted via personal choice to keep his tunic throughout the war, nomatter what other unit he may have been assigned to afterwards, which might explain why photos of soldiers wearing Gebirgs tunics turned up later in the war serving in non-Gebirgs units. I know nothing about any SS units.
My father spent a year and a half and nearly two winters in Russia as front line infantry with the 3.Gebirgs, and chose to keep his 3.Gebirgs tunic, even after the Berlin weapons school, and the units he was assigned to in the west to the end of the war.

fwiw, 'Waffenmeisters' via their pre-war education in the metal-working trade, were there to repair/maintain weapons ... NOT to cache/issue a unit's weapons.

[edelweiss]

An average soldier's weapon and Wehrpass were the property of the military ... whenever a soldier was reassigned to another unit, he was required to hand over his weapon to the old unit, was given a sealed envelope containing his Wehrpass, then upon arrival to the new unit, he was assigned a weapon according to his job/rank, and his Wehrpass was updated and retained by the new unit, not by that individual.

I do not know what other types of units were granted the same privilege, but any soldier who had served in a Gebirgs unit was permitted via personal choice to keep his tunic throughout the war, nomatter what other unit he may have been assigned to afterwards, which might explain why photos of soldiers wearing Gebirgs tunics turned up later in the war serving in non-Gebirgs units. I know nothing about any SS units.
My father spent a year and a half and nearly two winters in Russia as front line infantry with the 3.Gebirgs, and chose to keep his 3.Gebirgs tunic, even after the Berlin weapons school, and the units he was assigned to in the west to the end of the war.

fwiw, 'Waffenmeisters' via their pre-war education in the metal-working trade, were there to repair/maintain weapons ... NOT to cache/issue a unit's weapons.

Thanks for the usefull info!

[ReinhardH]

You're welcome