SS topic of interest poll

[Edwin Meinsma]

1) 5.SS 'Wiking' and 4.SS Brigade 'Nederland'
2) Felix Steiner and Paul Hausser
3) Gerardus Mooyman and Michael Wittmann
4) Narwa, Berlin
5) Nope

[Ethelian]

Hey Mark:)

1) What are your 1 or 2 favorite units or non Waffen-SS topics with the SS as a whole ?

the !st,the 2nd and the 5th SS Div

2) Who are your 1-2 favorite division or corps commanders ?

Bittrich and Peiper,if he counts


3) Who are your favorite 1 or 2 Knight's Cross holders ?

Wittmann, Otto Weidinger and Ernst Krag

4) What Waffen-SS involved battle or campaign interests you most ?

Kursk,The korsun/Cherkassy pocket and the third battle of Kharkov

5) Do we have any modelers or minature figure painters ?

I model 1/35th scale replica tanks,when i can find the time.

[Christian]

1) 2. SS Pz.Div. "Das Reich"

2) None in particular.

3) Interested in Eberhardt Telkamp as my father's Pionier unit provided tank support for him in January 1945.

4) Südabschnitt 1943-1944 and Western Front 1944-1945.

[MG42]

1. 2nd "Das Reich" and 12th "Hitlerjugend" also fascinated by SS-Sonderkommando Dirlewanger (Cruel Hunters by French MacLean is an excellent resource on this Div.)
2. Kurt Meyer, Oskar Dirlewanger, Fritz Witt
3. Ernst Barkmann (well who wouldn't pick him :) ) and Gerardes Mooyman ( The Tankhunter).
4. Defence of Calais, Defence of Berlin and all Eastern Front conflict
5. Used to but it was a loooong time ago and I could never aspire to the level of most "pros"

Regards
Harv.

[Michael Avanzini]

1. Das Reich and Totenkopf
2. K Meyer and Walter Krueger
3. O Weidinger and P Hausser
4. Kharkov 43 and Mius 43
5. Some 35mm

Mike

[Mitch Kelly]

As a basis for other forum readers, we'd all be curious:

1) What are your 1 or 2 favorite units or non Waffen-SS topics with the SS as a whole ?
Probably foreign volunteers and special units (Jagdkommando etc), although the Panzer and cavalry units would get high scores

2) Who are your 1-2 favorite division or corps commanders ?
Steiner certainly, Hausser too.

3) Who are your favorite 1 or 2 Knight's Cross holders ?

Panzermeyer, Wunsche, perhaps

4) What Waffen-SS involved battle or campaign interests you most ?

Ardennes (family involvement) and the actions in Hungary 1944

5) Do we have any modelers or minature figure painters ?
Certainly - 1/35 or 54mm figures. Used to do tanks but the space overhead is a killer!

Mitch

[Gary Oglesbee]

My favorite SS unit is the 13th SS Handschar. I have an interest in Gebirgsjager units, and I re-enact Heer Gebirgs at WW2 events.

[John M. Donovan]

1) What are your 1 or 2 favorite units or non Waffen-SS topics with the SS as a whole ?

2) Who are your 1-2 favorite division or corps commanders ?

3) Who are your favorite 1 or 2 Knight's Cross holders ?

4) What Waffen-SS involved battle or campaign interests you most ?

5) Do we have any modelers or minature figure painters ?

Hello All,

1.) LAH + HJ Div.
2.) Teddy Wisch + Kurt Meyer
3.) Werner Poetschke and Max Wuensche
4.) Normandy Battles and the "Bulge"
5.) Not here :)

[lennardg]

1) Totenkopf and Wiking
2) Eicke and Gille (the former because of notoriority, not skill)
3) Hans Dorr (that´s a badass...) and Viggo Christophersen (danish volunteer in Nordland division)
4) Hungary 1945
5) I used to model intensely when I was a boy, actually I´ve been trying for some time to revive my interest by building a 1/35 SdKfz 234/1 (italieri kit), those masters at http://www.missing-lynx.com[/url] really impressed me, and I think the Pz.aufkl. abteilungen are most interesting.

[Michael Miller / ABR]

1) What are your 1 or 2 favorite units or non Waffen-SS topics with the SS as a whole ?
Primary interest- Biographical research covering all elements of the Waffen-SS, Allgemeine-SS, and Deutschen Polizei. Main SS topic of interest- the men, offices, and formations of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt and Ordnungspolizei.


2) Who are your 1-2 favorite division or corps commanders ?
Divisional: Heinz Harmel, as in addition to courage and leadership skills he showed a genuine sense of commitment to the well-being of his men (the most important quality in any commander, I believe). Corps/Army: Felix Steiner.


3) Who are your favorite 1 or 2 Knight's Cross holders ?
Remy Schrijnen- one of the greatest stories of courage and dedication to duty I've ever read.


4) What Waffen-SS involved battle or campaign interests you most ?
Anti-partisan operations (in which Waffen-SS as well as other SS/Polizei units were involved), notably throughout Russia, the Balkans ("Prinz Eugen", "Handschar", etc.), and Poland (Warsaw Ghetto, Apr./May 1943 and Warsaw proper, Autumn 1944).


5) Do we have any modelers or minature figure painters ?
Used to build dioramas featuring MRC/Tamiya Panzers, figurines of German soldiers, etc. as a kid- built an entire Russian village in a dirt field behind my house, complete with tanks, artillery pieces, civilian refugees, barbed wire entanglements, houses made of painted cardboard; for the grand finale, set corners of the houses afire and invaded the village with Pzkpfw IV's and III's. I was a weird kid.

[Jason Pipes]

I don't have answers to all of the posted questions, but two areas I have always been very interested are the 6.SS-Gebirgs-Division in Finland and in those unit that took part in riverine patrol operations in the Crimea and on the southern portion of the Russin front. I also find the story of the 3.SS in the Demjansk Pocket to be very interesting. I used to model when I was very young but never anything WWII related. I have a great respect for those with the skill and determination to create wonderfully detailed WWII German dioramas. Some I have seen a very spectacular.

[Marc Rikmenspoel]

1. Favorite units : Nordland and Nederland. And parent Wiking, of course.

2. Joachim Zeigler and Matthias Kleinheisterkamp both seem to be extemely dedicated and talented commanders who have received little recognition.

3. Harald Nugiseks' wartime bravery is well documented, and I am happy that he is now an inspiration to a new generation of Estonians. I admire Hermann Buchner as a man who excelled through years of the heaviest fighting, until he was at last mortally wounded near Modlin in November 1944. There are several dozen additional men whom I very highly respect as soldiers.

4. After years of studay, I'm still fascinated with the Baltic campaign of the III.(germanisches) SS-Panzerkorps between December 1943 and May 1945, and by the Budapest/Hungarian campaign involving the IX. Waffen-Gebirgskorps, IV. SS-Panzerkorps and 6. SS-Panzerarmee between December 1944 and March 1945.

5. I built and painted 1/35 scale tanks when I was a kid, and I still have a King Tiger and Hetzer on my mantle.

[Chris]

1) What are your 1 or 2 favorite units or non Waffen-SS topics with the SS as a whole ? 11. SS-Freiwilligen-Panzer-Grenadier-Division "Nordland" and 5. SS-Panzer-Division "Wiking".

2) Who are your 1-2 favorite division or corps commanders ? Gruppenführer Fritz von Scholz and Obergruppenführer Felix Steiner

3) Who are your favorite 1 or 2 Knight's Cross holders ? Johannes Hellmers and Eberhard Heder.

4) What Waffen-SS involved battle or campaign interests you most ? Narwa (Baltic/Kurland) and Berlin.

Chris

[Mad Max]

1) My two favorite Waffen-SS formations are LSSAH and Wiking.

2) Felix Steiner and Willi Bittrich

3) Max Wunsche and Jochen Peiper

4) Kursk and Ardennes

5) Yes, 1/100th, 1/72nd, and 1/35th

[Noel Petroni]

1) Das Reich & LSSAH

2) Meyer & Peiper

3) Meyer & Peiper

4) Kursk - Karkov - Ardennes

5) I construct Scale models : Dioramas - Single vehicles - Figures

Regards
Noel