My friend knows I know a little bit about history... But it's nothing like you guys. I hope this is the right place for this.
His grandfather was German and fought in the war.
His German family refuses to talk about the man pictured in the link. He's my age, 36 and is curious. This isn't Nazi worship or anything. He knows nothing about his grandfather and is just curious. He assumes his grandfather was conscripted. But if the guy is SS, that's not likely the case.
He looks SS to me, but again, I probably suck at this. The badge on the left pocket could be an infantry assault badge or tank destroyer?
Any help? Thanks.
Disclaimer: The picture is too vague to make definitive statements of the type of unit he is in.
At first it doesn’t look SS to me because there is no eagle-and-swastika patch on his left sleeve which was normal for the SS in field grey. However, it looks that the collar patch is a kind of green and has one or two squares on it with an stripe underneath. And it looks like two squares on the shoulder patch. That would make him an SS-Hauptscharfuhrer. The color green would make him a member if a rifle regiment of the SS Police Divisions because the light green would make him mountain infantry and that does not fit with the medal on the left chest pocket. http://www.alanhamby.com/ranks/rank.htm
The medal on his left chestpocket looks more like an Algemeine Sturmabzeichen because of the rounded shape. That makes him non-infantry.
The two stripes on his lower sleeves make him a Hauptfeldwebel . An appointment like a first sergeant.
If my conclusions are correct then there is a good reason why his family is not talking about him.
Hello there! As your question is related to looking for identification/information regarding military personnel, our Guide on Military Identification may be of use to you. It provides a number of different resources, including how to request service records from a number of national agencies around the world, as well as graphical aids to assist in deciphering rank, unit, and other forms of badges or insignia. While the users here may still be able to lend you more assistance, hopefully this will provide a good place to start!
