In the early 1920s, a tiny group was formed within the SA to serve as Hitler’s personal bodyguard. Originally labelled the ‘Stosstruppe Adolf Hitler’, they later became known as the SS - Schutz Staffeln, or ‘protection squads’. From these humble beginnings, the SS rose to a nominal strength of 38 divisions of over 800,000 men by 1945, representing a sizeable portion of Germany’s land forces and more importantly a quarter of her tank forces and a third of her mechanised infantry. Martin Windrow provides a splendid in-depth review of the history, uniforms and insignia of the infamous Waffen-SS.