Introduction

The following portion of the introduction is from Pen and Sword:
This is the photographic history of the Waffen-SS in combat on all fronts. The short six year history of the Waffen SS spanned triumph and disaster, and their story can be traced through these powerful images, which clearly document the reality of combat from 1940 to 1945.

These rare images span the combat history of the Waffen-SS from the optimism of the opening phases of the war in the west through the challenges of Barbarossa and the long and bloody retreat against a numerically far superior enemy in both the east and the west. This powerful photographic record is essential reading for anyone with an interest in the course of the war from the German perspective and clearly demonstrates the scale of the task undertaken by the Waffen-SS on all fronts.

Review

This offering from Pen and Sword is part of the ‘Images at War’ series. This series of books are soft backed offerings having a good card cover with a very good spine to the book that keeps the contents in good order. This book covering ‘The Waffen SS in Combat’ has been authored by Bob Carruthers. This title from Bob Carruthers is one of 45 offerings covering conflict during World War 1 and World War 2 for the most part. The contents of this title are provided over 160 pages of good quality semi gloss paper.

The contents are presented in the following sections:
Chapter 1 – The Waffen SS in the West - 1940
Chapter 2 – The Waffen SS in the East 1941 - 1943
Chapter 3 – The Waffen SS in Combat 1943 – 1945

The three chapters in this offering each have a short written introduction which is of a limited benefit due to the restrictions on space. The result is a brief outline of the section and not a written masterpiece. The images are where these books generally and this title specifically score the high appeal points for me as a modeller and I suspect if you have seen one of these titles the same applies to you.

The photographs are all in black and white and for the most part of a good quality, there are a few soft focus images included but I still feel they offer visual value. Looking through the images a very high percentage look to be personal photographs and not staged propaganda images which I particularly like about this book. The natural look and in some cases relaxed photographs removes the master race aspect that dehumanises the SS and does make you look at them for the most part as young males whose mindset had been twisted. Digging through the photographic content I was very pleased to come across very few images that I had seen before or remembered seeing previously.

While the photographs are the reason I would dip my hand in my pocket and purchase this book they are further enhanced by the well written captions that accompany all of them. The captions add the information that a photograph cannot and gives it a place and time for the modeller to work with. The result of all this is a well rounded book that covers an aspect of World War 2 very well in photographs and captions.

Conclusion

As a modeller who has come to appreciate period visual references this is another title as part of Images of War from Pen and Sword that will get well thumbed during my time. The captions are well written and provide decent levels of information for the viewer to pick up on and utilise. Three images that struck me are of SS soldiers with full smiles on their faces something I cannot recall having seen before as they are nearly always steely faced images. Another great title in the series that is very affordable and offers great visual details.