Original German WWII 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Cuff Title – Unissued Original Items

Original Items: Only One Available. This is an excellent unissued example of an Adolf AH script Cuff Title, as worn by the 1st SS Panzer Division “Leibstandarte SS Adolf AH”. It shows no signs of ever having been attached to a uniform. It is woven from black and gray thread in the typical German  “BeVo” style.

The title was given to this elite unit in 1933 after the failed yet famed Beer Hall Putsche. The LSSAH were the first unit to have been awarded the honorary cuff title, originally in Gothic text until 1934, when it was changed to the Sutterlin Script, which continued until the end of the Second World War. The Titles were used on many tunics from the Allgemeine tunic, field tunics, Panzer wraps and Greatcoats.

Machine embroidered with grey thread for the enlisted men of the Leibstandarte SS Adolf AH. The title would have been worn on the left sleeve of the tunic approximately 15cm from the edge of the cuff. The cuff measures 1.25″ x 18 3/4″, with no missing areas, and is in excellent unissued condition.

A great example, ready to display!

The 1st SS Panzer Division “Leibstandarte SS Adolf AH”, short LSSAH, (German: 1. SS-Panzerdivision “Leibstandarte SS Adolf AH”) began as Adolf AH’s personal bodyguard, responsible for guarding the Führer’s person, offices, and residences. Initially the size of a regiment, the LSSAH eventually grew into an elite division-sized unit during World War II.

The LSSAH participated in combat during the invasion of Poland, and was amalgamated into the Waffen-SS together with the SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT) and the combat units of the SS-Totenkopfverbände (SS-TV) prior to Operation Barbarossa in 1941. By mid-1942 it had been increased in size from a regiment to a Panzergrenadier division and was designated SS Panzergrenadier Division “Leibstandarte SS Adolf AH”. It received its final form as a Panzer division in October 1943.

Members of the LSSAH perpetrated numerous atrocities and war crimes, including the Malmedy massacre. They killed an estimated 5,000 prisoners of war in the period 1940–1945, mostly on the Eastern Front.