LAH in Poland 1939 - retouched, removed or covered insignia?

[B Hellqvist]

Here's the photo of resting LAH troops in Poland, 1939. It is from the Time-Life book The Reach For Empire, p 159. I have some questions about the insignia worn by the soldiers. I've read that during the invasion of the Low Countries in 1940, SS troops had to remove their collar patches due to security reasons. Researching a figure centered on SS-VT/LAH troops in Poland, 1939, I've had trouble finding reliable information on the uniforms worn. This photo is the only one with good detail that I've found so far. To begin with, the photo is very likely somewhat retouched, as the gas mask canister carried by the guy in the centre of the pic appears "enhanced". The cuff titles are either retouched, or covered up. The shoulderboards of the guy to the left appears to be covered with a cloth sleeve. No LAH cyphers are visible on the shoulderboards of the Oberscharführer to the right - removed or retouched? The collar patches appears to be retouched; this seems to be the case with the other NCO (2nd guy from the left). Another interesting feature is the OScha's bayonet Troddel. Was this carried by all NCOs and enlisted men at his stage of the war, or just NCOs? Comments?

 

[Sourdoh]

At this stage of the war, many relatities of the war were not known, so you see things like a bayonet troddel worn in a combat situation. Whereas later in the war, all those things would be reserved for wear with a dress, or walking-out uniform. As for the retouching (which is what I think it is) - It was probably retouched before publication by the propaganda department to disguise the make up of the units taking part in the fighting in a particular area. The retouch on the gas mask canister was probably a "vanity" move by the retoucher. He/she probably thought the item in the original phot was fuzzy or obscured and just detailed it for fun. The retouchers used to have a watercolor kit with all shades from white to black with every major shade of gray in between.

 

[Ron Volstad]

Hi Bjorn,

I have this same photo in one book and it is not obviously retouched to my mind. However I have seen a number of photos from this period that are very much obviously retouched.

That being said, other photos do support some effort at disguising some SS insignia but it seems fairly haphazard. The cuff titles seem to have been covered and some shoulder straps had field gray sleeves. Collar insignia seems to have been removed but not always. Then at the same time, helmets are worn with no attempt to obscure the SS runes or the tri-color with swastika. Like I said; fairly haphazard!

Further indication that this was a authorized effort are the photos of LAH vehicles. Motorcycles, staff cars and armored cars are seen with canvas covers over the runes on their number plates, or smeared with mud. Some MC's removed the front plate entirely.

Sorry you had grief on that other site.

Cheers,
Ron V

 

[B Hellqvist]

Thanks, Sourdoh and Ron! As it seems that there was no real 100% standard on how to cover up the insignia, I'll make a figure that will make the best use of what I've got. The grey cloth covers for the cuff titles sounds logical, as a retoucher worth his/her salt would've made a much more discreet job on them.

Yeah, the reply on that other site was pretty annoying; the guy sounded like he granted me a great boon, taking some of his precious time to reply...

 

[General Specific]

Very interresting. The Weapon held by the NCO (Front Right) also seems a bit off to me. Almost like a sketch over an original picture.