History

Although the Waffen-SS never served in North Africa, a few units served in the Balkans, southern Russia, and Italy, and required a tropical uniform to deal with the sweltering summer heat. The SS was slow in developing an official SS tropical uniform and troops were required to deal with the heat the best they could.

Following the invasion of Greece in 1941, members of the 1. SS-Panzer-Division ‘Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler’ resorted to wearing SS sport kits when not in combat. Some members of the SS would also wear Army-issue tropical pith helmets, although these proved unpopular.

The first SS pattern tropical uniform introduced was the M42. The design is very similar in appearance to the Italian tropical Sahariana.

The M42 uniform included tan cotton trousers that were cut just above the knee. These trousers feature a flapless watch pocket and have inverted metal hooks along the waistline to help secure the wearer’s belt. Similar to Keilhosen, the shorts have a single back pocket, as well as adjustable side straps under the waistband.

In 1943, the SS introduced a second pattern tropical uniform. Instead of short trousers, the second pattern uniform was issued with long trousers that are similar to Keilhosen. The trousers are composed of lightweight cotton twill and the interior is lined with cotton/rayon fabric. The trousers feature inverted metal belt hooks on the waistband and there are two flapped pockets on the rear. The end of each pant leg features a tie strap to assure a tight fit around the wearer’s ankles.

Overall, relatively few members of the Waffen-SS wore the SS tropical uniform, and it was primarily issued to the 1. SS-Panzer-Division ‘Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler’, the SS-Polizei Division, and the 16. SS-Panzergrenadier-Division ‘Reichsführer-SS’, who served in Italy in 1943.

A large number of these uniforms were found at the Dachau clothing depot following German capitulation.