History

The SS divided Germany and the occupied territories into Oberabschnitte (districts) that roughly corresponded to the Germany Army's Wehrkreise (army districts). These districts were further divided into three or four SS-Abschnitte (sub-districts), which could be identified by roman numerals. By the end of the war, there were 45 sub-districts.

Each SS sub-district had one or two cavalry units (SS-Reiterstandarten) under its control. Numbers 1 through 23 are by location. A list can be found in Angolia's "Cloth Insignia of the SS", page 96.

Each unit included five to eight cavalry companies, a cavalry medical squad, and a bugler corps.

A cavalry regiment was rarely concentrated in the city where its headquarter was located. Instead, a regiment’s companies were usually scattered amongst the smaller towns of an SS sub-district.

Following the outbreak of the Second World War, members of SS cavalry regiments were conscripted in army cavalry units, or they were organized into SS-Totenkopf cavalry regiments.

Members of the SS cavalry regiments wore a unit collar tab that featured crossed lances and their regiment number. Members serving on the staff of an SS district (Oberabschnitt) or with an independent cavalry unit wore a collar tab that only featured crossed lances.

Officer rank collar tabs were embroidered with silver-coloured aluminium wire, while Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) and Enlisted Men (EM) collar tabs were embroidered with silver or grey-coloured thread.

Officer tabs were piped with aluminum twist cord, while those of NCO/EMs was piped with alternating black and aluminum twist cord. NCO/EM piping was eventually discontinued.

The 13th SS-Reiterstandarte was stationed in Mannheim.