Original Item: Only one pair available. The SS (Schutzstaffel - 'Protection Squadron') was originally formed in 1925, ostensibly to act as a small, loyal bodyguard unit to protect the Führer, Adolf H. Under the direction of the Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, the SS grew to be the most ruthless and feared organization of the 20th century. They were the vanguard of NSDAP and eventually controlled nearly every function of German life and much of Occupied Europe.

When WWII began in earnest, the SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT) (SS Dispositional Troops) became the Waffen-SS ("Armed SS"), an official military branch of the SS organization. Its formations included men from NSDAP ruled Germany, along with volunteers and conscripts from both occupied and unoccupied lands.

This is a lovely pair of late war German Waffen SS HBT M44 Uniform Trousers, in the SS later war (1944-1945) Erbsenmuster (Pea Pattern) Camouflage Pattern. This uniform model was introduced in early-mid 1944, and the design is very similar to the HBT "Reed Green" uniforms issued later in the war. These were issued for use for both drill and in the field, and were much more utilitarian than many previous designs. 

The trousers are in very good condition and totally correct. They have the buttons and fittings for attachment to internal suspenders, and are made from the correct HBT "Pea Dot" printed camouflage. They feature a six button fly with the lower 4 buttons being plastic, and the upper two metal. There are two sideways slash pockets on either side of the front, with a single horizontal slash pocket on the rear right, with all pockets having a single plastic button closure. There is also a very small pocket on the front right. The bottoms of the legs have eyelets and tie straps to secure them closed.

The interior of the trousers display original markings on the rear right, which look to be size markings, possibly with some RBNr markings. This area however looks to have had some damage in the past that removed part of the fabric, and there are two period patches on the rear, one on either side of the suspender attachments, which are on both the inside and outside of the trousers. We would guess that some piece of equipment the were wearing slowly tore out that area, so repairs were made with the correct camouflage fabric on the exterior, with brown on the interior. The suspender straps also show repairs to them.

Aside from the repairs, these are in very good condition, with the original camouflage color very well retained. There are no patches on the legs, and there are not any major tears or holes that we can see either. The fabric is still supple and does not show any signs of dry rot or deterioration to the material.

Waffen SS "Pea Dot" Camouflage material has becoming exceedingly hard to find, especially the M44 uniforms, and here we have a lovely honest used example of the trousers with some lovely period repairs. These were checked thoroughly against known period examples, and are totally correct. Ready to display!

More on the M44 "Pea Dot" Camouflage Waffen SS Uniform:
The development of SS camouflage items was initiated by Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler in 1935 when he tasked the Reichsführung-SS, (National Leadership of the SS), to begin research of new camouflage patterns and garments for use by the fledgling SS-VT, SS-Verfugüngstruppe, (SS-Special Purpose Troops). In late 1936 and early 1937 the first SS camouflage garments were issued to personnel of the SS-VT Standarte Deutschland for field testing and evaluation. The first items evaluated were the Quarter shelters/ponchos, followed by steel helmet covers, face masks and smocks.

As the war continued various other clothing items were produced in the assorted camouflage patterns. Originally the camouflage patterns were all produced in the time consuming manual screen printing until the development of the machine roller printing in 1940. By the end of the war no fewer then ten assorted camouflage patterns had been developed and used by the SS.

The M44 dot pattern camouflage uniform, consisting of a field blouse and pants was officially introduced on March 1st 1944 as a cost saving measure, and was designed to serve double duty by replacing both the drill tunic and camouflage smock. Originally the early models of the M44 dot pattern camouflage uniforms were manufactured from stockpiles of dual sided, camouflage material with an HBT, (Herring Bone Twill), weave and the field blouse came outfitted with shoulder strap retaining loops and buttons and a factory applied sleeve eagle. By July 1944 the inclusion of the shoulder strap retaining loops and buttons and the factory applied sleeve eagle were discontinued. The M44 dot pattern camouflage uniform was only suitable for warm climates and regulations dictated that the uniforms were to be returned to the units storage depots annually on November 1st although the lack of supplies negated this directive and the uniforms were worn through-out the year.