Death Head Question

[Ron Wood]

Some of you may remember this topic of the Death Head Luger being associated with the SS on the old forum. Without restating too much of what was said before, it was pointed out that the theory in current favor is that the DH Lugers probably were associated with the Flammenwerfer units as Frank has noted. As Herb noted, the Death Head is a very old item of German heraldry awarded to units exhibiting extraordinary honor in battle. The connotation was "honor unto death" a commitment to life-long knightly honor. The Death Head Hussars were perhaps the most notable unit, being the Kaiser's personal honor guard unit. The second most recognizable unit was perhaps the 3rd Battalion, 92nd Brunswick Infantry who earned their DH during the Napoleonic conflict. The photo below shows the DH head gear of these two units. The DH Lugers were never associated with the SS.