While seemingly unimportant, this type of organizational deficiency was to plague the logistical support system underlying the operations of the Waffen SS for the entire course of the war and, despite its fierce fighting spirit, often caused it to be unable to sustain offensive operations. This latter situation was particularly prevelent when the Waffen SS was faced with having to compete for available resources with conventional Army and Luftwaffe units, whose entrenched lobbying efforts at the most senior levels of government, particularly vis a vis Goring, represented a formable obstacle to success. As an example of this individual "pyramid of power" mentality, there is are numerous medical entries in the soldbuch that is part of this lot dealing with the loss of a leg by the soldier involved, SS Schutzen Herbet Richter, which cover both his amputation and immediate treatment in teh field as a member of the Totenkopf Division,as well as his recupperation back in Germany at an SS hospita at Nurnemberg and separately in his home town of Dresden. In none of these instances was Rottenfuhrer Richter treated in a non SS hospital or seen professionally by anyone other than an SS certified doctor.
		BELOW is a greatly enlarged view of the front of the second set of SS-VT collar tabs in this lot which are for the rank of SS Oberscharfuhrer (Sergeant). In comparison with the pair of SS-VT Unterscharfuhrer tabs previously discussed, this set uses a smaller size traditional Prussian style death head, as well as smaller sized rank pips. Due to the use aluminum insignia, instead of the brass composition of the skull and rank pip used in the SS-VT Uterscharfuhrer collar tab set, the metal parts of this set exhibit a white powdered crystalization on their edges from oxidation over many years instead of green.