oak leaf camo, did ordinary heer wear it?

No W-SS camo was ever issued to Heer troops. You may see the odd photo of Luftwaffe troops wearing it.

There is an argument that the Camo smock is as much of an SS symbol as the runes. How would that sit with your moral thing?
I feel it is just as iconic, it screams 'bad guy'.
As Steiner says oak was SS only.

theres bad guy and then theres sadistic fanatical murdering bad guy, not all the ss were that but they were the fore front elite troops of one of the most evil regimes in history, and the concentration camp guards. i belive that many german soldiers didnt want to go along with the holocaust but had no real option, many german soldiers fourt honorably for what they believed or were brain washed to belive in, which most of europe was too. theres no country in europe without blood on there hands from what they could have done to protect people, and didnt. its a touchy subject even today for which i would rather not offend people with by walking around in ss uniforms. having said that it is a part of history that happened and reenactments dont always work well without all the required elements. reenacting is for me about rememberance, accountability, awareness, respect and reliving epic battles fourt by brave men on all sides, but still i and most people might find it bad taste to walk around dressed as hitler or reeacting scenes from belson or treblinka death camps in the name of airsoft fun. i wouldnt critcise anyone for dressing as ss but its not for me.

forgot to say, i think i'll pass on the oakleaf at the moment, thanks for the info.

By mid-late war they were not that elite. Many divisions were dregs and left overs, foreign volunteers to fight communism.
I meant the bad guy comment as an appeal of the bad guy thing ; that's what draws many in.

What a bizarre thread!
1) You won't offend anyone at a WW2 airsoft game by wearing an SS uniform. It isn't a political rally, it isn't pursuing fascist ideals, it isn't mass murder. It concerns itself with the fighting man in a historical setting. It's all about context.
2) If you don't want to be associated with the SS (which is fair enough, personal choice) why would you want to wear an iconic piece of SS uniform?
3) No idea why you bring Hitler or concentration camps into the picture - nothing to do with what we do.
4) "Walking around" in uniform of any description can cause offence. Again, context is all.
5) Heer, which you depict, fought for the Nazi regime and killed millions. Good guys? Slightly less bad guys? Bad guys but not really bad guys?

Mind you this is WW2 AIRSOFT. Plenty of players were wearing mid-late war items at the last event - gaitors, M43 caps, Type-2 SS smocks, wrong splinter FJ-Smocks and armed with a huge selection of weapons.

I guess it's whatever you have, whatever you want and yes at times - how commited you are.

I've heard there's even some Brits that like to buy original under-crackers - but it's not a requirement of CIA, just yer mum, cause if u have to go to hospital, they always want to ensure your decent, 'down below' lol

Ultimately - join in and have fun.

JD7

4) "Walking around" in uniform of any description can cause offence. Again, context is all.

quite right

i find current uk police paramilitary style of uniform offensive, it screams "police state" , also face coverings for officers at riots, also very offensive to me.

mr plod should be wearing a SAMRT public service style uniform, for normal dutys, not swanning round on normal patrols dressed like swat teams.

as for oak a, i wear it to work, i also wear my plaintree, and goretex flecktarn for rainy days as well.

topped with my SS black panzer cap, and "Panzerleid" blareing from the works van radio, i cut a dashing figure on my drives round rochdale

i think ww2 airsofters and people on these sorts of websites have very informed views on ww2, its just when pictures start turning up of me wearing german uniforms on certain face websites its get tricky when my family see all that sort of stuff and dont really know all the in's and outs of ww2 in detail, i try to avoide such photos on these family websites so as not to offend people who dont know the full details of history. i try to avoid anyone tagging me.

Yes agreed, much as I said in PM's with django. To the public, generally speaking, while they may be aware that SS=very bad (even if they don't know why they might think that) they also think Germans=Nazis and since they are unaware of the uniform distinctions between SS/Heer/LW etc but CAN recognise a 'German' uniform then all the distinctions and qualifications WE make are lost on them. Simply, Germans are Nazis and therefore bad/evil, and that is reflected on the reenactor within the German uniform. So, you are left with a simple decision. If you are worried about what other people may think of your activities then avoid German uniforms. Wear Russian or Japanese uniform instead as the great unwashed have no idea anything about their activities in the war at all!

I'm lucky, I don't have employer issues, my closest clients and relations know what I get up to and whether it is British, American or German uniforms I wear they just think I'm a bit bonkers. Which is OK, they are probably right.

Anyway, django's question was answered and asked that the thread be closed which I shall do.