Talk:Oberführer

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[edit] Equivalent Rank

I wanted to open up discussion on what the equivalent rank should be to Oberführer. In the United States, most historians agree that its equivalent to Brigadier General, as it is often listed in German publication as "the first SS General rank". The British, on the other hand, almost always have Oberführer listed as "Senior Colonel" in the publications I have seen.

The Waffen-SS did see the rank as a senior Colonel position, but SS regulations permitted those of the rank of Oberführer to wear SS-General lapels. In my view, the rank is more closely associated with Brigadier, a British rank in a grey zone between Colonel and Major General. -Husnock 5Mar05

The point, as I see it, is that a Brigadeführer most closely matches a Brigadier. Brigadier isn't in a grey area at all - a brigadier is a brigade commander, but just not a general. The British rank was Brigadier-General until 1922, and the rank of Brigadier has always been considered to be equivalent to a US Brigadier General. Waffen-SS divisions were in the main commanded by Gruppenführers. Divisions in the British and US Armies are almost invariably under Major-Generals. If Gruppenführer correlates to Major-General in terms of responsibility, then it is reasonable that Brigadeführer correlates to Brigadier(-General). And as the SS/Wehrmacht itself considered an Oberführer to be equivalent to a senior Oberst then this correlation seems to me to stand up to scrutiny. -- Necrothesp 14:22, 5 Mar 2005 (UTC)