You can see he’s wearing the Das Reich cufftitle, meaning he was with the 2nd SS Panzer Division. It was was an elite division of the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II, formed from the regiments of the SS-VT. The division served during the invasion of France and took part in several major battles on the Eastern Front, including in the Battle of Prokhorovka against the 5th Guards Tank Army at the Battle of Kursk. It was then transferred to the West and took part in the fighting in Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge, ending the war fighting the Soviets in Hungary and Austria. The division committed the Oradour-sur-Glane and Tulle massacres along with others on the Eastern Front. Photo from my collection.
I actually just got a few books to help me identify nazi and ss regalia. Really looking forward to getting them. I actually might be getting a few photo albums that belonged to someone who was alive during the third reich. Not sure if they served or not because the auction house only showed a few photos. But I’m really excited! I can share the photos with you if I win them.
The Handbooks were given to junior officers, the ones on the pointy end, to read during the Atlantic or Pacific crossing. They were accumulations of information collected by the earlier troops. The Japanese Handbook is also at Otto's Hyperwar site.