German army and Waffen-SS ranking structure in World War II

The German Army's ranking structure and the one of the Waffen SS in the World War II can be a little confusing. Mostly because those structures are different between themselves and are different between America's or British armies.

Here I'll try to show how the hierarchy of the Deutches Heer (army) and the Waffen SS as well as the approximate British equivalent. I'm no British Army expert, so if you find any inaccuracies, please let me know. The America's Army equivalents are similar to the British ones. Note that some of the ranks do not have a clear equivalent.

Equivalency Table (Ascending Order)

Heer (German Army)       Waffen SS                    British Equivalent



Gemeiner(Landser)          Schütze                         Private

                           Oberschütze

Grenadier                  Sturmmann                       Lance Corporal

Obergrenadier

Gefreiter                  Rottenführer                    Corporal

Obergefreiter              Unterscharführer  

Stabsgefreiter    

Unteroffizier              Scharführer                     Sergeant

Unterfeldwebel             Oberscharführer                 Colour Sergeant

Feldwebel    

Oberfeldwebel              Hauptscharführer                Sergeant Major

Stabsfeldwebel             Hauptbereitschaftsleiter



                          Sturmscharführer                  Warrant Officer

Officers



Leutnant                  Untersturmführer                  Second Lieutenant

Oberleutnant              Obersturmführer                   First Lieutenant

Hauptmann                 Hauptsturmführer                  Captain

Major                     Sturmbannführer                   Major

Oberstleutnant            Obersturmbannführer               Lieutenant Colonel

Oberst                    Standartenführer                  Colonel

                          Oberführer                        Brigadier 

Generalmajor              Brigadeführer                     Major General

Generalleutnant           Gruppenführer                     Lieutenant General

General                   Obergruppenführer                 General

Generaloberst             Oberstgruppenführer

Generalfeldmarschall      Riechsführer-SS                  Field Marshal

There's also some "sub-ranks" that doesn't go along with the "main line", such as medics (Sanitätssoldat), Staff Sergeants (Unterfeldwebel and Unterwachtmeister), Gunners (Kanonier), Motor Vehicles Drivers (Kraftfahrer) and many others, but, as noted, the ranks above are the main ones.