WH - Wehrmacht Uniforms, Insignia & Personal Equipment

[Fritz]

Werner von Blomberg, Generaloberst

Wilhelm Keitel, Generalfeldmarschall

Wehrmacht company buttons for shoulder straps. The fieldgrey versions were worn on the field tunics, those with aluminium finish were generally worn on the parade tunics.

I. Bataillon
1. Kompanie
2. Kompanie
3. Kompanie
4. Kompanie

II. Bataillon
5. Kompanie
6. Kompanie
7. Kompanie
8. Kompanie

III. Bataillon
9.   Kompanie
10. Kompanie
11. Kompanie
12. Kompanie

IV. Bataillon
13. Kompanie
so far to date

Note: The fieldgrey buttons for 6 or 9 in these examples are without a "dot" behind the number, interchangeable. The aluminium versions have the "dot" behind the number, so definitely a 6. or a 9. Various maker marks to rear of buttons. Some have an RZM mark.

Company numbers were worn only by other ranks and NCOs, never by officers.

The company numbers were also indicated by the colours of the bayonet knots.

[Fritz]

Company Insignia, bayonet knots - Seitengewehrtroddel:

Colours as a symbol
white = 1
red = 2
yellow = 3
blue = 4
thereafter, colour combinations, light green can signify 5 in some cases

For Unteroffizier, no company designation
I. Bataillion
1. Kompanie

II. Bataillon
6. Kompanie
7. Kompanie
8. Kompanie

Officers dagger knot and sword knot - Portépées, also bayonet knot for senior NCOs

Sword hanger for officers and two sets of dagger hangers for officers and senior NCOs

[Fritz]

Officers cap insignia, aluminium eagle, hand-embroidered cockade and oakwreath still in original cellophane wrapper

Effekts for an officer cap. Fine silver bullion eagle and wreath, zink metal cockade, eagle and parts of wreath have some aluminium oxidation. Remaining areas still with their sparkling finish, on a dark green velvet type backing shaped to the form of the cap, as removed.

Tunic insignia for a Leutnant of Infantry for field uniform, toned aluminium thread, the shoulder pieces still in original cello wrapper, the collar patches slightly missmatched

Major, Infanterie. Stitch-in type, removed from a uniform, hardly worn. (new on 31.5.2019)

1939 dated

Gebirgsjäger, Offizier, Effekten missing, and some moth damage, restorable.

M.35 Helmet with original decal. Originally a double-decal helmet, the right decal was removed in 1940. A collector's replacement has been added.

All original green finish in very good condition, somewhat shiny.

Right hand decal is a collector's copy, added in the 1970s. Could easily be removed with acetone.

Original light brown liner, hardly worn. The chinstrap had to be repaired in the late 1960s by stitching. Liner has a slight tear to rear, size 53
Handwritten name: Höstnig.

Stamped with Q60 - Quist. A very small head size (53)

Batch number 316

Chinstrap marked Henseler & Co., Ulm, 1940, with grey coated iron fittings, stitched together in one place and was always frail.

Waffenrock, Feldwebel, Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 132

M.36 Feldbluse, manufactured 1940, with slight modifications for an Oberleutnant, Infantry

M.36 uniform of later production, as worn with standard equipment (archive photo)

M.40 Feldbluse manufactured 1941 for an Unterwachtmeister, Nebelwerfer. Bordeaux red piping.

M. 44 tunic, probably unissued. (archive photo)

Late war M.42 helmet with wire attachments for camouflage material, thin paintwork.  No chinstrap, liner band with rust.  Unclear stamped ET68 and batch number 5367 (?)

M.38 overseas cap for infantry. It has the last pattern insignia, grey on greygreen. Dated 6/42, the last of the type with Soutâche, as these were discontinued as from 7/42, with RB numbering.

M.38 overseas cap for artillery with third pattern insignia, silvergrey on darkgreen, maker dated 1940

Afrikakorps and Südfront overseas cap, Soutâche has been removed.

Red lining for tropical. Makers name Clemens Wagner, Hamburg & Braunschweig, dated 1942

Afrikakorps peaked field cap. Tropical khaki drill with red lining. Maker's name: M. Drechsler, Mützenfabrik, München, rest of address not quite legible. Size 57 stamped, but seems smaller. (Cardboard stiffener added to keep in shape) Cap is more soiled than appears in the picture.

Feldmütze M.42. Stamped inside E43 and with RB-Nr. This replaced the previous sidecap, but was not fully introduced. Still in use till the end of the war, along with all other types.

M.43 cap with peak. Last pattern one piece insignia, grey on greygreen

Maker's name Otto Schlientz, Straubing, 1943

Collar patches, infanterie, various periods
M.35 - these still stitched together, M.38 and M.40 - these examples are mounted on a darkgreen backing, usually they were stitched directly onto the (fieldgrey) collar

Schulterklappen M.35 (old style), Infanterie-Regt. 18, the embroidered numbers have been erased at beginning of war. Some wear to the braid.

Shoulder straps, infanterie:
Feldwebel, Füsilier-Regt. 27, early pattern for field uniform, no piping, pointed form, significance of yellow loop not known
Oberfeldwebel, Infanterie--Regt.69, early pattern, white piping, stitch in type

Stabsfeldwebel M.35
Oberfeldwebel, Infanterie-Regt. 9, Potsdam, M.35, probably midwar
 

Other ranks, Infanterie, M.35 and M.40, early to midwar production

Collar patches, Kradschützen - motorcycle troops, light brown Waffenfarbe
Shoulder straps, Unteroffizier, Panzergrenadiere, light green piping, fieldgrey, from 1940 till midwar

Rank badges, chevrons
Oberschütze, Oberkanonier, etc.
Gefreiter
Obergefreiter
Stabsgefreiter (not illustrated)
Oberstabsgefreiter

Insignia, Gebirgstruppe, etc., introduced May 1939
Top row: Edelweiss for peaked cap, for Bergmütze and oakleaves for Jäger (Bergmütze)
For right upper tunic sleeve, variations

Tätigkeitsabzeichen - trade badges, see extra article on this

Army marksmanship lanyard - Schützenschnur, lowest grade - Stufe I, 2nd. Form

Kavallerie-Regiment 11, Wien-Stockerau

Kavallerie-Regiment 13, Lüneburg

Kavallerie / Aufklärer, Kavallerie-Regiment 17, Straubing
See under earlier topic

[Fritz]

 

 

Belt Buckles:
Parade dress, lightweight aluminum two piece construction
Service dress, fiedlgrey early aluminium, dated 1937 on leather tab by R.Sieper & Söhne, Lüdenscheid
Service dress, fieldgrey steel, on leather tab dated 1940, buckle marked B&N 40, facing has lost most finish
Service dress, fieldgrey steel, on leather tab marked G.Brehmer, Markneukirchen 1940, with most of original finish

Artillery:
Collar from Feldbluse M.36 for Unteroffizier, with shoulder straps

Set of artillery shoulder straps for an Oberwachtmeister, unusual with name tag, Jagusch, 6./A.R.58 (Oldenburg), formerly Artillerie-Regiment 16, Münster

Oberleutnant, Artillerie

Artillerie-Regiment 4, Dresden, early pattern shoulder staps, M.36 pattern shoulder straps
Artillerie-Regiment 4, Dresden (from same source)

shoulder straps M.40, fieldgrey,  as above, Artillerie-Regt. 4,  and trade badge for Funker, Artillerie - artillery signaler

Pionier, Offizier

Leutnant, Nachrichten

Collar patches and shoulder pieces for a Feldwebel, Nachrichten - signals, Waffenfarbe: lemon yellow  (see previous posting Feldwebel J. Schatz under documentation)

Unteroffizier

Nachrichten, M.35, other ranks

Insignia for an Oberarzt (Oberleutnant), Sanitätsdienst, grey toned shoulder pieces for field uniform, rank stars slightly missmatched. Waffenfarbe dark blue.
Shoulder insignia for a Waffenmeister of the artillery, gilt officer rank.

 

Spare collar for an officer' or private purchase tunic, never fitted.
A collar liner for the Feldbluse, attached with three buttons to the inside of the collar. These were checked every day by inspection, the white had to be immaculate, otherwise disciplinary measures.

Collar liner for officer's or private purchase tunic, they were attached using the three button holes with hinged clips to the inside of the tunic collar. Stiffened, starched, fine white linnen. Maker's trade mark Legie and size stamped.

[Fritz]

Panzer Insignia:
For overseas cap, eagle M.40, grey and cockade, this woven on a greygreen material, Bevo type manufacture,
cut out, but not used.
Single collar patch, left, Aluminium skull, pink piping somewhat faded.

Insignia for M.34 overseas cap
Eagle, white on dark green backing
Cockade on moss green backing, Bevo type production, unused

Insignia for M.43 field cap
Bevo type, grey on Reseda green, eagle and cockade on one patch, unused

[Fritz]

 

Breast Eagles, M.36 for officers and for all parade tunics
Hand embroidered example, fine quality, removed from uniform, minimal wear
Machine woven example, flatwire, removed from uniform, minimal wear, slight moth nip
Metal breast eagle for white Summer tunic, zink

2 Breast Eagles, M.36 for other ranks field tunic
First example, removed from uniform
Second example, unused, was found inside the breast pocket of a vey well battle-worn and soiled signals officer tunic, together with an old paperclip

2 Examples of M.40 breast eagles, both tunic removed, some slight wear and fraying to edges where removed.

Eagle for the M.44 uniform, unused.

[Fritz]

x

 

Offiziers Paradefeldbinde - parade brockade belt, Aluminium wire, green velvet lining, tab size marked, buckle aluminium, absolutely mint.

2 Officer's brown leather belts with claw buckle, both from the same estate. One is complete with two sliders, the other with only one.

Holster for P.08 in blackened leather for NCOs and other ranks, Holster for officers, probably for Browning highpower

A Wehrmacht gas mask (canister), complete with mask and strap for lid. The inside compartment has some spare celluloid eyepieces in their original pergamine wappers. The canister has a "2" on the lid, denoting the mask size.

Spare eyepieces in their original waxpaper envelope

2 examples of the short strap, above is a postwar remake for use with another army, possibly Denmark or Norway, here the fittings are brass with a greenish coating, brass was never used in the Wehrmacht. Below is a wartime example with steel fittings, which have rusted slightly.

Two examples of the long strap, both not original, on the left, probably a recent remake, to the right, a postwar example with brass fittings.

A mid to late war breadbag, with only one compartment, equipment fittings, brown leather with steel hardware. One button is a
makeshift field repair/replacement.

A mid to late war breadbag strap, identical to Afrikakorps and tropical pattern, iron fittings.

Two types of glasses, Dienstbrille and Maskenbrille (for wear with gasmask), the latter example has the wrong contents, i.e., the normal glasses.
A first aid package with Dresden makers mark and dated 1940

[Fritz]

 

 

A set of combat Y-Straps, unmarked, undated, probably mid to late war, some of the fittings are bluegrey, the others grey. Brown leather, outwardly blackened.

Two belt examples, one dress belt, brown leather, possibly Luftwaffe, the other the Afrikakorps or full tropical version in all webbing with iron fittings. Leather example with Waffenamt stamp on tongue, slight damage to end of tongue.

Feldflasche, Afrikakorps and Südfront, Becher is made of iron, bottle cap is of bakelite.
Cup and bottle both have maker's codes and (19)42. The entire item would need  carefull cleaning.
The quick release buckle is stuck, don't want to use force.

Afrikakorps, multi-purpose belt loop, also for the water bottle

 

2 Mismatched cartridge cases, one example hardly worn from 1942 Leipzig maker, iron fittings
another example from 1933, Pom.Verb.Selb. Sattel- u. Tapez.,  worn and maintained in fair condition, aluminium fittings

Two standard bayonet frogs, brown leather, outwardly blackened, one has lost it's fixing tabs, both with aluminium fittings, early to mid war.

Two belt leathers for field use, thick brown leather, outwardly blackened, pre war or early war, both with size stamps and aluminium fittings, show some wear, one tongue and one fitting re-stitched.

Fittings for footwear:

Pairs of toe-plates unused, slight storage rust. Most marching boots were fitted with these

Boot studs for military footwear, original period. There were many variations in size and shape some with double prongs for extra hold. These are the 6-schlägige Version (6-sided), there were also 5 and 8 sided. All footwear for field service was fitted with these, also for officers. A toe-iron was usually fitted and a combination of 30 studs symetricly placed and the heel with a horseshoe iron, patterns of fitting could vary.

3 pairs of heel irons, still bundled together, with much storage rust. These were fitted to all footwear. These are all marked with a number 14 on the underside, not sure what this indicates, but they seem to be standard size for the relatively small boot heels of the day (these were slightly tapered in shape)

 

[Fritz]

Das letzte Aufgebot: VOLKSSTURM
Printed flimsy white cotton, stitched together, some slight tears to the rear due to removal from a uniform.

 

 

 

[Fritz]

Heeres-Einteilung, 1939 - Wehrkreise - Armee-Korps

Wehrkreise, 1944

[Kenny Andrew]

Allot of these images do not work, posts 6, 7, 8, 9 and 11 from top. Same issue as before I think when items were moved from their original locations.  Actually just looked again and they do work, however you need to click the link perhaps be better to upgrade these links to pictures eventually.   

[Kenny Andrew]

Yes very odd, they all look fine now, maybe on this occasion it was my computer, perhaps a cache issue. Will need to find some of the other posts which had the same links and icons and see if they have also resolved.  

[Fritz]

New addition, see further up

[Fritz]

New addition - Afrikakorps and Südfront, flask is of laminated wood.

 

Flask is marked D.R.G.M., R.R.F.42, D.R.P. Angm., clip is marked Patent Ritter

Cup is marked MN44

[Fritz]

New addition, see further up

Unteroffizier, Nachrichten, M.36

[Fritz]

This Gebirgsjäger just arrived from Austria, Steiermark region.

Eagle has to be properly attached, still some small parts missing and some moth damage to repair.

A serious restoration project, quite a bit of moth damage, missing are the red centre of the cockade, the eagle, Edelweiß, cap cords and buttons, all relatively easily replaced. More pictures later. Waxcloth sweatband needs some refreshening.

[Gildwiller1918]

Nice cap, a shame about the moth damage. As you said the missing parts should be fairly easy to find, looking forward to seeing it once completed. 

[Fritz]

New additions, one for the cap

[Fritz]

Still quite a bit of moth damage to patch, I don't see any signs of where an Edelweiß was, so was probably Jäger and not Gebirgsjäger.

[phantom]

looking much better, not sure how you would repair the moth? 

[Fritz]

I have dark green matching material for the band, it could even be original material, identical. I cut the material to match each hole - this has to be accurate, and then simply glue it in place (using Revell plastic cement). Another alternative is, to shave some spare material with a sharp blade, fill each hole individually with some suitable glue - I used many years ago UHU. Then simply fill up the hole with the cloth shavings. This may need to be repeated util the hole is levelled out. This is then undetectable and probably the best method, apart from invisible mending, which is difficult on a stiffened reinforced surface under the band.

I don't have any matching field grey material, so would have to leave these areas for the moment, they are only slight, apart from one on the top left side.

[Fritz]

Buttons, Kunstharz, 14mm for collar liner and cuff fastenings, recently acquired from Estonia, very hard to find as spares.

 

[Gildwiller1918]

I have done similar repairs to wool as you suggested Fritz, if possible I try to add backing material to the reverse side of the mothing to help the patches adhere better, but this is not always possible. I typically use fabric glue as well. 

[Fritz]

Nachrichten, Leutnant. Collar patches just arrived, although they look more like
golden yellow than lemon yellow.