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WW2 German Enlisted Uniform


Gildwiller1918

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Here is my WW2 german infantry enlisted uniform, now when I got this, the litzen seemed to off putting, but they don't glow under the black light. And the Krim Shield looks legit, but what I found was that this was a repurposed tunic. Under the collar you can see the outline of rectangles and where the Krim Shield is located you can see the outline of a eagle, so its my guess that this was a Waffen SS tunic at some point. was stripped and put back together. It came with a bandage and hooks for the internal suspenders (which it does not have). It came with a pair of straight leg trousers that match in color and fabric ( only bad sign is some minor moth tracking). The tunic was missing one button, which I replaced. I know it was common back then to reuse uniforms, helmets, field gear, etc by all armies. But I suspect this was done by a collector. Overall very nice looking set. 

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A nice set, lucky to get anything nowadays. Rank here is Unterfeldwebel.
At the very latest at the end of the war, all uniforms were stripped of insignia by the Allies. Of course, some uniforms have survived with original insignia, but they are the exception, so many uniforms encountered nowadays have been rebadged in the postwar years by collectors, film studios, etc.
I would say, the collar patches have been badly fitted. The collar braid matches the braid on the shoulder pieces, one good sign. The breast eagle was always the first thing that was removed, so this could be re-fitted. Usually these were factory machine-stitched to the uniform. As the tunic has no SS markings internally, it would not have been from the SS, as these were always SS marked, or as later, SS manufactured. The Krimschild looks as though it has been re-applied. Otherwise a very reasonable tunic and trousers.

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Earlier collar patches were mounted on a darkgreen or resedagrün background, if you magnify the picture you can see the style of stitching, machine-stitched to the sides, the ends are hand-finished. This was discontinued mid-war and the collar patches were stitched straight onto the collar, but with the same pattern of stitching.

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Some comments on how collar patches should be mounted, see above.

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Nice! I did find a pair of authentic collar tabs with the bottle green background, so I can swap them out on the uniform. 

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Later uniforms did not have the collar patches with backing (normally), they were sewn straight onto the collar, but same pattern of stitching as before, and these were usually the last type of all grey patches shown in photo above, although these also have a dark green backcloth, which is an exception. Important is also how the patches are mounted, the angle and distance from the edges, also with special consideration in the case of n.c.o. braid.

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M.44 tunic - note how patches are mounted here, the M.44 collar was considerably larger, so this does not apply to the early collars in respect to placement, these are also the last mousegrey pattern. There is also the triangular M.44 eagle fitted. All original applied, no shoulder straps were on the tunic, presumably unworn, mint.

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Here an early type M.36 with n.c.o. braid, all original applied.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Here is one of the Nebelwerfer Truppe - for an Unterfeldwebel or Unterwachtmeister,
faded, unclear stamping, looks like a 1941 date, some field repairs and patching, bordeaux red piping for that branch of service,
and sleeve badge for a Richtkanonier/Nebelwerfer. The shoulder pieces have a slightly different tone of braid
to that of the collar. The tunic would have needed to be fitted with a new collar.  There is also a matching collar liner grey/white,
which was always to be worn, however, attachment buttons inside all missing, were probably needed for spares, or lost. Loops for several decorations on breast pocket, probaby EK1, Sturmabzeichen and Wound Badge?
Collar patches are machine stitched straight onto the collar, in a different way to earlier examples.

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  • 1 month later...

I have replaced the collar tabs on the uniform listed above, I got the bottle green backed tabs which were used on the M36, however these were quite popular and made their way to later tunics. It took me quite some time to find a nice original pair of infantry tabs, I also got a generic green waffenfarbe set as well. 

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The ends should be flush or parallel to the braid, but as these are pre-formed, as best as you can get it. It would tend to leave it like that for now. You say this was a Waffen-SS tunic originally?   These have a different shape of collar patch and on the left upper sleeve there would be stitch marks where the arm eagle was - and did not have a breast eagle. The patches you have applied  are also the very early ones, they should normally be the 2nd or third pattern, but there were a few exceptions.
Popular?  The insignia was as issued as such and had to be so worn, there was no individual choice as to shopping for uniforms!  Worn was what was prescribed by regulations, and whatever was available.

On the other hand, all uniforms lost their insignia at the latest with the end of the war, and as a prisoner of war, all was removed, apart from the buttons. Very few uniforms have survived with their original insignia, only those that were in the cupboard at the end of the war, or in stores, but ones still in wear, were stripped.

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One of the lucky ones returning - stripped of insignia.

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Where the Krim shield is, you can see the outline of the eagle if you look inside the sleeve. The breast eagle was applied later, as it is not under the liner. The underside of the collar you can see the outline of where the shorter collar tabs were. I tried to get them to line up with the tresse, but they did not quite fit perfectly. 

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Normally clothing of the SS had their marks in the lining, later they had their own factories.

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Would be nice to know the whole story behind the tunic, but who knows. I appreciate your help and information Fritz.

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Another note on collar and patches  - this is an example of a collar, which has been removed in order to fit a new collar, this being too worn, this was common practice, instead of issuing a new tunic, note how Litzen are mounted in this case, early style.

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A further example of a non-issue, possibly officer's collar, either from unused tailors stocks or kept as a spare. Below, the other ranks' field issue liner for a collar, these were always worn to protect the collar from neck dirt and grease, as tunics cannot be laundered like US cotton shirts, and had to be always immaculate.

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An example of a stiffened collar liner for the parade tunic or an officer's formal dress tunic.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I just got a pair of the internal suspenders used in conjunction with the belt hooks. I will post some pictures once I get them in. Not easy to find anymore.

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