| The Feldbluse
is worn with the Feldanzug, Dienstanzug and may be worn with kleiner
Dienstanzug, Meldeanzug, kleiner Gesellschaftsanzug, Ausgehanzug for
officers. NCO´s and men wear the Feldbluse with the Ausgehanzug in the
early years of the war until the unit was supplied with a Waffenrock for
men and NCO´s. Basic-cloth: Feldgrau; Collar and shoulder-straps:
blue-darkgreen cloth. Several versions were produced during the war (see
them described later).
Collar-braids: Feldgrau, embroidered; Braid-mirrors: older version in
Waffenfarbe, new version all branches silver. The breast eagle is of
silver-grey cotton yarn.
Generally, for NCO´s and men the collar is worn
closed, but in suitable weather, and if it is convenient for the work they
are doing it may be worn open. Permission to undo a button or two on a
long march used to be a concession much appreciated. In future it is to be
encouraged. Officers wear the Feldbluse closed but can open the collar or
the top buttons if the men wear the Feldbluse open. The breast eagle is
embroidered in silver aluminium thread. Feldbluse
Modell 1936: This modell was manufactured from a wool/rayon mixed
material. It had four box pleated patch pockets. Five fieldgrey finished
metal-buttons were positioned down the front with another button to
each of the four three pointed pocket flaps, a style of pocket adopted
from those worn on the Austro-hungarian Army tunics of WWI.The collar was
faced with dark blue-green material and this was also used as the backing
cloth to the national emblem positioned across the right breast of the
jacket and running parallel to the top of the right breast pocket. The
material was also used as backing cloth of the collar patches, to trade
and specialist insignia. Three reinforced belt hook eyelet holes
positioned one above the other were situated on either side of the
waist in the front and at the back of the tunic. Four removable metal belt
hooks could be positioned at one of the three slightly varying heights to
support the wearer´s leather belt and thus the equipment hung from the
belt. Shoulder-straps, constructed from dark blue-green material,
were normally removable from the tunic. NCO´s Feldbluse show the visible
signs of rank. These were the 0,9cm wide rank braiding worn down the front
and around the lower edge of the tunic collar. The "Spiess" wore
the double rings of 0,9cm braiding on both cuffs. The Feldbluse for
officers was usually of better material quality and had the noticeable
difference of plain, deep turnback cuffs. Feldbluse
Modell 1943: This tunic lacks the familiar dark blue-green collar
material. Shoulder-straps are constructed entirely from field-grey cloth.
The four pockets to this tunic no longer had box pleats and the pocket
flaps were reduced slightly in depth and were cut straight without having
the three points to them. Feldbluse
Modell 1944: On 25.Sept.1944 germany introduced this new style
tunic because of the economic pressure. This was a complete break with
german uniform tradition in so far as it was a new form of uniform jacket.
The colour was more slate grey-green than fieldgrey and the most noteable
feature of the field blouse was the replacement of the jacket skirt with a
waist band 12cm deep. Because of the lack of a skirt to the jacket only
two pockets were worn, both on the chest. Each were without pleats and
each had a simple straight-edged pocket flap. The collar of the jacket,
slate grey-green in colour was normally worn open but it clould be closed
if required. There were six dark-grey buttons worn down the front the
lower two being positioned on the waist band.The back of the jacket was
made of one unseamed piece of material. There were two inside breast
pockets, each closed with a single fibre button. |
