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    Wehrmacht Camouflage Uniform

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    6 views34 pages

    Wehrmacht Camouflage Uniform

    Uploaded by

    Dirinea Dani
    Wehrmacht Camouflage Uniform

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    of 34
    MACHT LN ae | & Post-War? . . i 5 yey a 4 i Ne | Se Gin Oat ey Ca ] a a © 1995 Daniel Peterson Printed in Singapore This edition published in Great Britain 1995 by Windrow & Greene Lid 194 Floral Steet, London WC2E SDS. Designed by John Anastasio/Creative Line Al sights reserved. No pat of this publication may’ be reproduced or tansmited In any form oF by any means electronic or mechanical, cluding photocopy, recoding, or inany information storage and reieval system without the prior writen consent ofthe publishes, A CIP catalogue recotd for this ook is available from the British Library ISHN 1 85915 008 5 CONTENTS Introduction Heeres-Splittermuster 31 Luftwaffe-Splittermuster 41 Post-War: Bundesgrenzschutz-Splittermuster Post-War: Bundeswehr-Splittermuster Post-War: Foreign “Splinter” Wehrmachts-Sumpfimuster Post-War: Bundesgrenzschutz-Sumpfmuster Post-War: Post-War: Foreign “Marsh” Patterns Post-War: Post-War: DDR-Strichmuster Raindrop” Patterns, Glossary of Terms INTRODUCTION Tee ie) counts of painting, oF otherwise ring metal armour for ambushes or Mt time operations date to the ancient tke of medieval huntsmen rl. The pi Stlso well attested: and indeed, caring of specialized garments for the pose of concealment can be mented in even earlier cules, Early ropean explorers recorded that some ive American ters concealed their ics withthe stins of animals inorder proach their pey mote closely: and i wild seem logical that the’ same smen would. sometimes have warfare. a the moders age of gunpowder, ico be aid thatthe Germans the planers the use of uniforms of urs choven Tor concealment, und as \ a the Mth and Ith centuries, This probably not from any diet tactical nf, Buta indict result oftheir being rst to recruit into their military lishment rifl-cquipped huntsmen or 3 cs, who naturally retained elements of ir traditional forest green hunting 5 ning inthe uniforms they Wore smans hat no monopoly over the 0 cept of camouflage, however. The id- to late 8th century. brought 2B provements in fitearms that made the of infantry advancing shoulder to 25 fr with pardeground precision 5 sable, even suiidal manoeuvre. In 28 5 deeudes ofthe century most major a1 adopted Hai el iors or a ‘arti eourties devised some sort 0 mouflaged clothing during, World : for the use of snipers and other > anol particularly exposed to danger on the static si range batlefilds dictated by tench warfare: but e ‘not believed that any of these examples were 63 crm printed, prsumably because woul at with multi-coloured. patterns 4 ominank mts for field uniforms, Nevertheless s evident that the conceal red camouflage pattems was understood: military Lipment of ali kinds, from trench leships, was painted in disruptive coloured patterns ofthe combatant forces, Creit can be given to te fst printed, ‘Germans, however, for producing nt value of mult. camouflage-pattemed cloth - the elaborate geometric jovenge” patterned fabric used to cover the Visible surfaces of many German aircraft was generally factory-printed in strips, and attached tothe frames matched ede to edge like patterned wallpaper, rather than being laboriously pained by hand Though i has boenFequendy claimed in other works, however, credit cannot be given to the Germans or being the first to provide their soldiers sith factory produced, regulation issue items of pattera-printed Enmouflage cloth. It was the alan Army ofthe 19205 ‘which first ssbed the troops witha combination ster half and poncho made of eoton dick factory primed ia & camouflage pattern. Interestingly, this same Talian ‘imouflage scheme has perssied, vitally unchanged into the 10, making i undisputably the word's most ‘ceesful eamouflage patter, (Italian material was aso tse extensvely by German ores in Wed War IL) Nevertheless if was the German armed Tores which made the most innovative and extensive use of camouflage printed uniforms and equipment duting World Wat Il, and these patterns and items are the primary subject of this work and its companion volume Organisation and typology “The frst alm of this project Bas been to establish a definite typology for German camouflage pattems and fumes, since mich confusion ove thei designations exists among post-war collectors. Appropriately. 1 believe, the terms used here for the various camoutlage pullers described are those employed by the German forces themselves, though even bere there is often no tiiversal nomenclature for a given pattern. Just as clements of medieval armour are knowa by French terms, ts only appropriate that German terminology be tsed in discussing German camouflage clothing ‘Throughout this book German terms will appear in italics and glossary of terms ean be found a the end ‘ofthe book For various reasons the author has also included in this book camouflage pattems and clothing ofthe post ‘var German military establishments. Primarily, this because my iment i 9 dacument the entre history of Geran camouflage printed uniforms. Secondly, they are ineloded for the benefit of uniform collectors, since postwar ems are often confused with (and somtimes tinscrupolously sold as) the World War I equivalents. For the same reason similar foreign camouflage patterns, obviously inspired by German originals and ‘occasionally confused with them, ae also included here. Finally, it should be noted that post-1948 camouflage cleihing can be interesting and collectable in ite own right: indced, some of the postwar Geeman items are actually rarer than many of World War Il This fist volume of a two-part series deals with what essentially cam be considered Wehrmacht pateens, fogether with those post-war German and foreign vatations obviously inspted by the World War Il ‘originals The term “Wehrmacht” does not mean the German Army (Deutsches Heer), but is rather the collective term forthe German “ational” armed forces (Army, Navy. and Air Fore), as opposed tothe Nazi political” armed forces - essentially, the Waffen. Whether by accident or design (though conveniently for the format of theve books), the whole field of German eamouflage clothing pattems can be fairly evenly divided into two broad categories based onthe ‘haractersis of the original Welrmacht and Wafer 58 patter HEERES- SPLITTERMUSTER 31 imbination (Dreleckscelibahn) which would replace rectangular srey Vieechige Zlubahn te following Welrmach” camouflage, whether of the Heer or ar Thus was born the *Zelibahn 31”, destined to Luowaffe,s generally characterised by an overpaint of omc pesibly the moet widely produced intermitent lies or “raindrops” (refered to in German | souflage:prinied “garment” in histey. Virtually fs "Sirich”). a Teature notably absent from all the patterns developed by the Waffen-SS. Thus, this fs ‘Volume will examine all German camouflage cloth in which the “Srich” element forms some pat ofthe scheme. The second volume (Europa-Miliaria No.18) will examine the camouflage patterns ofthe Waffen SS, {as well as the derivative post-war pallers from which the "Sirich elements are absent. Thus, included in both the Wehrmacht and SS volumes will be pattems of the West and former East German armies based on their similarity tothe World Wer I originals. To some this may seem a rather confusing oF disjointed way of presenting the subject, bot, alter ‘omsiderable thought. the author believes toe the best way to arrange the material for anyone but the most experienced collectors By means ofthis sstem of classifying camouflage pattems by their physical Characteristics (eather than by the Hentty of the Primary users), anyone ean wse these books 0 identify fan unkown camouflage-printed item of probable ‘German origin with reasonable ese ‘As with all other books ever writen on German World War I military clothing, there wil invariably be collectors among the readers who wil raise the ery that Some of the items pictured in these two Volumes are copies. The difference between these books and previous works, however, is that the bulk of this Collection was personally obtained by the author 18 10 30 years ago, often at very nominal prices, from Turkish used-clothing dealers atthe Frankfurt “flea market” As it was related to me, these miliary items tvere gleened fom among tons of less valuable rags from a cloth recycling plant in nearby Darmstadt Longtime European dealers in German militaria are ry soldier of the World War II German Army. ie te, Naval Atllery and various Police formations issued the Zalibahn 31 i the so-called. Heeres iter camouflage patern, and it must consequently oon manufartared in is millions, This Spliter Cspliater") pattera was obviously many similar types of “dazzle smouflage painted on ships and ether equipment ia id War I. Although the angular and sharply rasting elements of the design might seem an fective camcuflage scheme, in reality, at any Stance the angulir splinter effect disappears in blur subdued colour, Some writes hive maintained thatthe Zeltbafin 30 not intended Wo be wom as & camouflage garment, rather to be used only as a shelter or worn as. acho im wet weather. Whatever the original intent, probably as familiar with this onceimporant source ax they are today with the eastern European sources ‘which have come tothe fore since the easing of the Tron Curtain. A difference is tha, with the ridiculously high value of these garments today, many of these eastern European “Bargains” are extremely clever fakes. Finally, ve would point out that ll the photographs published here were taken specially fr this book: and {caption reference to eg. "a German paratrooper in Sicily, 1949" means "the uniform appropriate to these troops at this date, worn by our model in a ‘photographic Feconstrction’ the Zeltbahn was in fact commonly worn as a ‘camouflage garment, as atested by both photographic {evidence and interviews with veterans The Zelthaly appears to have boon the oaly item of standardized camouflage tobe issued 10 the Geeman Army in over a decade. It was probably inthe spring of 1942 (no specific orders can be located) that the German Army began to issue, as a set, a pullover shiz" (Tarnhemnd) ~ in English palance, a smock, the German usage presumably being due tothe pullover design of contemporary German uniform shirts - and a helmet cover {Tarnhelmubersug), made of lightweight herringbone twill linen del material. One side of both the helmet cover and the smock were Printed inthe sume splinter pattern asthe Zelthahn while the reverse sides were left in natural whites a Snow camouflage “This set was Unquestionably inspired by the early camouflage garments of the Waffen-SS, which predated them and which they closely ‘resembled. in Both Army and SS smocks were cut ‘he SPLITTERMUSTER + seneratens, most countries of continental Europe ice maintained a order puts service separate their regula Police and Army exabishments German (Federal) Republic is no exception: its urs (BGS) is equipped upto the level of traf and armoured vise, and cas within its ion the county lite anders commandos, nieces was formed in the 1950, before ite Bundeswehr, and operated under the Ministry ofthe sor For bth formal des and under fed conditions {68 wave hiform dine diferent fm the Arm. ig the ne of 4 viually unchanged Workd War hime. This penchant fr tational Wehrmacht ® was also evident in the BGS's choice of infor, the fst pater of which was clealy the Zlib 31. The “BGS-Splitermaster” is lene copy ofthe rina Well patter han fed by the Bundswer in fac its posible hat euipent sed may have Boe let ove rom War I Two dst features difere rater frm HeeresSplitermuster. Fis in colour of the BGS pater san extemely ig er ei ote ‘deat scap Lita Boe POST-WAR: BUNDESGRENZSCHUTZ- pale grey, nearly an off-white: and secondly all BGS. {Splinter camouflage material, whether used in the rianfacire of Zeltaben or cling, ve printed shite fm the reverse side for snow camouflage effect. This characteristic has allowed unserupiilous dealers to ‘manufacue fist model WH.-Hler camouflage smocks ftom BGS Zeal cath, These counterfeits canbe readily detected, however, dv to the fact ha the Wodld Wat I ‘mocks employed a herringbone will linen material Th sion to the Zeta reversible camoulge sit was ls podced ia BGS splines pater. The jacket was allover design, closed down the fon with both zipper fn attr It Bad four pockets on the wintersite se fd the sme on the spline side pis en ain fit id packet Thos suits re very rae fox. and were probably ever manufactured in such large quantities as the later [BGS Sunpfiaster sus, The autho has seen ony three examples ofthis uniform; the one ilstated ete was discovered in a bale of discarded BGS-Sumpfmuster Unfors tuned info property disposal. AL some time in the mids the BGS-Splnermuster was supercede by a tan-based Sumpsnuster ptt, aso very reminiscent of that usedby the Wehrmach POST-WAR: FOREIGN “SPLINTER” PATTERNS ince the end of World Seen itpired by these mac TA flared forthe German TTS ; “name The earliest use can be artbuted to the Swiss, the Garman Zein ii splinter pattern so closely * : om thats posible tat oul - actually have been mano factored in Germany, ss eral may be otject itselt= unltke: th : trangular German Ze = ital Bai tetalan ‘ectangular, and much ike the German shelter section OF Works Wat I and wehr years, I ofa designation was the Zelteinhetien 1901. This femained the standard Swiss shelterponcho until 1935, when & ne design appeared which was prin ina pattern inspired bythe last German pattern of World War Il the LieDermuster 45 which wll be Alscussed in the second volum With the exception of elmet cover, no other item of Swiss military uniform appears to have be ‘menufatured ina German inspite splinter pater. Anather county which adopted combat clothing i & spintce pattern similar to Cermany was Poland. These sits were non-reversible, and are readily shable from German patteras by two Fi on th or this clement, Second ch pater sa str yellow ‘be Used a the ockgound type camouflage (though it sometimes had tan ee From about 1960 to the present the Bulgarian Army has used a splinter pattern similar to that of the Weirmach. Like the German orginal it incorporates background. Here the simian ends for in shor, straight “raindrops” the Bulgarian pattern eaures someshat longer, wavy lines. uniform, But as this docs not utilize the sic German Sivich clement i is beyond tl tis work WEHRMACHTS- SUMPFMUSTER ~ ‘Thee sone alton warn tt sls enon ‘This isa variation ofthe Sumpfnuser 3 which occurs only om some (no al) Lava parachust' smocks and Field Divison jackets. Apparel the existing Luu Spliter printing rollers were modified to pint the new borrd-elze Supfinuster, thos creating anther patra ‘nique only to some examples of these specialized Ait Force garments. A terminology for this Variant atte would simply be Laff Supfmastr. “The Sumpter tamuly of puters were wed in more Aiferent types of regulation military gare than any ‘other pattem used by German armed forces, wartime or posta. Itmay have been originally developed by the “Lajrwafe forts paratroopers an eld troops tough is ‘most commonly seen asthe patie wsed by both Army and Air Force for the Wintertarnanzg, of bath reversible and non-seversible types (se description ofthis four pie ‘ensemble inthe Heres Splitermaster capt) Garments originally manufactured in Army and Ait Force splinier pattems were ll eventually superceded by ‘ne or more of the Supfmuster variants; the only notable ‘exception was the Zetbahn 31, which cantinaed 0 be Produced inthe Army splinter pattern until the end of the In Army service, the splinter pattern Tarnhemd (collarless camouflage stock) was replaced by slightly aitferent mode with an integral bood, fit in te onal ‘pured splinter” Sumpter} variation, and finally in the Sumpfinuster-44. These are found with both the tan and grey-green base colours, though the ler version is ‘considerably rare. Factoryise malching trousers iso exist and were apparently sued set with he hooded Tarnhemd: however, these ae extremely rate, ad ere robubly only sted wo snipers. The Sumpyinuster-43 und #4 pater seem to have been used exclusively in the camodfiaged Gasschutamang, chemical warfare protective suit, These suits were ‘originally produced in a medium grey colour with a ‘natural black rubber interior. The later suits, probably ‘manufactured in 144, oceur in bo Sumpter aterm, ‘employing the same lightweight cloth as the hooded Tarnkemd, but with natural black india-rubber permanently vulcanized to the inside surfaces. The Protective ensemble was an extraordinarily complicated Seven-piece set which completly encased the wearer fo protect him from the new chemical nerve agents fist developed by Germany. (Ualike the chemical agents of ‘World Wa these nerve agents cou be nso thal if absorbed through the skin, hence the need for total Protection. Why the Germins never used these nerve ‘agent is something of a mystery: it was probably decided that any advantage would he shor-lived Before the Allis recipocatd in kind) Theoretically these suits could also have been ‘manufactured in $8 camouflage cloth, but no surviving ‘examples are known; even in the Werhrmacht Sumphmuster very few of thes suite were ever made and it remains one ofthe rarest of all World War I German camouflage ements Appareil the lst regular issue camoufage wiform of the Wehrmacht was inspited by the MIDS4 two-pocket blouse. which in turn was inspived by the British batledress blouse. Examples ofthis uniform i the Liebermuster-4= camoutlage pattern have recently fumed up on the collector's market though this uniform was intended for use by both the Welymacht and the Waffen-SS it wil be featured in our second volume Since the pattem fas more 8 abuts. However atleast one absolutely genuine jacket of this short, two-pocter M1944 iype has survived in Sumpimuser'44.1 can attest fay 0 its authenticity ince it was purchased for avery nominal pice from 8 ‘rkish usel-clothing dealer at the Frankfurt flea market, some years before the nearly identically cut MIB44'style Liebermuster jackets appeared on the scene, Although I know of no original wartime Photographs which show either the Sumpfnuster OF icbermster versions ofthis M1944-syle blouse, from iis inexpensive flea market ind {a a leas convinced hat it existed in the former pattern, and therefore reasonably sie that at last some ofthe Liebermuster version ate likewise authentic. POST-WAR: BUNDESGRENZSCHUTZ-SUMPFMUSTER POST-WAR: FOREIGN “MARSH” PATTERNS S = POST-WAR: DDR-STRICHMUSTER POST-WAR: FOREIGN “RAINDROP” PATTERNS o Glossary of Terms ince this is a study of German ‘camouflage patterns and uniforms. the writer lives important 0 tlie the actual German terms rather than those invented by foreign collectors (hough in some eases there is no clear ‘consensus of opinion as othe corest teminology even in Germany) Bundesgrencschutz (BGS) The post-war (German borer police, who had their ‘om unigue camoulage uniforms Aistnc from those of he German Army” [BGS Spliermuster The ealest ‘camouflage pater of the Bundesgrenrschut based very closely ‘on the wartime German Army splinter pater BGS-Sumpjinuster The second model of border police camouflage, based closely fon the Sumpfnuster-43 pater ofthe ‘vanime Welrmache Bundeswehr (BW) The postwar Federal German Amy, _BW-Splitermuster Federal German ‘Ammy camouflage patem adopted in 1956, Heer Toe wartime German Army. The Defix Heeres denotes pes of amouflage pater or garments used marily bythe wartime German Army Heeres-Splinermuster The earliest German ground forces eamoutage pattem, ist employed onthe Model 31 Shelter poncho or Zeta. As this pater Was also used by the Air Force nd some Navy ground tops. Wehrmach-Spitermaster i equally spproprat ter, -Knochensack “Bone sek” - German nickname forthe jump smock ofthe ‘wartime German paratrooper Luftwaffe The wartime German Air Force. Lagoa Splinermaster Term for 3 specific variant of splintrstyle camouflage pattern employed only in garments and equipment items intended for use by personnel ofthe German Air Force. Laftwafe-Sumpfmuster Tem for a specific variant of "marsh patter” ‘amouflage created by burring the edges “ofthe LWSpliermuse. Sumpfiuster43 “Marsh pattern the intermediate Webrmachr pater beeen Splinter patter and late marsh pater. Which the original splinter eect asthe sharply contrasting edges bured. The background colour s usually tan ess frequently grey-green ‘Sumpfmuster-44“Late marsh pattern” = late war Wehrmacht camouflage scheme

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