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H032860 DAK JÄGER MAJOR'S TROPICAL SERVICE TUNIC.
(Tropen Dienstrock)BACKGROUND: In late 1940, with the impending German entrance into the North African campaign, tropical uniforms and equipment were quickly developed and issued in time for DAK, Deutsches Afrika Korps, (German Africa Corps), personnel’s arrival in Tripoli in February 1941. Eventually these tropical uniforms would be issued to personnel serving in southern areas of continental Europe. The design of the tropical issued uniforms essentially adhered to the pattern of the field-grey continental uniforms, although in a different color and material, and also followed the same basic war time modifications. Officers and certain senior NCO ranks were responsible for purchasing their own uniforms and as a result were allotted a clothing allowance through the army’s Kleiderkasse, (Clothing Account), system. The Officers and certain senior NCO’s could choose to purchase their uniforms from the armed forces clothing depots or to privately purchase garments of higher quality. Although enlisted personnel were issued their uniforms from government supplies they were also permitted to purchase privately tailored uniforms although the price may have been restrictive. Although Officer’s were responsible for purchasing their own uniforms it seems the majority of the tropical field blouses were issued from the military clothing depots as opposed to private purchase and as a result Officers quite often wore the same field blouses as the EM/NCO’s with the addition of Officer’s insignia. This example appears to be a private purchase, Officer’s tropical model service tunic. The German army originally adopted a slightly modified version of the NSDAP’s, Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, (National Socialist German Worker’s Party), national eagle by order on February 17TH 1934, with instructions to have it applied to all steel helmets, visor caps, and tunics by May 1ST 1934. Generally officer’s ranks utilized hand or machine embroidered breast eagles while EM/NCO’s ranks utilized machine embroidered or machine woven breast eagles. The different branches of service within the army were allocated a particular identifying waffenfarbe, (Branch of Service Color), with light green being chosen for Jäger, (Light Infantry), personnel. On the field blouse and service tunic the waffenfarbe was generally displayed on the shoulder straps/boards and the collar tabs. Of Note: Due to the overlapping use of various shades of green waffenfarbe by Jäger, Schützen, (Rifles), Gebirgsjäger, (Mountain Troops) and Panzer Grenadier, (Armored Infantry), it is difficult to attribute the branch of service with absolute certainty. Of Note: The Afrikakorps cufftitle was officially introduced on July 18TH 1941, for wear by members of the DAK and on November 4TH 1941 regulations dictated that issue of the Afrikakorps cufftitle was to be extended to include the "Afrika" armoured group. Wear of the cufftitle was permitted when personnel were on furlough in Europe but when they transferred out of the North African theater the cufftitle was to be removed. Of Note: With the introduction of the "Afrika" campaign cufftitle on January 15TH 1943, the Afrikakorps cufftitle was ordered removed. Although the Afrika cufftitle was a campaign cufftitle most personnel who had worn the Afrikakorps cufftitle would have been eligible for the Afrika cufftitle.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Mid-weight, khaki/olive, cotton twill construction service tunic features a vertical, six button front closure with a single metal hook and eye positioned at the forward neckline and a lay down collar. The tunic has four, pleated, patch, front pockets with scalloped tipped, button down flaps. The right breast has the faint outline and a few loose stitches where a breast eagle had been applied and removed. The left breast has six, horizontal, thread loops for wear of awards. The front of the tunic has two, short, vertical, tapering darts and the reverse has a short, central, vertical tail skirt vent. The straight cut, non-adjustable sleeves each have deep, folded back French cuffs. The lower right sleeve, just above the French cuff, has a machine woven, "Afrikakorps" cufftitle that features a horizontal, dark green, cotton center stripe with diagonally ribbed, horizontal, bright, silver/aluminum, flat-wire edge trim to both the top and bottom edges. The dark green center stripe features machine woven, block, Latin script, "Afrikakorps", in bright, silver/aluminum, flat-wire threads. The tan colored, top and bottom edges of the cufftitle have been folded to the reverse and the cufftitle is neatly handstitched to the sleeve. One end of the cufftitle is folded over and machine stitched down to the reverse and the top and bottom edges have tight rows of reinforcement stitching. The cufftitle is in overall very good, unissued condition with minimal age toning and a small pick to the silver/aluminum, flat-wire, bottom edge trim. The tunic has sewn on shoulder boards in interwoven, matte, silver/aluminum Russian braid with light green rayon waffenfarbe piping and ribbed, tan cotton twill bottoms. Boards have been cleaned at some point as I found phosphates traces from soap.
The shoulder board’s pebbled, sheet metal retaining buttons are intact. The lay down collar has the typical zig-zag reinforcement stitching to the reverse. The collar has Officer’s quality collar tabs with hand embroidered litzen in matte, silver/aluminum wire threads with green rayon branch of service stripes, mounted on ribbed, khaki/olive, cotton twill bases which show through as the center stripe. The collar tabs are machine stitched to the collar. The unlined interior has a vertically extended, field-grey rayon strap machine stitched to the left armpit with a nickel/silver plated, toothed, sheet metal length adjustment buckle and a nickel/silver plated steel friction clip with a small elongated oval, protective tan leather tab, designed for the sword/dagger hangers. The interior of the tunic has a small, tan leather reinforced, horizontal slash to the reverse of the external, left hip, pocket also for the dagger/sword hanger. The interior of the tunic also has two of the original three, molded, grey glass collar liner buttons intact. The tunic is in overall very good condition with a couple of small picks and pulls and light age and usage toning. The exterior buttons are all the field-grey painted, pebbled, magnetic sheet metal and alloy types and they retain various amounts of their field-grey paint. Most of the buttons appear to have been restitched. The tunic is roughly size 40" chest.GRADE ***3/4 PRICE $2,559.00
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