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H040663 SIGNALS OBERGEFREITER/STABSGEFREITER'S HBT COMBAT FIELD BLOUSE. (Feldbluse)
BACKGROUND: HBT, (Herring Bone Twill), uniforms were originally introduced on April 1ST 1933 to replace the earlier, Weimar Reichswehr era, (National Defence Force, Circa 1919-1933), work/drill uniforms and were intended to save wear and tear on the service uniform and the field blouse. Regulations prescribed that the work/drill uniform was the basic uniform to worn by all new recruits for most daily functions. Originally the work/drill uniforms were constructed in natural, unbleached cotton or cotton/rayon blends with an HBT weave that proved especially durable but relatively impractical due to easy soiling. The early work/drill tunics had no accommodations for the collar liner so the Reichswehr era neck cloth, (Halsbinde), was utilized until it was replaced with the collar liner as per regulations of February 12TH 1936, which resulted in collar liner securing buttons being added to the work/drill tunics. The early work/drill tunics also had button down flaps for the hip pockets but they were abolished, circa 1940. Regulations of February 12TH 1940 altered the color of the work/drill uniforms to a more practical reed green coloration. When utilized as a work/drill tunic the garments were issued with no insignia and regulations dictating that only EM’s sleeve rank and NCO’s collar trim insignia were to be applied to donate the wearer’s rank, although the order was not strictly adhere to. The work/drill uniforms were utilized for the duration of the war with minor modifications and were accompanied by a pair of basic, straight legged pants in the same material as the tunics and were cut in the same style as the standard issue long pants with minor variations. In early 1942 a modified drill tunic with additional pockets and accommodations for shoulder straps/boards was introduced for wear as a summer combat field blouse and followed the basic modifications of the standard issue field blouse through-out the war with the inclusion of the national breast eagle and rank insignia. The work/drill uniforms were seldom worn by Officer’s ranks although the later, reed green, HBT summer combat uniforms were worn frequently by Officers after their introduction in 1942. 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. 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 German army were allocated a specific, identifying, waffenfarbe, (Branch of Service Color), with lemon yellow being chosen for Nachrichten, (Signals), personnel. On the field blouse and service tunic the waffenfarbe was generally displayed on the shoulder straps/boards and the collar tabs.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Mid-war, (circa 1942), reed green, cotton/rayon blend construction field blouse with an HBT weave, features a vertical, six button, front closure with a single metal hook and eye positioned at the forward neckline. The field blouse has four, non-pleated front pockets with straight edged button down flaps. The breast pockets are the basic patch type while the hip pockets are the saddlebag type with expanding side panels. The right breast has an M39 pattern, machine woven, national breast eagle in matte grey rayon threads on a cut-out, woven, field-grey rayon base. The eagle is machine and handstitched to the field blouse (restored). The side panels of the field blouse each have three, vertically aligned, stitched eyelets at the waistline for the belt support hooks. The belt support hooks are absent. The reverse of the field blouse has a short, central, vertical, tail skirt vent and two, vertical, tapering darts. The straight cut sleeve cuffs have a small, vertical, slash to the outside seams with dual fit adjustment buttons to each. One cuff button is missing from the left sleeve. The upper, left sleeve has a 1942 pattern rank insignia for Obergefreiter’s with more than six years service and Stabsgefreiters. The insignia consists of dual, subdued matte blue/grey rayon, waffle patterned tress chevrons, with interwoven fine black stripes to their outside edges, flanking a machine embroidered rank pip in silver/grey rayon threads, mounted on an inverted triangular reed green cotton/rayon base with an HBT, (Herring Bone Twill), weave. The insignia is machine and handstitched to the sleeve. The field blouse has the late war, (Circa September 1944-May 1945), pattern slip on shoulder straps of mottled, field-grey wool/rayon blend material with lemon yellow rayon waffenfarbe piping. The bottoms of the shoulder straps are in the standard field-grey wool/rayon material while the slip on retaining tongues are in the brownish, field-grey 44 wool/rayon blend material and both have a central, grey rayon reinforcement strip, machine stitched in place. The waffenfarbe piping is also visible on the bottoms of the straps. The shoulder straps fabric retaining loops and pebbled buttons are intact. Of Note: Enlisted Signals personnel’s shoulder straps signify the ranks of Funker, Oberfunker, Gefreiter, Obergefreiter and Stabsgefreiter inclusively with the specific rank displayed as sleeve insignia. The field blouse has a lay down collar with the typical zig-zag reinforcement stitching to the reverse. The collar features the second pattern, general issue, EM/NCO’s collar tabs as introduced on May 9TH 1940 for wear by all branches of service. The machine woven, rayon, collar tabs feature light, grey/green, ribbed, litzen with mouse grey, branch of service and center stripes. The collar tabs are handstitched directly to the collar with no backing material. The reverse of the collar has two buttons beneath the left hand side and a single button beneath the right hand side which are usually accompanied by a button holed, fabric tab designed for secure closure of the neck in inclement weather, but the fabric tab is absent. The unlined interior of the field blouse has grey cotton/rayon reinforcement panels to each side panel and around the armpits. The interior side panels each have a vertical, grey, canvas web strap with four stitched eyelets to each for the belt support hooks positioned at the waistline. The forward, right, tail skirt has a grey cotton/rayon field dressing pocket with a single button closure. One of the collar liner buttons is intact. The interior, right, front closure panel is well marked with a faint, white RB number inkstamp. Of Note: The RB numbers, Reichs Betriebnummer, (National factory code numbers), were introduced in late 1942 and were intended to replace the manufacturers marks on garments and equipment to conceal the manufactures name and location from the allies, to prevent bombing raids on German industrial factories. The field blouse is in overall good condition with a few small picks and pulls as is typical with the HBT material and light age and usage toning. All the insignia appear to be original, post-war replacements. The front closure and exterior pocket buttons are all the removable, field-grey painted, pebbled alloy and sheet metal types secured by circular "S" rings. The shoulder strap buttons are also the field-grey painted, pebbled, alloy and sheet metal types but are stitched in place. The buttons retain the assorted amounts of their field-grey paint. The cuff, field dressing pocket and collar liner buttons are the molded bakelite and ersatz, pressed, cardboard types and appear to have their original stitching. The field blouse is roughly size 40" (101.6cm), chest.
GRADE ***1/2 PRICE $1,785.00
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