BACKGROUND: German Naval uniforms and headgear were based on traditional designs that date back to the creation of the Prussian Navy in 1848, and although the uniforms and headgear did evolve during the interim years, many items used during the Third Reich would still have been quite recognizable to the Imperial sailor. The blue and white jumper shirts were a staple uniform item for all EM/NCO personnel and followed the basic design of the Imperial German Navy and Reichsmarine blue and white jumper shirts. The white jumper shirts were intended for wear in tropical climates or with the summer walking out dress while the navy blue shirts were utilized for everyday wear. Besides the jumper shirts the Kriegsmarine utilized a variety of work/drill shirts for junior NCO’s and EM’s that were generally worn in barracks and onboard for regular duties. When order the blue jumper shirts and the work/drill shirts were worn with a separate, removable, collar dickie that resembled the integral collar on the white jumper shirts.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: The collar dickie consists of a rectangular, white cotton construction, breast and back panels with a fold back mid-blue "nankeen" collar. The back panel has had the tie tapes originally positioned to each bottom corner removed but the breast panel still has two, small, tie tape loops intact which allowing the dickie it to be tied around the wearer’s body underneath his shirt with the fold back collar hanging over the exterior back of the shirt. When the collar is folded back in the proper position it creates a "V" slash at the forward neckline. The upper breast panel also has had the original two, tie tapes removed that were situated at the top edges of the "V" slash to secure the neckerchief to the dickie. The fold back collar has three roughly, 3/16" wide, parallel white cotton strips machine stitched near all three outer edges. The reverse of the back panel has a small white rayon label with the red, machine woven owner’s name, "Radtke", neatly handstitched in place. The reverse of the back panel also has the hand embroidered owner’s personal roster number in heavy red cotton threads that consists of, "O 1792 T", positioned above the date "36" and indicates the owner was the 1,792^ND person inducted into the navy in 1936, and was technical personnel assigned to the Baltic Sea Station. The collar dickie is in overall good condition with light age and usage toning. Of Note: The consignor reports that the original owner was machinist Obergefreiter Erich Radtke who served on the Panzerschiff Admiral Graf Spee, ({Pocket} Battleship Admiral Graf Spee), and was badly wounded in the Battle of the River Plate and survived the war dying in 1970. Of Interest: The Panzerschiff Admiral Graf Spee was launched on June 30^TH 1934 as the last of three newly designed pocket battleships and was named in honor of the WWI Admiral Graf Maximilian von Spee, (June 1861-December 1914). The Graf Spee served in Spanish waters during the Spanish civil war and just prior to the outbreak of WWII she left Wilhelmshaven (August 21^ST 1939), headed for the south Atlantic. After service in the south Atlantic the Graf Spee made a sortie to the Indian Ocean before returning to the south Atlantic in December 1939 by which time it had sunk eight allied ships. On December 13^TH 1939 the Graf Spee encountered a British naval squadron consisting of the Heavy Cruiser Exeter and the Light Cruisers Ajax and Achilles near the La Plata estuary off the coast of Montevideo, Uruguay and a battle ensued that is known as the Battle of the River Plate. Although the Graf Spee managed to damage all three British ships she too sustained serious damage and took refuge in the neutral Montevideo harbor. With pressure from the allies the Uruguay government decreed on December 15^TH that the Graf Spee had to leave the harbor within 72 hours, not allowing enough time to repair her battle damage. As a result of the Uruguay governments decree, Kapitan zur See Hans Langsdorff order the Graf Spee to be scuttled which was done just outside of the Montevideo harbor on December 17^TH 1939 with most of the crew being held in Argentina until the end of the war.

GRADE ***1/2                             PRICE $218.00