BACKGROUND: The Reichsluftwaffe, (National Air-{Weapon}, Force), was official established on February 26^TH 1935 as the third branch of service of the Wehrmacht, (Armed Forces). On March 9^TH 1935 the formation of the new Reichsluftwaffe was announced to the foreign press and on March 16^TH conscription was reintroduced for all three branches of service. On May 21^ST 1935 the Reichsluftwaffe designation was altered to Luftwaffe, (Air-{Weapon}, Force). The standard pattern service uniform was adopted by the Luftwaffe in March 1935, and was based on the uniform worn by personnel in the DLV, Deutscher Luftsport Verband, (German Air Sports Association), the clandestine, civilian forerunner of the Luftwaffe, as early as 1933, with minor modifications. The 1935 pattern uniform tunic was designated Tuchrock, (Cloth tunic), and was worn open at the neck. On November 11^TH 1938 a new pattern tunic was introduced that had allowances for it to be worn closed at the neck. The 1938 pattern tunic was designated Anzugrock, (Uniform tunic), and was intended to replace the 1935 pattern Tuchrock and Fliegerbluse, (Flight Blouse). The 1938 pattern tunic eventually did replace the Tuchrock, but not the Fliegerbluse. Officers and certain senior NCO ranks were responsible for purchasing their own uniforms and as a result were allotted a clothing allowance through the Luftwaffe’s Verkaufsabteilung, (Air-Force Sales Department), system. The Officers and certain senior NCO’s could choose to purchase their uniforms from the armed forces clothing depots or to privately purchase uniform items 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 Luftwaffe pattern national eagle was originally introduced for wear by Fliegerschaft, (Pilot Base), personnel of the DLV, on August 18^TH 1934 and was officially adopted for wear by all Luftwaffe personnel on March 1^ST 1935. The original first pattern national eagle was utilized until a, slightly modified, second pattern national eagle was introduced in late 1936 or early 1937. Regulations dictated that the national eagle was to be worn on the right breast of almost all uniforms with a few minor exceptions. The different branches of service within the Luftwaffe were allocated a specific, identifying, waffenfarbe, (Branch of Service Color), with golden yellow being chosen for personnel serving with Flieger, (Flight), units which was generally displayed as collar piping for EM/NCO’s, (discontinued in March 1940), on the collar tabs and as piping on the shoulder strap/boards of the service tunic. Originally NCO’s with the ranks of Unteroffizier up to and including Stabsfeldwebel inclusively, were distinguished by the addition of bright silver/aluminum tress on the forward collar edge of the dress and service tunics, on the tropical and continental field blouses, as adornment on the shoulder straps and dress tunic cuffs and also as sleeve rank chevrons. On September 1^ST 1942, the Luftwaffe following the army’s lead, introduced a new subdued matte blue/grey rayon tress for wear on the field uniform. Although the new subdued tress was intended to replace the highly visible bright silver/aluminum tress it continued in usage until the end of the war. Of Note: The Geschwader Horst Wessel, (Horst Wessel Squadron), Commemorative Honor cufftitle was one of a series of commemorative honor cufftitles introduced by the Luftwaffe to honor fallen comrades and heroic pilots of WWI. The Geschwader Horst Wessel cufftitle was introduced on March 24^TH 1936 for wear by all personnel of Flieger Geschwader Dortmund, (Flight Squadron Dortmund). The cufftitle was to be worn by all ranks on the lower right sleeve of the service tunic and officers were also authorized wear of the cufftitle on the lower right sleeve of the flight blouse and the optional white summer tunic. Officer’s cufftitle were produced in hand embroidered silver/aluminum wire threads while EM/NCO’s were produced in machine embroidered silver/grey threads. Of Note: Born in Bielefeld on October 9^TH 1907, Horst Wessel joined the NSDAP, Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, (National Socialist German Worker’s Party) in 1926 and had advanced to the rank of SA-Sturmführer by May 1929. In early 1929 Wessel had penned the lyrics to an SA, Sturm Abteilung, (Storm/Assault Detachment), propaganda marching song entitled, Die Fahn Hoch, (Raise the Flag High), set to the tune of an old folk song. Wessel submitted the song to Reichsminister Dr. Josef Goebbels’ newspaper, Der Angriff, (The Assault), for public consumption in October 1929. In early 1930 Wessel was living with a former prostitute in the slums of Berlin and was shot and mortally wounded by a rival suitor, who happened to be a communist, on January 14^TH 1930. Goebbels’ seized the propaganda opportunity of Wessel’s shooting and mutated it into a politically motivated assassination attempt. In Goebbels version of the events Wessel was wounded in a street brawl instigated by the communists in Berlin. Goebbels had Wessel’s song performed publicly for the first time at an NSDAP rally at the Berlin Sportplatz on February 7^TH 1930 where it became an immediate success. Wessel succumbed to his wounds and died on February 23^RD 1930 and was instantly hailed as a political martyr of the NSDAP. Also Of Note: During the war Flieger Geschwader Dortmund was re-designated Zerstörergeschwader 142, (Destroyer Squadron 142), and finally Zerstörergeschwader 26, but personnel retained the right to wear the cufftitle.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Very nice quality, private purchase, 1935 pattern, Luftwaffe blue/grey wool/rayon blend construction tunic with a subtly ribbed, whipcord weave, features a vertical, four button, front closure with fold back lapels and a lay down collar. The owner/tailor has personalized the tunic by adding an additional, molded grey bakelite, front closure, button and corresponding, hidden patch, button eyelet to the bottom edge of the tunic. The tunic has four, pleated, patch, front pockets with scalloped, button down flaps. Both of the breast pocket flaps have been handstitched down at each corner rendering them unusable. The right breast has a second pattern, (Circa 1936/1937-1945), machine embroidered, Luftwaffe eagle, clutching a canted swastika in one talon, in silvery/grey rayon threads, mounted on a cut-out, blue/grey wool base. The eagle is neatly handstitched to the tunic. The left breast has two, small, vertical thread loops, and comes with a two place ribbon bar with a horizontally ribbed, War Merit Cross, 2^ND class ribbon with a gilt washed, stamped alloy, crossed swords cypher and a Russian Front Medal ribbon, both mounted on a magnetic sheet metal base plate with a stitched on, protective black wool backing and the pin back device intact to the reverse. The straight cut, non-adjustable, sleeves have deep, fold back, French cuffs which are tacked in the upright position at both the inner and outer sleeve seams. The top edge of the right French cuff has a navy blue, wool construction cufftitle with the machine embroidered, Gothic styled script, "Geschwader Horst Wessel", in silvery/grey, rayon threads. The cufftitle is machine stitched to the sleeve cuff. The owner/tailor has also personalized the tunic by having inserted a small, metal, belt support hook, to each side panel, at the waistline, as opposed to the standard, two, vertically aligned, horizontal thread loops and small, central, vertical slash for the belt support hooks. The reverse of the tunic has a short, central, vertical, tail skirt vent. The bottom edge of the tail skirt vent has a couple of loose stitches which seem to indicate the vent was stitched closed at one point. The tunic has sewn on shoulder straps in the same, subtly ribbed, whipcord weave, Luftwaffe blue/grey wool material as the balance of the tunic with bright, silver/aluminum, waffle patterned, NCO’s tress to all the outside edges, two, silver washed, stamped, aluminum alloy rank pips and bright golden yellow rayon waffenfarbe piping. The shoulder strap’s retaining buttons are intact. The forward edge of the lay down collar is trimmed in bright, silver/aluminum, waffle patterned NCO’s tress and twisted, bright, golden yellow, rayon cording. The collar has bright, golden yellow wool collar tabs with four, silver washed, stamped, aluminum alloy rank "gulls" to each. Interestingly the collar tabs have fine, bright, golden yellow rayon piping to the outer edges. The NCO’s tress and the collar tabs are machine stitched to the collar while the rayon cording is handstitched to the collar. The rank "gulls" have been applied with the prongs extending through the collar and a couple of pin head sized holes and a faint outline of a "gull" are visible on the collar tabs that would seem to indicate a rank promotion. The interior of the tunic is fully lined in ribbed, blue/grey rayon with a black striped, pale grey lining to the sleeves. The lining has no pockets but does have a grey rayon panel neatly handstitched to the left breast with the high relief, hand embroidered, stylized, overlapping, owner’s initials, "HS", in light blue rayon threads. The lining also has a machine stitched, horizontal, ribbed, blue/grey rayon, belt strap to each side, positioned at the waistline, with the left strap having two, small, metal hooks with two, corresponding metal eyes, on the right strap. The tunic has no visible size or manufacturer’s markings. The tunic is in overall very good, untouched, condition with a couple of small picks and pulls and minor age and usage toning. All of the buttons, excluding the single, additional, grey bakelite front closure button are the bright, silver washed, pebbled magnetic sheet metal type and are all still quite clean and bright. All of the buttons appear to have their original stitching. The tunic is quite small being a roughly size 36", (91.4cm), chest. The tunic is an excellent, highly personalized, private purchase example with all of the variants from the standard issue tunic being period applied.