Original German WWII Afrika Korps Panzergrenadier Oberfeldwebel NCO M41 Tropical Uniform Tunic – dated 1942 Original Items

Original Item: One-of-a-kind. In early 1941, the German military began their conquest of southern Europe. Due to the warmer climates of these areas, the German Army needed to equip its troops with a more suitable form of dress, and replace the standard wool based feldgrau uniforms. The new “tropical” uniforms were lighter in weight, and dyed in colors ranging from light tan to dark olive.

This 100% authentic German World War Two M41 Heer Tropenbluse Tropical Tunic is in very good lightly used condition. The tunic is made out of lightweight cotton twill weave denim-like material which has been dyed a darker olive/tan. It features four flat front pockets with scalloped pockets, so this is sometimes called the “second pattern” (the first pattern had pleated pockets). The tunic features a machine applied BeVo tropical Heer Breast eagle, with the correct blue threads on an olive background, which is textbook.

This very nice uniform has the correct Afrikakorps EM/NCO litzen on each side of the collar opening, which BeVo embroidered gray blue with dunkelgelb (dark yellow) olive tan strips, each neatly machine stitched to the collar. This style was introduced for all branches in 1938, indicating service in North Africa. There is no NCO “tresse” around the collar, but we have often seen DAK uniform tunics that omitted this.

The button attached style Unteroffiziere Schulterklappen (NCO shoulder straps) have olive green tops with a feldgrau wool underlayer, and green straps. They feature gold / tan colored NCO tresse diamond weave piping around the entire edge, correct for Tropical uniforms. The straps are also piped around the edge with Wiesengrün (Meadow Green), the Waffenfarbe (corps color) for the Heer Panzergrenadiertruppen (Panzer Grenadier Troops). These were motorized / mechanized infantry troops, and were legendary in the field. Originally called Schützen regiments, they had used the same Pink piping as the Panzer corps. Then in 1942 Infantry Regiments were renamed as Grenadier Regiments by Adolf H as a historical homage to Frederick the Great’s Army, and the Schützen were renamed to Panzergrenadiers.

The shoulder straps have two rank “pips” installed on them, which indicates the Unteroffiziere mit Portepee (Senior NCO) rank of Oberfeldwebel, equivalent to a U.S. Army Master Sergeant. We are not aware of any special title associated with Panzergrenadier NCOs.

The front of the tunic has five original pebbled buttons for the main closure, and four pocket buttons, all of which were originally a nice green color, which is still mostly retained. The two shoulder buttons for the rank insignis are identical, and all look to be made from non-magnetic zinc or aluminum, and are maker marked on the back. All of these buttons are held in place with aluminum circlip retainers, except for the shoulder buttons, which are sewn on directly.

As is correct for this type of tunic, it is unlined except for specific areas, such as the sides. Under the button flap on the right side, there is the size information stamped, along with E 42, indicating 1942 issue at the Erfurt Depot. The size information is too faint to read accurately, and there is no marker marking we can see.

Overall condition is just great, with just a few stitch pulls and weave errors in the fabric. This is really an example that would be impossible to improve upon. The shoulder straps show a bit of wear, and were probably worn on another uniform prior to this tunic.

A fantastic totally genuine Afrika Korps Panzergrenadier M41 tunic in great lightly used condition. It is unlikely that we will see a better example of one of these tunics any time in the near future! Ready to display!

Approximate Measurements:
Collar to shoulder: 8.5″
Shoulder to sleeve: 23.5”
Shoulder to shoulder: 13.5”
Chest width: 17″
Waist width: 17″
Hip width: 19″
Front length: 29.5″