Original German WWII Field Tailor-Made “Russian Cloth” Heer Army Infantry Feldwebel NCO M36 Uniform Tunic Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a fantastic early war pattern German WWII Heer Army Infantry Machine Gun Unit Unteroffiziere mit Portepee (Senior NCO) M-36 Field Tunic, made in field workshops from the “Russian Cloth”. This is a collector’s term with a lineage going back to wartime, referring to tunics that appears to be made from the same material used on Soviet Issue Meshok backpacks and other field gear. This cheaper, lightweight alternative to the standard “Drillich” material used on other German tunics was common in the Southern Russian and Caucasus regions. The tailoring and styling used is different than the more typically seen Mediterranean tailor made uniforms. All the insignia appears to be original to it, and not resewn and replaced.

As this is uniform tunic that was made by field tailors, there are no markings on the interior. It is made in the early war style, and features four pockets with scalloped flaps and pebbled metal buttons, and is closed with five pebbled metal buttons on the right breast flap meeting an equal number of reinforced buttonholes on the left flap. The buttons are somewhat mismatched, and only some are magnetic. All are sewn directly to the fabric, and are not attached using circlips. They were most likely all original painted, but this is only retained on some buttons.

It is adorned with the usual rank and branch insignia used on German tunics. The attractive Army breast eagle is the correct NCO BeVO embroidered type, silver on a dark green background, and is very neatly machine stitched to the chest in a fashion typical of wartime German tailor work. The collar is wrapped in flaschengrün (dark bottle-green) wool, much in the pre-1940 style. There are EM/NCO litzen collar patches on each side, which are woven from gray thread with a dark green background matching the collar. They do not have Corps Color stripes, as in 1938 they were removed from EM/NCO collar insignia to save time.

The button attached style NCO shoulder straps (Unteroffiziere Schulterklappen) attached to the tunic have a field gray wool base, with silver diamond-woven tress border all the way around. There is a single rank pip attached onto the shoulder boards, indicating the rank of Feldwebel, a senior NCO rank equivalent to a U.S. Army Technical Sergeant. The piping around the shoulder straps is Weiß (white), the Corps Color (Waffenfarbe) for Infanterie (Infantry) and Motorisiert Infanterie (Motorized Infantry). From the looks of it, the owner was originally an Unteroffizier, but received promotions, so they added another strip of tresse at the end and a pip.

The second buttonhole from the top shows the rayon ribbon from a German Iron Cross 1939, so the wearer was awarded at least the 2nd class award. There are also some thread loops on the left breast pocket, as well as above, so there are other awards they received that were removed. Overall condition is very good, showing moderate wear from service. These “Russian Cloth” tunics are definitely sought after, and have a classic look as seen on the Eastern Front of WWII.

A very nice and hard to find German WWII Infantry NCO M36 Field tunic made using “Russian Cloth”, ready to outfit with medals and display!

Approximate Measurements:
Collar to shoulder: 9″
Shoulder to sleeve: 26.5”
Shoulder to shoulder: 19”
Chest width: 18.5″
Waist width: 18″
Hip width: 22″
Front length: 28.5″

Field Tunic (Feldbluse) Model 1936
Terms such as M40 and M43 were never designated by the Wehrmacht, but are names given to the different versions of the Model 1936 field tunic by modern collectors, to discern between variations, as the M36 was steadily simplified and tweaked due to production time problems and combat experience.

When the NSDAP came to power in early 1933 the Reichswehr, the armed forces of the Weimar Republic, were near the end of a two-year project to redesign the Army Feldbluse (field-blouse). Beginning in that year the new tunic was issued to the Reichsheer and then the rapidly growing Wehrmacht Heer, although minor design changes continued to be made until the appearance of the standardized Heeres Dienstanzug Modell 1936. The M36 tunic still retained the traditional Imperial and Reichswehr uniform color of grey-green “field gray” (feldgrau) wool, but incorporated four front patch pockets with scalloped flaps and pleats (on Reichswehr tunics the lower pockets were internal and angled). The front was closed with five buttons rather than the previous eight, and the collar and shoulder straps were of a dark bottle-green instead of the Reichswehr grey. Compared to the Weimar-era uniforms the skirt of the feldbluse was shorter and the tailoring was more form-fitting due to Germany’s adoption of mechanized warfare: soldiers now spent much time in the confined space of a vehicle and a shorter jacket was less likely to pick up dirt from the seats. It also included an internal suspension system, whereby a soldier could hang an equipment belt on a series of hooks outside of the tunic. These hooks were connected to two straps inside the lining, which spread the weight of equipment without having to use external equipment suspenders. The M36 was produced and issued until the very end of the war, though successive patterns became predominant.

SS field uniforms were of similar appearance externally but to fit their larger patches had a wider, feldgrau collar, and the lower pockets were of an angled slash type similar to the black or grey SS service-dress. The second button of an SS Feldbluse was positioned somewhat lower, so that it could be worn open-collar with a necktie. Due to supply problems the SS were often issued army uniforms.