Original German WWII Heer Army Infantry Obergefreiter’s M42 Battle Tunic with Early Pattern Insignia Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very nice service used condition totally genuine German WWII Heer Model 1942 Battle Tunic or Summer Tunic, marked for an Infantry Enlisted man. These Battle Tunics were very similar to the early Drillich uniforms, and we often see them made using HBT fabric, but this is made using a simple square woven type fabric, which looks to be wool. It definitely saw long service during the war, and has repairs on the interior and exterior, giving it a great “salty” look.

The front of the tunic features four pockets with square flaps, and has a six button front closure. It still retains all of the buttons, but they are a mix of zinc alloy and magnetic steel, so chances are that a fair amount of been replaced over the service life of the jacket. They are sewn directly to the body of the tunic, and are not retained by circlips on the back. We checked the backs of the buttons, but they are oxidized, so we cannot see any maker markings. The interior of the tunic is partly lined with gray green rayon, and has no internal markings. Thee only pocket on the inside is the bandage pocket on the lower inner right side.

The right breast has a lovely BeVo style breast eagle, correctly only applied to the exterior layer of fabric, so we believe it to be original. It also has correct Mannschaften (enlisted mans) BeVo litzen on each side of the collar opening, which are hand stitched at the edges. The outer stripes are Weiß (white), the Corps Color (Waffenfarbe) for Infanterie (Infantry) and Motorisiert Infanterie (Motorized Infantry). This is usually not seen on tunics made this late, however we have seen other M42 tunics with early style litzen. There are no shoulder straps installed, but the left sleeve has a very nice double chevron badge, made from silver diamond tresse lace on a bottle green background, indicating the enlisted rank of Obergefreiter, equal to a U.S. Army Corporal.

A lovely well broken in example of an M42 Battle tunic, used by an Infantry Obergefreiter during WWII. Ready to display!

Approximate Measurements:
Collar to shoulder: 10″
Shoulder to sleeve: 24”
Shoulder to shoulder: 15”
Chest width: 18.5″
Waist width: 17″
Hip width: 20″
Front length: 28.5″

M42 HBT Tunic sometimes referred to as the Summer Tunic or Combat Shirt, features four non-pleated scalloped pockets, internal pocket, internal support tabs, two aluminum belt hooks, lining in friction areas, internal collar buttons and a hang loop. Constructed of green cotton Herring Bone Twill and finely stitched with white thread.

The M40 uniform was the first design change in the standard army uniform. It differed from the M36 only in the substitution of feldgrau for the bottle green collar and shoulder straps, which began to be phased out in 1938/39, though most combat examples show this variation appearing in 1940, hence the unofficial M40 pattern. The troops liked the older green collars, and M40 (and later) tunics modified with salvaged M36 collars or bottle-green collar overlays are not uncommon.

The M42 is essentially an M40/41 tunic, but with pleats removed from all the pockets to save on materials and production time.

Most recruits previous to 1940 were issued a fatigue uniform (Drillichanzug) for basic training which they kept for work details, weapons cleaning and other duties likely to soil clothes. This was an unlined, insignia-less uniform made of linen or cotton herringbone twill (HBT) that typically had two buttonless patch pockets on the skirt; enlisted versions had a standing collar while NCO and officer versions had rise-and-fall collars. The fatigue uniform originally was undyed and therefore a colour that ranged from white to oatmeal to cement grey. On 12 February 1940 the colour was ordered changed to a bluish green called “reed-green.”

Since the heavy wool feldgrau uniform proved to be oppressively hot in summer weather, especially in southerly latitudes, soldiers took to wearing their lightweight green fatigue uniforms in the heat. In about 1942 the Army regularized the practice: depots began issuing an official hot-weather four-pocket field uniform of feldbluse cut but made of the same reed-green HBT material. For the enlisted Heer, these were usually worn with collar insignia and national eagle. NCOs would typically wear the summer uniform (Sommerfeldanzug) with appropriate rank on their shoulder boards, but the collar braid seen on the wool uniforms was typically absent. Two models were approved for use in the Army, the first that was designed after the M40 feldbluse and a later model that removed the front pocket pleats and pocket flap scallops similar to the M43. From 1943 a double-breasted version based on the Panzerjacke was made for vehicle and assault gun crews. SS units never had an official unique summer uniform, and while some used the Army versions, most used the earlier dyed work fatigues without insignia. While commissioned officers did have bespoke summer uniforms made, there was no regulation summer field uniform.