Original German WWII Luftwaffe Flight Branch Obergefreiter HBT Reed Green M43 Service Tunic – dated 1943 Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very good condition Luftwaffe Mannschaften (Enlisted Man’s) M43 “Drillich” fabric Herring Bone Twill cotton tunic, as introduced later in the war. Purchased at a recent military show, this is a USGI bring back, brought home by a veteran from Charlottesville, Virginia, along with several other items.

It is marked inside the left side with RBNr. 0/0250/7516, over the size markings and a date of 1943, and shows only light wear. The front features 4 pockets with square flaps, each retained by a button. The front closure features 6 pebbled aluminum buttons painted with the correct Luftwaffe fliegerblau (flyer’s blue) color, along with a hook and loop collar fastener as well as a smaller button. The buttons on this tunic are sewn directly to the fabric, and each has a faint maker mark on the back.

The tunic is adorned with the usual rank and branch insignia used on German Luftwaffe tunics. The attractive Luftwaffe breast eagle is the correct enlisted embroidered type, and is very neatly hand stitched to the chest in a fashion typical of wartime German tailor work.

The attached Mannschaften Kragenpatten (Enlisted man’s Collar Flaps) are in Goldgelb (Gold-Yellow), the correct Waffenfarbe (Corps Color) for Aviator troops such as pilots and ground personnel, as well as Fallschirmjäger (parachute troops). The sew in Schulterklappen (Shoulder flaps) have the same color piping around the edge, and are the correct simple style for an enlisted man. There are three “gull wing” insignia on the Collar Flaps, indicating the enlisted rank of Obergefreiter (Airman first class). The left sleeve has a two chevron insignia, correct for the Obergefreiter rank.

A very nice example in great shape, ready to display!

Approx. Measurements:
Collar to shoulder: 11″
Shoulder to sleeve: 17″
Shoulder to shoulder: 25.5″
Chest width: 21.5″
Waist width: 19″
Front length: 30.5″
Hip width: 20″

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 color that ranged from white to oatmeal to cement grey. On 12 February 1940 the color 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.

The Luftwaffe, the air force of the German military during the Third Reich, was established in 1935. Over the next 10 years, Luftwaffe troops wore a huge variety of uniforms. Enlisted men generally wore uniforms issued from military depots. Most enlisted soldiers had wool trousers and a short jacket with two internal lower pockets, called a Fliegerbluse, as well as a dressier 4-pocket tunic, the Tuchrock. Officers wore the same general uniform styles, but as officers had to supply their own uniforms, they usually wore tailor made versions. There were also myriad varieties of specialized uniforms worn by certain units or in specific situations, from the tuxedo-style “gala” formal wear uniform of the pre-war period, to the plain coveralls worn by crews of anti-aircraft cannons. There were work uniforms, tropical and summer uniforms, and camouflage clothing for airborne troops and other Luftwaffe soldiers in ground combat. Flight crews had their own specialized gear, including leather jackets and warm, electrically heated suits. Most but not all Luftwaffe uniform jackets bore the Luftwaffe emblem of a flying eagle holding a swas.