German rearmament in the Wehrmacht era
included the creation of a new branch
called the Mobile Troops. By 1935 the
Mobile Troops included tank, motorized
infantry, armored train, anti-tank and
reconnaissance units. The branch's
central component was the Panzer units
equipped with fully tracked turreted
armored fighting vehicles.
In 1934 a special tank crew uniform was
created consisting of black trousers
double-breasted jacket and an oversized
beret covering a padded crash helmet.
The jackets were dark to conceal stains and
double-breasted for warmth. These jackets
were intended to be used only as working
clothing for armoured crews. The beret
initially displayed just a white cockade
insignia. Over time various other
insignia was used including the metal
cap badges from the visor cap. A machine
embroidered eagle, wreath and cockade
were finally introduced, first in white
and later in grey. The branch adopted the
rose pink arm of service color first
used in 1919 by motorized transport
troops. The first panzer jackets featured
branch piping on the collar and a
special rhomboid shaped collar patch worn
by all ranks. The black patch featured a
metal skull, the traditional insignia of
German cavalry, piped in rose pink branch
color. Rank was displayed on shoulder
boards for officers and on the shoulder
straps for NCOs.
Enlisted men wore standard sleeve badges
sewn to a black backing NCO braid was
not applied to the collar. The soldier's
company was identified by a numeral
embossed on the shoulder strap button. Unit identification was done by the use
of ciphers and numbers on the shoulders,
embroidered in branch colour for
enlisted men and junior NCOs and
rendered in white metal for senior NCOs
and yellow metal for officers. Regiments
were designated by Arabic numerals while
specific unit types were identified by
cyphers. Anti-tank regiments wore a "P"
cypher, armoured trains wore an "E" cypher
training regiments wore an "L" cypher.
Panzer regiments wore only the numeral
of their unit. A number of changes were
made to the black AFV uniform before the
war and the uniform continued to be
updated during hostilities. The national
insignia or breast eagle was added by
order beginning on 11 November 1935
rendered in white on a black background
A second pattern jacket emerged in
1936 with various modifications such as
functional lapels and a larger collar
which now had a hook and eye closure.
Designed to replace the 1934 model both
styles were seen in use simultaneously.
in April 1937 use of lemon-yellow branch
piping was approved for the divisional
signals battalions of the Panzer
divisions. From 1938 officers privately
purchased black versions of the new
style officer's cap. Similar to the field
grey enlisted men's field cap it had the
addition of silver piping on the crown
seam and front scallop. The black crash
helmet beret proved to be unpopular and
during the 1939 Polish campaign crews
were seen wearing the field grey cap
despite regulations forbidding the
mixture of field grey and black uniforms.
On 27 March 1940 a new field cap in black wool was introduced for all ranks.
Insignia was originally white on black
with a mouse grey version quickly
replacing it. A roundel of national colors
on a black backing was worn on the flap of
the cap within a soutache of branch coloured piping. Officers caps were similar with
the addition of silver piping and
insignia. Coloured piping began to disappear
in 1940 and was officially deleted in
1942 on new jackets, though as always
older patterns were worn throughout the
war. Numbered buttons and shoulder
numerals also disappeared for security
reasons. Limited use was made of cloth slip-ons
bearing unit identifications, though many crewmen sewed the shoulder straps
down to prevent snagging, making them
impossible to use. In 1940 the white breast
eagle was replaced with a subdued mouse
grey version. The coloured soutache was
discontinued on the field cap in July
1942. Shortly after a black version of
the new army field cap with buttoned flaps was introduced, bearing a combination
insignia in either trapezoid or T shape. Iin
1943 this cap was replaced by a peaked
field cap and the Mobile Troops were
renamed the Armoured Troops. These were the
final changes to the successful and
popular black panzer uniform
which remained in use to the end of the war in 1945.
The German Army continued to expand after the beginning of the war. The
assault artillery branch was created to
operate the growing inventory of fully
tracked turretless and sometimes
open-topped self-propelled guns. Assault
artillery was tasked with providing fire
support for the infantry. The black
uniform worn by tank crews were
considered too conspicuous for assault
artillery crews who might have to
dismount in forward areas and so a copy
of the second pattern panzer jacket was
created for them in field grey. Early
jackets had a dark green collar in the
same manner as the regular field blouse. Photographic evidence points to the use
of standard litzen on the prototype
jacket. It is also believed that some of
the earliest jackets with dark green
collars had rhomboid collar tabs in
matching dark green material piped in red with metal skull devices. A small number
of jackets with these patches apparently
saw field use. The dark green collar was
changed to a matching field grey collar
sometime before the campaign in France.
The collar tabs followed suit. Shoulder
straps on the field grey assault gun
jacket were the same as on the standard
field blouse. The dark green base gave
way to field grey in 1940 with other
changes also occurring such as the
deletion of company buttons and
regimental numbers. Also in 1940 the
breast eagle changed from white on dark
green to grey. The cap badge was also
changed from white to grey at the same
time the breast eagles changed. In January
1941 the crash helmet and beret was
officially discontinued and use of the
standard field cap, which many had
already been wearing, was made official.
In 1942 the soutache- disappeared from the
field grey field cap. The so called M42
cap was issued soon after. In January 1943
the assault artillery branch was ordered
not to wear the skull patches on
the collar. At first they wore plain
field grey or dark green rhomboid
patches piped in red. Over time assault
gun crews began using the standard
second and third pattern litzen collar
patches from the regular field blouse,
stitched to the blank rhomboids.
Sometimes the litzen was sewn directly to
the callar or mounted on dark-green
backings. Officers had begun wearing the
larger Doppel-litzen badges from the
service uniform in 1942 though skull
patches were apparently more popular
until they were prohibited in January
1943. In  the summer of 1943 the popular peaked
field cap was introduced. Later in the
war the breast eagle was rendered in
mouse grey on field grey backing. There
were many exceptions to the general
rules and some units continued to wear
unit insignia on shoulder straps. The
Grossdeutschland units wore their
special unit cyphers and artillery
instruction units in Germany reportedly
wore black uniforms instead of field
grey. When the Field Uniform 44 tunic was
introduced the triangular breast eagle
was also added to the assault gun wrapper.
This was the final official change for
the assault artillery uniform. Until 1941
the only branch permitted to wear the
field grey assault gun uniform was the
assault artillery. As new branches
evolved and a wider range of armoured
vehicles were developed, use of the black
and field gray AFV jackets was extended
to other types of units and the system
of branch colors and insignia was
expanded to accommodate them.
Anti-tank units of the various infantry
and armoured divisions began the war
with towed anti-tank guns and thus had
no need for special vehicle clothing.
In 1940 the introduction of the first
self-propelled anti-tank gun, the
Panzerjäger I, brought with it the
issue of the black panzer uniform. Towed
gun crews continued to use the standard
field uniform. Both towed and
self-propelled anti-tank units were
distinguished by rose pink branch colour
piping and the "P" cypher. The use of
unit numbers quickly faded and the "P"
cypher was also not often seen on the
uniform of enlisted men though some NCOs
and officers retained them. In 1942 and
1943 the number of self-propelled
anti-tank guns multiplied and the field
grey assault gun uniform was issued
with insignia in rose pink instead of
red. Initially the collar patches were on
dark green backings and shortly after
the patches had branch colour piping added.
These too were replaced with
death's-head collar patches on either field
grey or black piped in the rose pink
branch colour. At the same time litzen
collar tabs with field grey backings and
pink piping was also adopted. During the
war the passive term Panzer Abwehr, or tank defence in English, was
replaced with the more aggressive
Panzerjäger which meant tank hunter.
Towards the end of the war some
anti-tank units were retitled yet again
as tank destroyer units. A confusing
number of insignia variations for
anti-tank units was addressed by an
order on 7 May 1944. Towed anti-tank guns
were to wear the assault gun jacket
with field grey death's-head patches.
Self-propelled anti-tank and tank
destroyer units were to also wear this
insignia combination only if they
belonged to Infantry. Light Infantry or
Mountain Troop divisions. Units attached directly to Army or Corps
headquarters also wore this combination
with the exception of self-propelled
anti-tank and tank destroyer units of
the Panzer and Panzergrenadier
Divisions, who were to wear the black
panzer uniform with black death's-head
patches. This uniform was also worn by any anti-tank
unit attached directly to Army or Corps
headquarters and equipped with the
Panzerjäger Tiger.
Armoured car crews in the divisional
reconnaissance units of tank and
motorized infantry divisions wore the
black panzer uniform until 1943. They
were distinguished from tank units by the Gothic letter "A". Armoured car crews
in reconnaissance battalions of the
light divisions wore golden yellow
branch colour reinforcing their lineage
to the cavalry. On 31 July 1938 all
reconnaissance units changed to the golden
yellow branch colour. On 6 July 1939 the
branch colour of motorized reconnaissance
units changed once more to copper brown.
Since this colour was unique the "A" cypher
was ordered removed though senior NCOs
and officers often retained the metal
letter insignia. On 25 March 1943 all
mobile and armored troops were
reorganized into the Panzertruppen and
newly created armored reconnaissance
battalions changed back to rose pink
branch color with "A" cyphers. In mid-1943
the field grey assault gun uniform was
also issued to armoured reconnaissance
battalions, intended only for those
troops fighting from armoured half
tracks, while the armoured car troops
retained the black panzer uniform. The term reconnaissance encompasses a
variety of units utilizing different
types of vehicles including motorcycles,
bicycles, horses, armoured cars and
half-tracks. It was difficult to maintain
uniformity of branch colours and uniform
styles even within a single unit.
The list of references in the video
description will point the viewer to
more detailed information than is
possible here. In March 1943 halftrack
crews in panzergrenadier battalions
were ordered into the field grey assault
gun uniform. It should be emphasized that
the majority of panzergrenadier
battalions used trucks. The most common
insignia was meadow green piping on
shoulder and collar insignia. The tabs
had second or third pattern litzen
though there was evidence of limited use
of grass-green piped field grey patches
with the death's-head symbol. On the day
Germany invaded France engineers manning
armoured vehicles were issued the black
panzer uniform. A number of full and
half tracked vehicles were used
throughout the war for engineering
purposes. Since the black piping wouldn't
show up against the uniform a special
black-and-white twist piping was used to
differentiate the branch of service.
Beginning in 1941 the field grey
assault gun uniforms started to appear
in engineer units. Black piping was worn
on the uniform with either death's-head
or litzen patches on the collar. As
noted earlier signals troops were
authorized to wear lemon yellow insignia on the black uniform but
additionally it seemed a small number of
signals troops wore the field grey
uniform late in the war as well with
other litzen or death's-head collar patches.
Separate from the assault
artillery which was intended for direct
fire infantry support, the armoured
artillery was equipped with self-propelled
guns - armoured, fully-tracked, turretless
vehicles used for indirect fire in the
same manner as the standard towed
artillery batteries.
Crews of self-propelled guns generally wore a field grey assault gun uniform beginning
in 1942 when the Wespe and Hummel
vehicles were first introduced.
Finally, crews of armoured artillery
observation vehicles wore the black
uniform with red branch of service
piping. The letter "B" was worn on the
shoulder straps over the number of their
parent division.
This has not been an exhaustive list of
troop and unit categories that wore
either the black panzer uniform or the
field grey assault gun uniform. Others
included armoured train crews, halftrack
mounted rocket artillery crews, and even
propaganda companies of the armoured
forces. A variety of other clothing was
worn by AFV crews including denim
jackets modeled after the wool wrappers,
other denim work clothing, tropical
uniforms, winter clothing etc. Their
insignia was generally modeled after
that worn on the wool jackets.
The wool vehicle jackets were popular not just for the functionality but their sharp
appearance and a number of deviations
from the regulations can be noted in
period photos including use for evening
wear, parades or even wedding attire. The
variety of uniform and insignia
combinations worn by German armoured
vehicle crews in the Second World War
was staggering. This video can only begin
to suggest the enormity of the subject.
The video description has a guide to
recommended reading for those interested
in further study.
 
