*Music Plays*
* ♪ Wenn wir Marschieren ♪*
* ♪ Zieh'n wir zum Deutschen Tor hinaus ♪ *
* ♪ Schwarbraunes Mädel ♪ *
After the First World War the defeated German army was restricted in size
and forbidden from modernizing.
When the Third Reich era
began on 30 January 1933 the Army began
a new period of transformation to allow
it to carry out Hitler's aggressive foreign policy.
This video will examine
how the German Army's basic combat
uniform evolved during its expansion,
modernization, politicization, and
eventual decline from 1933 to 1945.
The German soldier emerged from the World War
wearing a field grey uniform, cloth
putties and a steel trench helmet.
By 1933 there were was still little to
distinguish German soldiers from their
wartime counterparts. Tall marching boots, 
in English sometimes called jack boots,
were reintroduced in the post-war period. Equipment, wool trousers and Reichswehr
tunic were similar to the wartime design.
Collar patches displaying the soldier's
branch color were in use by 1933. Shoulder straps displayed the soldier's regiment
and unlike wartime practice the numeral
was also in the soldier's branch colour.
White denoted Infantry. Numbered
buttons indicated the soldier's company
within the regiment. The 1916 helmet was
still in use among other styles and a
field cap with a cloth peak was also
worn. In 1933 a new tunic, properly called
a field blouse, was introduced. The entire
blouse including collar and shoulder
straps were in the same shade of field
grey as the rest of the uniform.
On the 14th of March a new tricolor decal in national colors was added to the left
side of the helmet. On 17 February 1934
the decal was moved to the right side of
the helmet and at the same time a new
national insignia was added to the chest.
This breast eagle was rendered in white
on a field grey backing.
On 5 April 1934 a new tricolor decal was introduced and
the army received its own decal on the
left side of the helmet. In late 1934 a
new field blouse with dark field grey
collar and shoulder straps was introduced. This tunic also had internal suspenders
to support the belt and equipment. A more practical field cap was
introduced in 1934. On 1 July 1935 a new
steel helmet was introduced.
On 10 September 1935 the collar of the field blouse was changed to dark green.
The collar patches were also modified to include a dark green stripe in the center with the
patch sewn to a dark green backing
before attachment to the blouse.
In December 1935 dark green cloth was
approved for the shoulder straps as well.
In January 1936 the older pattern belt
buckles with the insignia of the Weimar
Republic was replaced with a new Wehrmacht pattern and on 19 June 1937 a new breast
Eagle rendered in white on a dark green
background was introduced. On 26 November
1938 further changes to insignia
included the removal of the service
colour from the collar patches, replaced
by dark green stripes for all branches.
To better display the branch of service
colour, piping was added to the shoulder
straps which were also changed in shape
at this time. On 5 February 1939 the
breast eagle changed once more from
white to a more subdued silver-grey on
green background. On April 18 1939 new
equipment suspenders were introduced to
help support the equipment belt. At some
point in 1939 company numbers were
ordered removed from the uniform.
It was this uniform that the German army wore
during the victorious first year of the
war and for decades Hollywood firmly
cemented this uniform into the minds of
television and movie audiences.
German soldiers were invariably depicted in 1940 era double decal helmets, high
leather marching boots and so-called m36
field blouses no matter what period was
being portrayed. The truth was somewhat
different, and this high water mark of
uniform and insignia quality began to
deteriorate even before France
surrendered in June 1940.
On 9 November
1939 with the war only two months old
marching boots were shortened is a
leather conservation measure.
On 1 March1940 the tricolour decal was ordered
removed from the right side of the
helmet. Three weeks later new m35 helmets had a
rough texture added at the factory. Sometime in 1940 new field blouses began
to be manufactured with a field grey
collar. The universal pattern collar
patches were stitched
directly to the collar as the dark-green
backing no longer matched the uniform. On
9 May 1940, likely in response to the
deletion of dark green collars, the collar
patches were changed to the final form
with mouse grey stripes replacing the
dark green. The breast eagle was also
changed to a subdued mouse grey color on a field grey backing.
Shoulder straps were changed from dark
green to field grey in 1940 as well and
regimental numbers were officially
removed. At some point in 1940
slip-ons bearing embroidered regimental
designations were introduced. Production
of the pre-war stone grey trousers
ceased in 1940 in favor of field grey to
match the field blouse. Ankle boots and
cloth gaiters had been approved as early
as 1940. At first only used by rear area
troops, they saw increased usage even in
front-line units as the war went on. As
well equipment belts and suspenders made
of cotton webbing, designed for tropical
use, saw increasing usage as war went on
due to shortages of leather.
On 26 May 1941 a sixth button was added to the
front of the field blouse. The white
cotton undershirt became available in
field grey beginning in July 1941. At
some point in 1942 the branch of service
piping was ordered removed from the
field cap and on 21 July 1942 a new
field cap was introduced with folding
down ear flaps. The field blouse was
further modified in 1942 to conserve
material by removing the pleats from the
pockets. The m35 helmet was also
simplified to save production time.
The bottom edge was no longer rolled, leaving
a raw finish. The field blouse was
modified still further in 1943 by
removing the scallops and the pocket
flaps. The blouse was increasingly worn
with an open collar and the colour of the
wool shifted as artificial and other
fibers such as wood were used to
compensate for wool shortages. On 11 June
1943 a peak was added to the field cap
similar to the specialized caps worn by
mountain troops and with the tropical
uniform. On 28 August 1943 the Army eagle
decal was deleted from the left side of
the helmet. As the war progressed black
boots gave way to natural brown.
On 25 September 1944 a brand new uniform was
issued featuring a shortened
Eisenhower-style field blouse,
matching trousers and a new triangular
shaped breast eagle.
Since the war, English-speaking hobbyists
have imposed their own nomenclature on
the study of German army uniforms,
equipment and insignia. To a German
soldier at the time, however, this tunic was
simply called a field blouse regardless
of its details. Yet in English terms like
M35, M43 et cetera have come to be common
and while not always accurate do at
least provide a smaller amount of
precision to a subject that is much more
complex than suggested by this short video.
When changes occurred to uniform
and insignia at the factory
older uniforms and equipment continued
to be worn side by side with the new ones.
Old stocks were inventoried
alongside new stocks.
"Alte Hasen," veteran soldiers,
clung to older kits since they knew
replacements would be inferior in quality.
German combat gear was produced
in multiple factories from dwindling
stocks of raw materials leading to many
variants of basic items aside from the
official pattern changes. Shortages
compelled the use of converted foreign
uniforms and soldiers sometimes
upgraded later pattern uniforms with
older insignia or dark green collars. The
Field Uniform 44 was to be an exception
evidence perhaps of a belated desire for
standardization. By September 1944, with Allied
troops already on German soil, it was too
little, too late and the German Army
fought to the end in a mishmash of
increasingly poor quality field gear.
It's only in recent years that motion
picture and television costumers have
accurately captured the true look at the
German Army during its years of decline
and ultimate defeat.
Now - if we could just get film and
television directors to stop doing that
stupid Navy SEAL high-ready weapons carry.
But - that's a topic for another time.
* ♪ Ei darum Mädel, Mädel, Wink, Wink Wink!  ♪ *
* ♪ Unter einer Grünen Lialind  ♪ *
* ♪ Sitzt ein Kleiner Fink, Fink, Fink  ♪ *
* ♪ Singt nur immer: Mädel Wink!  ♪ *
