Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very nice early pattern German WWII Heer Army Artillery Officer's M-36 Tunic, showing moderate wear from service and in very good display condition. Unlike many that we see, this example still has an intact tailor label on the inside of the inner left chest pocket! The tunic was made by F. NOE & SCHULZE, NEISSE in 1937. There is also a name and possibly rank written on the tag, but unfortunately it is a bit faded and in German script, so we were not able to read it accurately, Someone more familiar with reading WWII era German script would probably be able to work it out, so we leave this is an excellent research opportunity.

The tunic features four pockets with scalloped flaps and pebbled magnetic buttons, which look to be made from pebbled stamped aluminum with galvanized steel backings and eyelets. The front closure features five of the same buttons on the right breast flap meeting an equal number of reinforced buttonholes on the left flap. We checked the backs of the buttons, and most are marked with EXTRA FEIN and the "barred A" trademark logo of F. W. Assmann & Söhne of Lüdenscheid, a large maker of belts, buttons, and other accoutrements. The buttons are sewn directly to the fabric, which does make them a bit more prone to tearing off, which is why one of the front closure buttons is replaced. There are also two hook and loop collar securing fasteners, which are fully functional.

The interior is lined with with a lovely olive / gray colored rayon , while the sleeves are lined with white cotton. There are some repairs to the lining near the collar, which also shows some signs of repairs while in service. There is an interior slash pocket inside the left front hip in addition to the left chest pocket with the label. There is definitely wear to the interior, with fraying and holes present, as well as staining in areas. There is a hanger clip for an officers dagger, and also a large eyelet that connects to the exterior under the left waist pocket for the dagger to hang through.

It is adorned with the usual rank and branch insignia used on German tunics. The attractive Army breast eagle is the correct officer's silver bullion hand embroidered type on a green background, and is stitched to the outer layer of fabric only. There is just a bit of fraying on the eagle due to wear.

The collar is wrapped in flaschengrün (dark bottle-green) wool, and has officer's field litzen collar patches on each side, which are woven from silver bullion thread with a dark bottle green background matching the collar. The colored stripes on each are Hochrot (Deep Red) wool, the Waffenfarbe (Corps Color) during WWII for Artillery, as well as General Level Officers. As this is a company grade officer tunic, this is definitely for artillery, and Generals also did not use the Litzen collar insignia, instead using red and gold "Arabesque" insignia. The collar is in good shape, tough there is a bit of wear around the top edge, which is usually one of the first places to show damage from use.

The “sew-in” style company officers schulterklappen (shoulder boards) of this tunic are constructed with two rows of fine silver flatware "Russia Braid" double piping and have the correct red piping around the edges. There are no rank "pips" installed, indicating the rank of Leutnant, equivalent to a U.S. Army 2nd Lieutenant. Both also bears a golden Gothic "S" cypher for Schule (school), so the owner was involved with the artillery training school.

Overall condition is very good, with just a bit of light wear and staining consistent with service. We cannot see any major mothing or other issues with the uniform, just a few nips around the collar insignia and some scattered small holes and tears to the exterior. The litzen and shoulderboards also show some light wear. This is a uniform tunic that that saw moderate service during the war, and overall it displays very nicely.

A very nice named tailor made made German Artillery School Officer's Tunic, ready to display!

Approximate Measurements:
Collar to shoulder: 9"
Shoulder to sleeve: 28”
Shoulder to shoulder: 13”
Chest width: 18"
Waist width: 16"
Hip width: 21"
Front length: 31"

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.

Field Tunic (Feldbluse) Model 1936
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.