Original Item: Only One Available. This is an original wartime pattern German WWII Heer Army M-36 Dienstrock (Service Tunic) for an Administrative Official with the Heer Sanitätstruppe (Military medical service). The collector we purchased this from indicated that it was brought back by a Veteran, though there is unfortunately no further information regarding their identity. Also in the pocket is an original aluminum Erkennungsmarke, (identity disc aka; Dog Tag), used to identify soldiers in the field, which was brought back with the tunic. This example reads as follows on each side:

87
Stab 164 Div.

This indicates that the wearer was a member of the 164. Leichte Afrika Division (164th Light Africa Division), and was part of the general staff (stab). First raised in November 1939 as the 164. Infanterie-Division, this formation took part in the invasion of Greece in April 1941. Then in January 1942, consolidating the Axis seizure of the island during the Battle of Crete, the 164th was reorganized as Fortress Division Kreta (FDK). In mid-1942 the division was transferred to North Africa, when it was redesignated as the 164th Light Africa Division. It would remain there until 1943 when it surrendered at the end of the North Africa campaign. There is also a B at the far right of each side, indicating that the wearer was part of blood group B.

The tunic is made from lovely "whipcord" weave wool gabardine, in the standard Heer feldgrau (field gray) color. It features four pleated pockets with scalloped flaps and pebbled magnetic buttons, which look to be made from stamped steel with pebbled zinc tops. The front closure features six of the same style buttons on the right breast flap meeting an equal number of reinforced buttonholes on the left flap. The buttons are finished in gray green paint, which is very well retained on most, and they have some markings on the reverse. They are sewn directly to the fabric, which does make them a bit more prone to tearing off, however these all look to be original. There are also two hook and loop collar securing fasteners, which are fully functional. The collar stiffener/protector is no longer present, but two of the three retaining clips are still installed.

The interior is lined with a lovely gray green colored rayon cotton blend, with sleeves lined with white sheer rayon. There is some light wear and staining to the interior, but no tears or major damage. There is an internal horizontal slash pocket on the inner left chest, with no other internal pockets. There is also a large eyelet that connects to the exterior under the left waist pocket for the dagger to hang through. We were not able to find any maker or size information inside of the tunic, so it is definitely a bespoke example, made for a high ranking administrative official.

It is adorned with the usual rank and branch insignia used on German tunics. The attractive Army breast eagle is hand embroidered in aluminum bullion, and is very neatly hand stitched to the chest in a fashion typical of wartime German tailor work. 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 backgrounds matching the collar. The collar is in very good shape, showing just a bit of wear around the edge, which is usually the first place on a uniform to show wear.

The colored stripes (mittelstreifen) on the litzen are Medizinblau (Medical Blue) braided rayon, the Waffenfarbe (Corps Color) during WWII for the Heer Sanitätstruppe (Military medical service). The “sew-in” style company grade officers schulterklappen (shoulder boards) of this tunic are constructed with two rows of fine silver flatware "Russia Braid" double piping and have the correct medical blue bases, which protrudes around the edges. Each bears a single rank pip and an administrative Caduceus cypher, which is two serpents entwined on the staff of Mercury. This would indicate an administrative official at the level of an Oberarzt or Oberleutnant, however the officials had "titles", not ranks, and these were different for every branch. We have not been able to find information on the title structure of the medical service unfortunately. The left chest pocket has some damaged thread loops above it, which originally had a medal ribbon bar, which is now missing.

Overall condition is very good. The field gray fabric retains strong color with light overall age toning and scattered staining across the front. The collar shows wear along its edge, and there is fraying and wear around several buttonholes, particularly those of the front closure and pocket flaps. The bullion insignia show light service wear, with a few displaced threads, while the Russia braid on the shoulder boards has areas of wear and localized loss to the aluminum colored surface.

With its fine whipcord construction, medical blue branch color, bullion breast eagle and collar insignia, administrative medical shoulder board cyphers, service worn condition, and accompanying 164th Light Africa Division staff identity disc, this is a particularly interesting Heer medical administrative official Dienstrock. The staining, collar wear, buttonhole fraying, insignia wear, missing collar stiffener, and unconfirmed relationship between the tunic and identity disc are all fully disclosed. It would fit especially well in a Heer medical service, military administrative official, North Africa related, named or associated uniform, or advanced German WWII uniform collection.

Approximate Measurements:
Collar to shoulder: 10"
Shoulder to sleeve: 22.5"
Shoulder to shoulder: 17.5"
Chest width: 19.5"
Waist: 17.5"
Hip: 20"
Front length: 29"

Field Tunic (Feldbluse) Model 1936
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.

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.