Original Item: Only One Available. This is a fantastic German WWII Heer Army Infantry Unteroffizier NCO field tunic, made in an early M36 style by field tailors from the lightweight material commonly referred to by collectors as “Russian Cloth.” The term is traditionally used for tunics believed to have been made from material similar to that found on Soviet issue Meshok packs and other field equipment. This example retains what appear to be its original insignia, including white piped Infantry NCO shoulder boards, BeVo breast eagle, collar Litzen and NCO Tresse, an Iron Cross 2nd Class ribbon in the buttonhole, and an early stamped brass Black Wound Badge.

The lightweight cloth construction gives the tunic a distinctly different appearance from standard wool field uniforms and from the more familiar German Drillich garments. This type of field tailored uniform is particularly associated by collectors with German service in warmer areas of the Eastern Front, including southern Russia and the Caucasus, although without specific provenance we cannot assign this tunic to a particular theater or unit.

As expected for a field tailor-made garment, there are no manufacturer, depot, or size markings visible on the interior.

The tunic follows an early war M36 style with four exterior pockets, each fitted with a scalloped flap and pebbled metal button. The front closure has seven matching pebbled buttons on the right side corresponding to seven reinforced buttonholes on the left.

The buttons are non-magnetic and are sewn directly to the cloth rather than fitted with removable retaining hardware. They appear to match one another and were originally painted, although most of that finish has worn away through service and age.

The breast carries an attractive Heer eagle of NCO quality, machine embroidered in silver colored thread on a dark bottle green backing. It is neatly machine stitched to the tunic in a manner consistent with period tailor installation.

The collar is faced in Flaschengrün, or dark bottle green, wool in the style associated with early Heer field tunics. A strip of approximately 10mm diamond woven NCO Tresse runs around the collar perimeter, a particularly desirable feature on a field tailored example where such finishing details were not always incorporated.

Each side of the collar carries EM/NCO Litzen woven in gray thread on a dark green backing matching the collar. These do not incorporate branch colored center stripes, consistent with the simplified universal EM/NCO collar insignia introduced before the war.

The button attached NCO shoulder boards, or Unteroffiziere Schulterklappen, have dark bottle green badge cloth uppers, field gray undersides, and reinforced field gray attachment tongues. Each board carries a silver diamond woven NCO Tresse border that remains open at the ends.

No rank pips or other devices are fitted. The open ended Tresse and absence of pips identify the rank as Unteroffizier, equivalent to a U.S. Army Sergeant. The boards are piped in Weiß, or white, the Heer Waffenfarbe associated with Infantry and Motorized Infantry personnel. There are no surviving unit cyphers or other devices that would allow a more specific unit attribution.

The second buttonhole from the top retains the rayon ribbon for the 1939 Iron Cross 2nd Class, indicating that the wearer had received that decoration. Above the left breast pocket are two vertically oriented thread loops where a medal ribbon bar was once fitted. The pocket itself has three pairs of horizontal award loops, providing positions for additional decorations. The two right hand positions are currently empty. Mounted in the left position is an early stamped brass Black Wound Badge. Much of the original dark finish has worn away, leaving the underlying brass with an attractive golden aged patina.

Condition overall is very good and shows light to moderate service wear. The “Russian Cloth” body has only minor staining and remains free from major tears, severe wear, or other significant structural damage. The insignia show expected wear and staining, and there is some moth damage to the wool collar and shoulder insignia.

These "Russian Cloth" tunics are definitely sought after, and have a classic look as seen on the Eastern Front of WWII. For the Heer uniform or Eastern Front collector, this is a particularly appealing field tailored tunic. The unusual lightweight “Russian Cloth” construction, early M36 styling, dark green collar, original appearing Infantry NCO insignia, EKII ribbon, Black Wound Badge, and honest field wear give it considerably more character than a standard issue tunic.

Approximate Measurements:
Collar to shoulder: 10"
Shoulder to sleeve: 26"
Shoulder to shoulder: 17"
Chest width: 19.5"
Waist: 18"
Hip: 19"
Front length: 28"

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.

SS field uniforms were of similar appearance externally but to fit their larger patches had a wider, feldgrau collar, and the lower pockets were of an angled slash type similar to the black or grey SS service-dress. The second button of an SS Feldbluse was positioned somewhat lower, so that it could be worn open-collar with a necktie. Due to supply problems the SS were often issued army uniforms.