Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very attractive original German WWII Heer infantry officer’s privately purchased M36-style field tunic, configured for the rank of Oberleutnant and displaying gilt 8 regimental numerals consistent with Infanterie-Regiment 8. Tailored from fine Feldgrau wool gabardine, the tunic retains its embroidered Army breast eagle, officer collar Litzen, original Krim Shield, shoulder boards, and multiple sets of award loops. No tailor’s label or maker marking is present, but the materials, lining, and overall construction are characteristic of a privately purchased officer garment rather than a standard enlisted issue tunic.

The tunic is constructed from standard Heer Feldgrau wool gabardine and follows the characteristic M36 pattern with a contrasting dark bottle green Flaschengrün badge cloth collar. The front has four pleated pockets with scalloped flaps, each secured by a painted pebbled magnetic button, each button being maker-marked on the back and dated 43 for 1943.

The interior is lined with a lovely gray colored rayon cotton blend, with sleeves lined in the same material. There is some minor 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 an eyelet for a dagger, and a hanging loop at each interior sleeve.

It is adorned with the usual rank and branch insignia used on German tunics. The Army breast eagle is a 1939 pattern machine embroidered type with light gray embroidery on a dark green wool background, and is stitched to the outer layer of fabric only, but the green wool background has very heavy moth damage, the worst damage on the uniform. The collar is wrapped in flaschengrün (dark bottle-green) wool, and has officer's field litzen collar patches on each side, which are embroidered. The collar is in good shape, showing some minor mothing and wear.

The mittelstreifen colored stripes on the litzen are age toned Weiß (white) rayon cord, the Waffenfarbe (Corps Color) during WWII for Infanterie (Infantry) and Motorisiert Infanterie (Motorized Infantry). 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 white piping around the edges. There is a single rank "pip" installed on both, indicating the rank of Oberleutnant, equivalent to a U.S. Army 1st Lieutenant. They also both have a golden metal 8 cypher, most likely for the 8th Infantry Regiment.

The right chest pocket has one pair of thread loops for the attachment of the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold (German Cross in Gold), the only award which was authorized for wear on the right breast pocket.

The left chest pocket has three pairs of thread loops for award attachment, which definitely show wear. There were likely loops over the pocket at one point, now gone.  The left sleeve has a 1942 Crimea Shield (Krimschild) award attached to the uniform with a green badge cloth backing. The shield is stitched with green thread rather spaced out, so we can not confirm that the award was attached during the period.

Condition is generally very good for a privately purchased officer tunic of this age. The principal issue is the heavy moth damage to the dark green backing surrounding the breast eagle, with lesser moth wear around portions of the collar and elsewhere. The fine gabardine body, rayon lining, shoulder boards, collar insignia, buttons, and award loops otherwise remain well preserved.

The combination of Oberleutnant shoulder boards, gilt 8 regimental numerals, private-purchase gabardine construction, 1943-dated buttons, multiple worn award loops, infantry Waffenfarbe, and surviving Krim Shield makes this an especially interesting Heer officer tunic. Although the precise wearer and the original wartime attachment of the Crimea Shield remain unconfirmed, the surviving insignia and tailoring details provide a strong representation of a decorated infantry officer’s field uniform during the later years of WWII.

Approximate Measurements:
Collar to shoulder: 10"
Shoulder to sleeve: 26.5"
Shoulder to shoulder: 17"
Chest width: 17"
Waist: 17"
Hip: 18"
Front length: 31.5"

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.