Original Item: Only One Available. This is an original early / pre war pattern German WWII Heer Army Officer M-36 Feldbluse (Field blouse) service tunic for a Stabsarzt (Staff Surgeon) with the Sanitätstruppe, or Military medical service. It shows signs of long service, with wear commensurate to age, and has an attractive "broken in" look.

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 were originally finished in gray green paint, however this is mostly worn away, 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 interior of the collar has three clips for a collar protector, which is not installed, but currently folded up and placed inside the right breast pocket.

The interior is lined with brown satin rayon twill, with the sleeves lined with striped light blue rayon. 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, with a hanger strap with clip in a sleeve attached to the sleeve seam above. We do not see any markings at all, and officers were usually responsible for procuring their own uniforms, so it was most likely bespoke from a tailor.

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. It does show some oxidation, loose bullion, and some fraying. 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 some 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 bear two gold rank "pips" along with gold "Rod of Asclepius" medical cyphers, for the medical officer rank of Stabsarzt (Staff Surgeon), equivalent to a U.S. Army Captain.

The tunic is in very good service used condition overall and clearly saw extended wear. The exterior shows general age toning, wrinkling, scattered small holes, pulled stitching, and areas of moth damage. The insignia also show service wear, including fraying and damage to the collar Litzen, oxidation to the silver Russia braid, and finish loss to the gold rank pips and medical cyphers.

The collar edge shows wear through the surface nap, while the bullion breast eagle has areas of oxidation and loose thread. The Medical Blue branch color remains visible and distinct despite the surrounding wear.

The interior shows heavier use, particularly around the neck and sleeve areas. There is noticeable staining, scattered tears, and evidence of numerous stitching repairs. The right sleeve lining is partially detached along the seam and also shows earlier repair work.

Overall, this is a well used but highly complete Heer Medical Service officer tunic retaining its correct Stabsarzt insignia, Medical Blue branch color, bullion breast eagle, dark green collar, internal dagger suspension arrangement, and removable collar protector. The scattered moth damage, exterior holes, fraying, oxidized insignia, interior staining, repairs, and partially detached sleeve lining are all fully disclosed.

With its Stabsarzt rank insignia, Rod of Asclepius medical cyphers, Medical Blue Waffenfarbe, early style dark green collar, private purchase construction, and strong service worn character, this is an excellent representative example of a German WWII Heer Medical Service officer Feldbluse. It would fit especially well in a Heer medical, officer uniform, field tunic, or advanced German WWII textile collection.

Approximate Measurements:
Collar to shoulder: 10"
Shoulder to sleeve: 24"
Shoulder to shoulder: 18"
Chest width: 20"
Waist: 19"
Hip: 22"
Front length: 30"

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.