Original Item. Only One Available. This is a very good original German WWII Heer M35 Waffenrock dress tunic for an Oberfeldwebel of the Army Signals branch, or Nachrichtentruppe. Constructed from fine field gray doeskin weave wool, the tunic retains its lemon yellow branch piping, bullion dress collar and cuff insignia, numbered shoulder buttons, breast eagle, DRL Sports Badge, and silver dress aiguillette cords. The garment shows moderate service wear, minor moth damage, one missing front button, and losses to several shoulder board rank pips, all of which are described below.

The tunic has the regulation eight button front arrangement, although the uppermost button is now missing. The remaining seven silvered pebbled buttons are in very good condition. All are magnetic steel examples. Two hook and eye clasps remain at the collar.

The interior is lined with a very nice olive colored cotton that extends down the sleeves, with a pocket on the left interior chest, as is standard. The only marking to the interior is a boxed stamp near the bottom edge, which appears to read Gepr… 2 2. HLA. 31. This is likely just the inspection stamp.

It is adorned with the usual rank and branch insignia used on German tunics. The breast features a machine embroidered light green and silver bullion thread eagle, sewn to a dark field gray wool backer. The eagle is without damage and is very neatly hand stitched to the chest in a fashion typical of wartime German tailor work, with the stitching correctly not going through the lining. There is a hole in the tunic’s middle seam which appears to be for a dagger, but it is rather crude and may have been field-done.

The collar is wrapped in a flaschengrün (dark bottle-green) "badge cloth" wool, and the base material of the two bullion enlisted dress litzen collar tabs on each side of the collar opening is Zitronengelb (lemon-yellow), which was the Waffenfarbe (corps color) during WWII for the Heer Army Nachrichtentruppe (Signal corps), responsible for setting up and maintaining communication equipment. The collar, front closure, and other areas of the tunic bear piping of the same color. The two litzen themselves are woven from a fine silver flatware thread. The collar and its insignia are without any noticeable damage though there is some minor mothing. The lower French style cuffs of the sleeves have the correct green wool base, and are adorned with the correct yellow piping and litzen matching the collar. 

The “sew-in” style Unteroffiziere Schulterklappen (NCO shoulder straps) of this Waffenrock have a dark bottle green "badge cloth" base wool, with gray colored NCO tresse diamond weave piping around the entire edge, the base of which is piped in lemon yellow. Both of the straps originally had two pips, denoting the rank of Oberfeldwebel (Master Sergeant), but one pip has fallen off of the left strap and both pips have fallen off of the right one. The buttons are marked with a 2 for the 2nd Company.

There are two loops on the left breast, attached to which is a great DRL Sports badge! The Waffenrock has a very nice dress aiguillette cord setup on the right hand side, held under the shoulder board and attached to the buttons. There is no end piece on this example.

The combination of lemon yellow Signals distinctions, matching dress collar and cuff Litzen, DRL Sports Badge, and aiguillette cords, gives this tunic considerable value as a study of Heer senior NCO dress uniform construction. Its condition issues are evident but limited enough that the garment continues to present the formal appearance of an Army Signals Waffenrock. It would be appropriate for a collection devoted to German WWII communications troops, Heer NCO uniforms, dress tunics, military insignia, or prewar Army ceremonial equipment.

The M35 Waffenrock dress tunic was introduced for wear by all ranks on June 29TH 1935 as the walking out, parade and ceremonial dress with the piped, stone grey long pants. The design of the M35 dress tunic was based on the Imperial German army’s service tunic but was a different color and generally of much higher quality. Originally all personnel were issued two M35 dress tunics but manufacture was discontinued in late 1939 or early 1940 and was to be reinstated at the successful conclusion of the war. Regulations of March 21ST 1940 stated that the M35 dress tunics that were no longer suitable for dress wear were to be modified and reissued to personnel of the replacement and reserve units for every day wear. Officers and certain senior NCO ranks were responsible for purchasing their own uniforms and as a result were allotted a clothing allowance through the army’s Kleiderkasse, (Clothing Account), system. The Officers and certain senior NCO’s could choose to purchase their uniforms from the armed forces clothing depots or to privately purchase garments of higher quality. Although enlisted personnel were issued their uniforms from government supplies they were also permitted to purchase privately tailored uniforms although the price may have been restrictive.