Original Item: Only One Set Available. This is an original German WWII Heer Army officer uniform set consisting of an early pattern M36 service tunic and matching style field gray wool breeches. The tunic is configured for a Major of the Transport or Supply Troop branch, identified by the light blue Waffenfarbe, and retains its early officer bullion breast eagle, field grade shoulder boards, officer collar tabs, and three place ribbon bar.

The tunic is constructed from high quality Feldgrau whipcord weave wool gabardine and has four pleated pockets with scalloped flaps and magnetic pebbled buttons. The front closes with six matching style buttons sewn directly to the fabric, all appearing period attached, while the collar retains its functional hook and loop closure. The original collar stiffener or protector is no longer present, although two of its three retaining clips remain installed.

The tunic is adorned with the usual rank and branch insignia used on German tunics. The attractive Army breast eagle is the correct early pattern officer's silver bullion hand embroidered type on a dark bottle green background, and is stitched to the outer layer of fabric only. 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 dark bottle green backgrounds matching the collar.

The colored stripes (mittelstreifen) on the litzen are Hellblau (Light blue) wool, the Waffenfarbe (Corps Color) during WWII for Transportation troops (Fahrtruppen) until 1942 and Supply troops (Nachschubtruppen) from 1942 onwards. The sew-in style Stabsoffizier schulterklappen (Field-grade Officer shoulder boards) of this tunic are constructed with two rows of fine silver flatware "Russia Braid" double piping, which are plaited together to form a loop around the buttonhole. There are no rank "pips", indicating the rank of Major, a rank equivalent to a Major in the U.S. Army. They have the correct light blue wool bases, matching the collar tabs.

There are four thread loops over the left pocket, and attached to two of them is a three award medal ribbon bar. The three awards represented are the War Merit Cross 2nd Class with Swords (KvKII), the Wehrmacht long service award for 4 years, and the Eastern Front Medal. A ribbon for the Eastern Front medal is also installed on the second buttonhole from the top. There is also a pair of two thread loops on the pocket itself for attaching an award, but none are included.

The interior is lined in gray green rayon twill, while the sleeves are lined in striped white rayon. Two large hanging loops are attached at the rear sleeve seams. The inner left chest has horizontal slash pockets, and the left waist retains the large eyelet for an officer dagger hanger along with an attached hanger clip partially concealed beneath the lining. No major interior repairs are evident, only light service wear.

The tunic remains in very good overall condition with moderate wear. The principal issue is scattered moth damage concentrated on the more open weave badge cloth and insignia components. Both shoulder boards show some loss, as do the breast eagle and both collar tabs. Additional moth damage is present beneath the rear collar, in places extending through the outer wool to the underlying tricot layer. The upper collar itself remains comparatively well preserved with only light wear.

The accompanying breeches are made from field gray whipcord weave wool with a slightly greener tone than the tunic and remain in very good condition. They feature a four button concealed fly topped by a metal hook and loop closure, internal suspender buttons, diagonal hip pockets, a button closed horizontal rear pocket on the right, and a small watch pocket beside the fly. The lower legs each close with three buttons. Some suspender buttons appear to have been replaced after earlier examples were lost, and there is scattered light moth damage, but no major tears or structural damage are noted.

With its early M36 officer tunic, light blue Transport and Supply branch color, Major rank shoulder boards, bullion breast eagle, surviving three place ribbon bar, internal dagger hanger arrangement, and accompanying wool breeches, this is a strong Heer officer uniform set. The scattered moth damage, missing collar stiffener, replaced suspender buttons, and wear to the insignia are all fully disclosed. It would display especially well in a Heer Transport, Supply, officer uniform, M36 tunic, or advanced German WWII uniform collection.

Approximate Measurements:-
Collar to shoulder: 9.5"
Shoulder to sleeve: 25.5"
Shoulder to shoulder: 17"
Chest width: 19"
Waist: 20"
Hip: 23"
Front length: 32.5"

Waist: 15"
Rise: 13"
Inseam: 25"

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.