Original Items: Only One Set Available. Here we have a great set of German Pre-WWII field gear items from the Sturmabteilung (Storm Detachment or SA) paramilitary organization, which was a vital part of the NSDAP's rise to power. They wore military style uniforms, and as a paramilitary group even were outfitted with some of the standard field gear items usually only seen in the armed forces. The SA versions were very similar to the official military issue, but were issued in the typical SA light brown color with brown leather fittings, and had some other differences as well.

The set we have here is made up of an M31 Aluminum canteen / water bottle and an M31 Haversack, usually called a "bread bag". Both are definitely very early issue, and are in the correct SA colors. The canteen is an pre war aluminum style with an aluminum cap and a light brown felt cover. The top of the cap and the neck of the bottle are both marked with (RZM) FA13/34, and early RZM code that is definitive for SA issue. Army issue canteens would have the maker abbreviations on components throughout the war, never adopting RZM or three letter codes.

The canteen is in very good shape, and has a brown leather harness, which is a bit stiff, and has torn through by the buckle around the neck due to age. The color has faded a bit, and contact with the leather has turned some parts an orange color, but overall it's a great set. It even still has the rubber washer inside the cap, which is still supple. It even has a very interesting aluminum pull clip used to attach it to a D-ring, which is definitely not military style.

The M31 Bread bag is also in very good shape, though it definitely does show some wear through on the back, and differs a bit from the Wehrmacht style in terms of fittings, an is slightly more lightweight. It comes complete with the shoulder strap, often called a "bread bag strap", and both have matching maker markings:

Franz Rauh
Karlsruhe-Weiherfeld
Dreisamstr. 11.

Condition shows light use in service, and overall there is no major damage, just some wear through on the back. All of the buttons and clips are intact and functional.

A great SA Field gear set, ready to research and display!

The S.A.-
TheSturmabteilung, literally Storm Detachment, was the NSDAP Party's original paramilitary. It played a significant role in Adolf AH's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s. Its primary purposes were providing protection for NSDAP rallies and assemblies, disrupting the meetings of opposing parties, fighting against the paramilitary units of the opposing parties, especially the Red Front Fighters League (Rotfrontkämpferbund) of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD), and intimidating Romani, trade unionists, and, especially, Jews – for instance, during the NSDAP boycott of Jewish businesses.

The SA were also called the "Brownshirts" (Braunhemden) from the color of their uniform shirts, similar to Benito Mussolini's blackshirts. The SA developed pseudo-military titles for its members, with ranks that were later adopted by several other NSDAP Party groups, chief amongst them the Schutzstaffel (SS), which originated as a branch of the SA before being separated. Brown-colored shirts were chosen as the SA uniform because a large number of them were cheaply available after World War I, having originally been ordered during the war for colonial troops posted to Germany's former African colonies.

The SA became disempowered after Adolf AH ordered the "blood purge" of 1934. This event became known as the Night of the Long Knives (die Nacht der langen Messer). The SA continued to exist, but was effectively superseded by the SS, although it was not formally dissolved until after NSDAP Germany's final capitulation to the Allies in 1945.