police tunic quuestion..

[MAUSER99]

I have come across a police tunic that has thrown me for a curve. Its a 43 dated tunic. It has em type collar tabs with green insert and boarder. The sleeve eagle is green with no town or city over it. The shoulder boards are orange piped brown with two pips. The visor cap is orange piped with a brown band around the center. I was told maybe field police? I can find all green or all orange tunics but non with a combo of both. I can send a photo but, can post one yet. please help !! email me @
ninety8k@yahoo.com for a picture..thx.

[Dave C.]

What you have is a Feldbluse M43 for Schupo or municipal police as represented by the green collar tabs and sleeve insignia. The shoulder rank straps or boards are for Hauptwactmeister d. Gendarmerie or the rural police as represented by the orange color. They do appear to be the strap on variety with a strap attached to the underside that would goe through a loop on the tunic. The other option is being sewn into the the seam where the sleeve and shoulder come together, although this does not look to be the case.

The visor is for other ranks of the Gendarmerie or rural police as represented by the orange, same as the rank straps. The tunic for the Gendarmerie would also have an orange sleeve insignia and collar tabs, and orange piping appears on earlier tunics.

~ What does the inside of the visor look like, is there a maker?

(Pictures posted for MAUSER99)

[MAUSER99]

cap

the cap is an nco type I assume. It has a leather chin strap. the cockade is missing but other than that its a nice visor. I sent you the photos and post them by all means..

the boards are brown in the center with silver boarder and piped in orange. They have two pips. they look sewn in to the tunic . You will see what I mean by the photos. thanks for you;re help...

[MAUSER99]

thanks

so there is no chance that later in the war they may have used what they had and put different boards on a green eagle tunic? where it realy didnt matter at that point ?? The cap and tunic came togther along with an early m35dd police helmet.. I will try to get a photo of the inside of the cap. I know the cockade is missing does anyone have one for sale ??

[Dave C.]

Suppose there is a chance for most anything, although it is not correct and it will always have to be defended of being put together/restored incorrectly. If you are happy with it the way it is, you can always leave it alone. Otherwise Schupo and Gendarmerie ranks straps are fairly commonly, and an easy fix if they are strap ons.

[W.Unland]

I agree with Dave on this one. Nice cap, nice tunic BUT they just don't go together. Anything is possible, and these may have been taken from a police building housing both Gendarmerie and Schupo units, BUT it would be an incredible stretch to think that a Gendarmerie NCO wore a tunic with a green eagle and tabs.

Personally I would swap out the boards for Schupo, but that is just me. Since color film was rare during the period it is really hard to swear that mixed insignia was NEVER used, but civil police insignia was not hard to find during the era, and the "late war" explanation just doesn't quite make sense to me. The Gendarmerie were strictly civil by this time and only inside the German civil jurisdiction, so insignia was available at any uniform supply store. Civil police did not utilize depots, and the possibility of a thrown together tunic, as might have been found in a combat situation, very slim.

Regards,
W.Unland

W.Unland