Hi, wondering if anyone can give any advice on this feldbluse? It's made of (captured?) Dutch wool by a German Stettin based maker and has a "St.40" Stettin Depot acceptance stamp. It also has the pre-war type mounted collar patches with Waffenfarbe despite presumably being made after May 1940 when stocks of (captured) Dutch wool became available. I understand that the timeline for the introduction of the M40 style tunic (feldgrau collar) is obscure. In Borg and Huart's "Feldbluse" book they state that the precise date is unknown and probably varied between makers. Nevertheless it may be one of the last M36 types to be made? Naturally the condition suggests a 'Best' / Walking out tunic and 'Der Spiess' may have had some leverage when it came to picking a tunic from the stores!
Grateful for any thoughts.
On another note I was also wondering if anyone has heard of German manufacturers acquiring Dutch wool legitimately (i.e paying for it!) before the occupation of Holland in May 1940, i.e as an import. I had wondered about the rapid expansion of the Wehrmacht in 1939 / 40 and whether stocks of German made wool might have been supplemented with imports? That would allow the possibility of a tunic such as this being manufactured in 1939 and leaving a Depot early 1940 - just a thought.
There appears to be no history with the blouse but if the shoulder straps are original to it (impossible to say), Kavallerie Regiment 14 was dissolved in August 1939 (it's men being distributed among various Aufklarungs sub-units), but the staff (which might include some senior NCO's?) continued as a training and replacement battalion until December 1944.
The seller informed me that the collector he acquired it from stated that he had owned it since the 1970's.
The eagle is the light-grey on dark green type and is hand applied as expected I think for an M36 type?
Regards, Paul
Grateful for any thoughts.
On another note I was also wondering if anyone has heard of German manufacturers acquiring Dutch wool legitimately (i.e paying for it!) before the occupation of Holland in May 1940, i.e as an import. I had wondered about the rapid expansion of the Wehrmacht in 1939 / 40 and whether stocks of German made wool might have been supplemented with imports? That would allow the possibility of a tunic such as this being manufactured in 1939 and leaving a Depot early 1940 - just a thought.
There appears to be no history with the blouse but if the shoulder straps are original to it (impossible to say), Kavallerie Regiment 14 was dissolved in August 1939 (it's men being distributed among various Aufklarungs sub-units), but the staff (which might include some senior NCO's?) continued as a training and replacement battalion until December 1944.
The seller informed me that the collector he acquired it from stated that he had owned it since the 1970's.
The eagle is the light-grey on dark green type and is hand applied as expected I think for an M36 type?
Regards, Paul
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