Infantry Piped Tunic of Oberst Julius Büchert

[DonC]

Hi All -

I just picked up this tunic about ten days ago from a forum member and finally got a positive ID on him. That saga is on the Individual Research and OOB Forum. A friend finally deciphered the name inside (God, I hate Sütterlin script!) and gave me Oberst Julius Büchert, a career military officer whose career peaked in 1938 as the Kommandant of Mannheim. His unit, 13. IR, fought in Poland and I suspect that Büchert either was badly shot up or fell ill as he was never promoted past Oberst yet was still on the rolls in May, 1944, although at a classification (S)that was more often reserved for retread officers. His career apparently effectively ended in 1939 or 1940. The tunic is a little salty, but has tons of character. I post a few scans here for your viewing. First, one with all the gew-gaws...

Don

[DonC]

Next, an unadorned shot. There was a 1/2 inch oblong hole in the fabric where some genius had torn out a ribbon bar loop and took the fabric with it. I tried to repair it as well as I could...

[DonC]

The "business end"...

[GELIS44]

tunic!!!

SOOOO SWEET!!!!


Nate

[Marc Garlasco]

Oh, that is freaking GORGEOUS! The Germans sure were snazzy dressers! i wonder what happened to them? My cousins all mix green and purple and brown and generally look frumpy. Sad to see such a well-dressed nation fall like that! Marc

[Chet Sowersby]

Sharp!

Chet

[DonC]

Thanks, all - It is just as much fun getting an ID on one of these tunics as it is to get the tunic itself sometimes, and I am reminded of how many truly nice people are in our little hobby when I ask for help!

Don