Bundesluftwaffe Uniforms

[Gordon Craig]

When the Bundeswehr was formed in 1955 they adopted a short lived uniform that resembled the WWII black tank uniform more than a traditional German unfiorm. Bundesluftweff wore this uniform in blue. It lasted until new uniforms were introduced in 1957. This uniform is on its way to me so all I can post at this time is some photos of it that have been provided to me. I only have photos of the tunic so if anyone can post pictures of the pants and/or headgear I would appreciate it.

Regards,

Gordon

[Gordon Craig]

The makers label showing the date of manufacture.

[Gordon Craig]

The collar tabs. Typical enlisted man's tabs.

[Gordon Craig]

The shoulderboards. I,m going to stop here in the hopes that someone will post other parts of this particular uniform. I'll carry on with the 1957 issue uniforms next.

[Klaus1989]

Nice Luftwaffe Affenjacke!

I believe Heer uniforms were almost the same, only in light grey with different insignia of course. I have been looking for an Affenjacke since I started collecting West German and been unsuccessful.

regards,
Klaus

[Guardian 5]

Affenjacke c. 1958

Gordon - Here is a picture of a rather pensive airman wearing an Affenjacke at a 1958 Christmas party. (Picture from the Januar 1959 edition of Der Deutsche Soldat)

TJ

[Guardian 5]

Officer's version

Here is a another grainy shot of an Officer wearing an Affenjacke from the September 1958 edition of Der Deutscher Soldat.

TJ

[Gordon Craig]

Gents,

Thanks for the pictures etc. I guess no one has pants or a cap to post so tomorrow I will move onto posting my latest Bundesluftwaffe from the 60s tomorrow.

Regards,

Gordon

[Guardian 5]

Bundesluftwaffe Uniform c. October 1964

In anticipation of Gordon's next posting, here find a picture of a Bundesluftwaffe Airman posing with Mom and Dad in October 1964.

TJ

[Guardian 5]

Bundesluftwaffe Bandsmen

These undated photos depict a Bundesluftwaffe "oom-pa-pa" band performing at a civilian venue.

In the bottom photo, note the metal rank insignia pinned to the epaulette of the great coat.


TJ

[Guardian 5]

Bundesluftwaffe "crusher cap"

Here is a picture of a field grade officer Bundesluftwaffe hat that I purchased at the "flohmarkt" in Heidelberg.

TJ

[speedytop]

Hi Klaus,

"I believe Heer uniforms were almost the same, only in light grey with different insignia of course."

The first unform from 1955/1956 is in the same colour for Heer and Luftwaffe, light grey.
The differences:
Heer with metal badges for the branch of service, Luftwaffe no badge or collar tab.
Luftwaffe with cuff titles (wing).

The colours changed for Heer and Luftwaffe in February 1957, for the Luftwaffe from light grey (see Post 1-4) to bluish grey (see the cap in Post 11), for the Heer from light grey to medium grey for the jacket and dark grey for the trousers.
For the Luftwaffe the yellow collar tabs were added a few months later.

Regards
Uwe

[Gordon Craig]

Uwe,

Thanks for your input. I was always unsure about the colar tab introduction. My reference doesn't differentiate between the pictures of uniforms without collar tabs and those with. There obviously had to be a difference. Also good to know about the colur change for sure. Another unclear area for me.

Regards,

Gordon

[Gordon Craig]

Time to add the next uniform worn by the Bundesluftwaffe. It was a four pocket tunic much the same as that worn in the BW today and as Uwe has said, in blue. I just received this tunc this week from an auction on ebay.de. I was very surprised to find that it was quite different than what I had expected. I was expecting a standard issue tunic but what I got was a tailor made light weight summer uniform. The tunic has no makers label in it that I can find. It has the pointed shoulderboards of this period but they are of the T-shaped type as worn on white tunics so that they can be removed when the tunic is washed. The butons are also removable and held on by split rings. Other than the collar tabs, rank insignia on the shoulderboards, and the cuffbands, it would appear no other insignia of any type was previously attached to the tunic.

Regards,

Gordon

[Gordon Craig]

A closer view of the collar tabs and shoulderboards.