Need help identifying some items

[Collectinsteve]

Hi all,

I have a few items that have been nagging at me to figure out what they are.

First, a lightweight polyester Luftwaffe officer's jacket. It's so lightweight that you can see through it if you hold it opened up to a light source. I'm guessing it is from the 1960s based on the double cuffs. It's apparently a private purchase item as there isn't the standard BW tag but instead a tailor's tag. Anybody seen something like this? I'd love to get the trousers, despite the massive body oder that came with this thing (I'm going to break down and dry clean it sometime).

Sorry about the bad lighting, but even with good lighting it looks like the standard jacket.



Next, a M43 cap in blue with Edelweiß on the side. I got this along with a bunch of other Polizei caps, but the seller (who is a Polizei dealer) couldn't tell me where it came from. My guess is Baden-Württemburg, but that's only because it's the one uniform in my collection that has similar cloth and B-W has mountainous areas. If it is B-W, any idea when it was in use?





Last is a beautiful, unissued high quality green wool uniform. I purchased matching hat, jacket, trousers, and overcoat together. The dates I could find were 1956. Based on the color I would guess it to be Schleswig-Holstein Polizei, but friends of mine on the S-H Polizei force (and fellow collectors) don't think it is. The 1950s timeframe is a big unknown for me so I can't do anything more than guess.



Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Steve

[Asbjoern]

A fellow collector was very lucky last year as he discovered a lightweight LH officers tunic beside other stuff I sent him ... he told me that up to that time he only knew such kind of tunic from a catalogue of the Kleiderkasse Koblenz printed in the early 60ies where it was offered for sale for "Selbsteinkleider" (=for private purchase). So this kind of tunic may be a rare item ...

The GJ cap looks like a standart BW officers M43 stile cap with ethe crossed sword insignia missing. Worn between 1956 and the early 60ies these caps where issued to all branches: Heer in dark grey, LW in bluegrey and Marine in blue...


Regards,

Jens

[Collectinsteve]

Hello Jens,

Thanks for the information about the LW jacket. That reinforces my guesses "Diolen" is the manufacturer of my jacket. The tag states 45% "Schurwolle", with the 55% probably being polyester. It has armpit pads to absorb sweat. As I mentioned below, they stink very badly!

I have two of the early BW M43 hats (one officer, one enlisted). The only similarity to the mystery hat is the overall style. Other than that they are very different. Cloth, construction, etc. are very different.

The material is similar to the fine, thin poly/wool blend blue material used in the 1970s and 1980s LW uniforms. But there are two problems with thinking the hat to be LW. First, LW doesn't have mountain units Second, it doesn't match the materials used on LW uniforms and other headgear of the 1950s and 1960s (I have several LW Schirmmütze and Ausgehen hats from that period) when the M43s were standard issue.

I know that 1980s BW GJ wore a charcoal gray M43 hat, but the color is obviously different. The closest match I've found is mid 1970s B-W Polizei, but the colors aren't an exact match and usually there is a Polizei emblem displayed at the peak. The hat is definitely BRD manufacture.

Which brings me back to not knowing where this hat came from

Steve

[Asbjoern]

Diolen is not the manufacturer...Diolen is the product name for a syntetic fabric often used in the 60ies.

The hat is really strange... my thought depends on the colour visible in the pictures ...

Regards,

Jens

[Klaus1989]

I would think trousers for Lw uniform are probably normal uniform trousers and not special summer ones. I had 1960s Bahnpolizei summer tunic that was same material and would think trousers that thin strange.

When is hat dated? If mid1960s or earlier, is possible to be Lw officer Dienstmütze that someone added Edelweiß before your dealer had it. Certain not Baden-Württemberg Polizei, because they wore grey-green uniforms, not blue. Only Niedersachsen and Berlin and Wasserschutzpolizei units wore blue, so I think something is wrong on hat.

Polizei tunic is possibly early Bremen Polizei. They have tunic like that and shoulderboards for lower ranks are removable (most Landespolizeien are not). The split cuffs and belt hook holes are different, but maybe earlier or Bepo feature. Schleswig-Holstein has internal lower pockets, not pleated, so that is why your friends say it is not SH.

Here is later example of Bremen Landespolizei tunic:
http://stephan.de/php/de_neuesfenste...0349e2b9b908e7

regards
Klaus

[Collectinsteve]

Thanks for the information about the label, Jens. Good to know!

Here is a comparative shot of 1970 dated Baden-Württemburg hat, the mystery hat (on left), and a 1956 dated BW hat (on right). You can see that the mystery hat is a lot newer looking in terms of construction and presentation. I'd guess it is from the mid 1960s to early 1980s. I've tried to correct the colors as best I can.

Klaus, I do believe the blue B-W uniform is Wasserpolizei (or whatever they called it back then). I have a fully badged tunic and trousers as well as the hat. The material for all three is the same, the material of the mystery hat is a little different color but the same type. Even if the Edelweiß was added by a dealer in error, that still doesn't explain what the hat is. Therefore, for now I will assume the Edelweiß is supposed to be there.

Good point about the LW trousers likely being the standard issue. That makes a lot of sense in terms of the functionality. I still would not like to wear those trousers on a hot summer's day during a parade!

Thanks again for the interest in solving these mysteries!

Steve

[Collectinsteve]

Klaus,

Bremen is a good guess for my unmarked Polizei uniform, especially since it was made in Hannover. I know manufacturing location is not a good indicator, but in the 1950s I imagine purchases were made as locally as possible. Just a guess on that

My Bremen uniform has sewn in rank, not button on. But it is a much later issue, so that doesn't mean anything.

Thanks,

Steve

[Asbjoern]

O.k. - this is clearly not darkgrey... I have to search my harddisk at home for some pictures of a LW officers cap...

Jens

[Geller]

help identify please!

- post war M43 style
- dark grey a little bit blue with dark green trim
- made by Alkero

[Collectinsteve]

Forest service? At least the colors are consistent with their uniforms from what I can remember.

Steve

[Geller]

yeah,
the green trim used for "Forstmütze" and "Forstdienst-Mütze"

it's an early version maybe . . .

thank you!