General's uniform

[Collectinsteve]

I finally got my first Dienstanzug for a general officer. Damned stupid expensive things! Still, it was cheaper than the hats go for these days

I wish I could identify who wore this particular uniform. I really want to put a ribbon bar on the chest and it would be nice to know what I should be looking for (as close as I can find). Unfortunately I don't think that will be possible unless someone has access to detailed senior staffing of Heeresampt in the 1960s. No date on the uniforms either, sad to say.

If anybody knows where I can get some gold buttons at a fair price, I'd appreciate it. I want to get the Weiß jacket looking better. Shoulder rank is, of course, also quite expensive, but there's usually a pair on eBay.

Thanks!

Steve

[markus]

Beautiful, I like it a lot.

I have never seen a white one though....

[petopoint]

veddy veddy nice

Exquisite, fantastic threads,

Peto at point

[Collectinsteve]

The white jackets are quite rare. I don't know when they were produced, but the design is identical to late 1950s and early 1960s Sandfarbe and Sommer (gray) jackets. Material is 100% cotton by the feel of it. Apparently collar insignia was not authorized, but if you're a general...

Steve

[speedytop]

Hi,

interesting, but the white jacket was worn without collar tabs (Apparently collar insignia was not authorized ...).
And I don't think, that a General would wear his white jacket with collar tabs.

Uwe

[Guardian 5]

Steve,

I have Reinhard Teuber's book that names all of the key Bundeswehr command personnel and the positions they held between the years 1955 - 1995.

Could you provide a specific Heeresampt that you think your patch represents? This will help narrow down the search.

All the best,
TJ

[Gordon Craig]

Guardian5,

The arm badge is for a school but I can not see enough of the badge to tell which one.

Steve,

Nice pair of tunics. A little the worse for wear but they should clean up nicely. Virtually no chance of getting the correct ribbon bar for this one without proven provenance of name.

Regards,

Gordon

[Collectinsteve]

Uwe,

If this did not come with the other jacket I would wonder if someone put the collar insignia on. They were also professionally sewn on. It's nearly impossible to see the stitching. The tailor did not sew through both layers of collar cloth, just the top piece. I've never seen that done before. Certainly far more difficult to do than sewing straight through. The collar badges are in matching condition to the jacket (some signs of age/use). More importantly, the jacket came from a private auction as a set with the other two pieces. I'm inclined to believe they are original to this jacket.

TJ,

That would be awesome if you could figure out who wore this! As Gordon correctly states, without identifying the previous owner there's little chance of getting the correct bar for it. Heck, even knowing what the bar should contain is going to be difficult to duplicate. This isn't going to be an Iron Cross, Wound, and Ostfront set

The badge is for the primary Heeresampt in Köln. This is the badge without any L or S designations or colored edges. I'm guessing 1963-1965 time period.

Thanks!

Steve

[Guardian 5]

Steve,

You may be in luck; check out the below scan from the Teuber book.

The other Heeresampt in Cologne was the Personalstammamt der Bundeswehr. From 1963 to 1966, the Amtschef was an Oberst.

This would make Brigadiers Selmayr and Seeliger your leading candidates.

Which one would be more likely to have a tailor in Schmidmulen?

All the best,
TJ

[Guardian 5]

Steve,

Another thought occured to me.

If my lead turns out to be a bust, don't forget the "57ers" sub-forum.

They are a very friendly and knowledgeable bunch, especially with regards to tracking down WH vets in the BW.

As for ribbon bars, they are definitely the "go to" guys.

All the best,
TJ

[Collectinsteve]

Hi TJ,

Thanks for the references! Well, I think BG Selmayr is the best candidate of the two if my hunch that these are early 1960s uniforms is correct. That and the only references I can find for BG Heinrich Seeliger is for a TR Luftwaffe Major who was a squadron commander during the Battle of Britain. Of course he might have switched to Heer at some point, I suppose.

Back to the lead suggestion...

Josef Selmayr's last position in WW2 was 1C for Army Group F (Balkans) with a rank of Oberstleutnant. He had three awards:

DKG
EK1
EK2

Add to this some sort of BW award to create a full width single row ribbon bar. Perfect fit for my tunic.

I'll check the 57er forum. I forgot there is one dedicated to this stuff!

Steve

[Collectinsteve]

I'm trying to work out Josef Selmayr's career. Here's what I have so far. Anybody have information to help me out here?

Born 7 July 1905, Died 11 Nov 2005

No information about his early career.

St. Gen. Kdo. XII. A.K., kdt. z. Gen. St. (U.NA7), Transportkommandantur Mainz D (3 Jan 1939 - ?)
Hauptmann, Kommandant des Transportbezirks

11. Panzer Division (19 June 1941 - 13 February 1942)
Major i.G., 1a (Operations)

31. Infantrie Division (14 Mar 1942 - 18 July 1943)
Major and Oberstleutnant i.G, 1a (Operations)
Awarded DKG on 28 July 1943

Generalstab der Heeresgruppe F ( 26 Aug 1943 - 25 Mar 1945?)
Oberstleutnant and Oberst i.G, 1a (Operations)

What confuses me here is that he is specifically listed as being a part of Abteilung Fremde Heere Ost (Gehlen's organization), but I don't see the connection between HG F and FHO.

Ended the war in American captivity, though I think he was actually captured by the Yugoslavs as they got a lot of the senior staff. There is also some post war testimony from him about FM Löhr's trial, which implies he was there and I'm not sure if the Americans would have let him out of their custody for the trial. Maybe the Americans got him as part of a deal?

He was sentenced to 15 years for War Crimes, probably because of his senior position in AG F, and spent the time under American control. In 1950 he was pardoned and entered service in Organisation Gehlen (not surprising), the forerunner to the BRD's intelligence service (Bundesnachrichtendienst).

In 1955 Selmayr joined the Bundeswehr with the rank of Brigadegeneral. He was the first Chef des ASBw (Amt für Sicherheit der Bundeswehr), which came under the overall command of Heeresampt Köln. He served in this post until 1964 when he retired. Possibly forced out.

Steve