Gebirgsjäger Anorak

[Proud Kraut]

Going through our collection's storage, I came across this Parka in nearly mint contdition yesterday. I did some internet research and found out, that this Anorak was used by Mountain troops (Gebirgsjaeger).
General description: The Parka/Windbraker is made of very light material, I assume not (only) cotton . The breast pockets remind me of the U.S. M65 field jacket. The lower pockets have zippers. Double front zipper "OPTI". The label is stamped 2/80.
The liner was made 1978. It's similar to the liners in use today except of the missing pocket. The Parka's and the liner's label were marked by the former user "H...."
Does anybody know the exact designation and how long these were in uses? Any help is greatly appreciated. Some pictures:

[sammlermws]

I also have one of these parkas but I don't have the liner. I always thought it was just a type of rain jacket. Hopefully some photos pop up of them in use.

[Collectinsteve]

I also have one of these. This appears to have served as the model for the mid 1980s parka which then was replaced by the Flecktarn type.

You did very well to find both the jacket and the matching liner at all. The condition is excellent!

As far as I know the liners without the pocket were produced until about 1988. I'm not 100% sure of that.

Steve

[Gordon Craig]

Gentlemen,

I've scoured the internet but the only Gebirgsjaeger fotos I can find show flecktarn in wear. Nothing older than that. Schuster, on page 136, seems to show this jacket. He calls it "Feldjacke oliv" and you can imagine what turns up if you enter that term into google! Unfortunately, I am unable to add anything usful to this thread.

Regards,

Gordon

[Collectinsteve]

Hi Gordon,

I think this might have replaced the more WW2 type that was produced until early 1970s. You have an excellent example in your collection, if memory serves me correctly. I have pictures of these made in 1963 and 1973.

I have pictures of the jacket above showing a production date of 1976 and another 1986. So these were produced for at least 10 years, yet they are hard to find. This makes me think they were not used by the whole BW, but only a part of the BW. Otherwise we would see them all over the place.

In my collection somewhere I have a similar windproof type parka but I think it has buttons instead of snaps. At the very least it does not have exposed snap heads like the GJ type. I think the date is 1986 or 1988. It is almost the same design as the Flecktarn parka.

To me it seems that in 1986/1988 period the Bundeswehr decided to modify the GJ type to become the standard parka for everybody. That means a "shell" and a separate "liner" replaced the old cotton parka with the Teddyfutter.

Then this design was used as the basis for the Flecktarn type. Again, shell and liner.

Sound about right?

Steve

[Gordon Craig]

Steve,

You could be correct about these coats, like Lars posted, as being issued in limited numbers. Mine is dated 12/76. There is an earlier coats similar to this, page 130 of Schuster's book, which is labeled as "das 3.Modell wurde weiter vereinfacht" ("the 3rd Model has been further simplified") that appears in "BERGKAMERADEN IN UNIFORM". (This book was published in 1961 and is a gold mine of info on early BW GJ uniforms) The pictures shows three GJ wearing this 3rd model parka. Rather than limit its wear to GJ, perhaps it would have been issued to any Heer units that were stationed in areas cold enough for it to be needed. As you said, the BW possibly modified the GJ cold weather gear for all arms of the Heer. Al ot cheaper than designing new uniforms.
For your similar "windproof type parka" I would check the ones shown on page 130, and perhaps page 128 as well, of Schuster's book.
Here are pictures of my parka that is like the one Lars posted. I don't have a liner for my coat either.
When my coat of this type was shipped to me it was called a "Gebergsjaeger parka" but I have not seen any proof of its wear as such. I did come across a STURM ad, in Chinese yet, that called this coat a GJ one.

[Gordon Craig]

Steve,

The BW seemed to like to produce a number of different parkas. It is hard to identify a general purpose cold weather coat like this to use only by the GJ but it would be interesting if we could do that. As my parting shot, here is a long parka dated 12/87 (both liner and outer coat) so probably the last gasp before moving to flecktarn.
Perhaps someone else can add something about Lars coat and its possible used by BW GJ.

Regards,

Gordon

[Proud Kraut]

In contrast to the "Feldparka" the 1989's ZDv 37/10 lists this Anorak as "Feldanorak, Unterjacke (liner) zum Feldanorak" (No. 209) for members of the 1. Gebirgsdivision/Gebirgs- und Winterkampfschule. Interestingly the 1982's 37/10 designation is "Anorak, Unterjacke zum Anorak" (No. 208). So there seem to be at least two desigantions for the same piece of uniform.

[Gordon Craig]

Lars,

This is not the first time that ZDv 37/10 has raised doubts rather than solved the questions we have. I would say the the terminology in the 1989 issued of ZDv 37/10 clearly indicates this piece of clothing was designed for the GJ.

Regards,

Gordon

[Collectinsteve]

Steve,

The BW seemed to like to produce a number of different parkas. It is hard to identify a general purpose cold weather coat like this to use only by the GJ but it would be interesting if we could do that. As my parting shot, here is a long parka dated 12/87 (both liner and outer coat) so probably the last gasp before moving to flecktarn.
Perhaps someone else can add something about Lars coat and its possible used by BW GJ.

Regards,

Gordon

This one I can address because long ago I had one and someone pointed out to me what it was. I don't know who helped, but I still thank you

This parka is for government personnel guarding BW facilities, not BW personnel. They have similar clothing to BW, but it is distinctly their own. In fact, there's someone on eBay selling some dark gray parkas that are similar to the Flectkarn design that I have not seen before. I suspect the type is contemporary or recent issue, whereas what you have dates back to the 1960s (IIRC mine was 1963).

Steve

[Gordon Craig]

Steve,

Thanks for that comment. Schuster does have a long parka similar to this one that he says is "Für zivile Arbeiter" although the pockets on my parka are completely different. And there are more of them.
I am not sure that they were worn by people guarding BW facilities. More than likely by civilian employees of the BW who wore some type of uniform. The guarding of BW facilities was done by the Bundeswehr Wachdienst who wore grey uniforms. And for a few years before they were disbanded, blue uniforms. BW facilities are now guarded by private security guard firms or soldiers. That being said, almost anything is possible!
The grey parkas you have seen for sale were probably worn by the Wachdienst. That is about the only piece of Wachdienst uniform I do not have. If you have an auction url please pm me with it.
Thanks to Jens, I have a clothing list for the Wachdienst. I'll have to dig it out and see if a parka is included in the list.

Regards,

Gordon

[Collectinsteve]

Thanks Gordon! I might be confusing the old and more current organizations, but the point which was made to me is the parka with slash hand pockets is not BW issue for BW personnel. At least that is what I was told. I'll see if I can find the thread.

There were probably different models through the years, but mine was certainly from the 1960s. IIRC 1963, and it was the same as yours from what I remember.

Steve

[Collectinsteve]

I found the thread. Jens identified it as being "primarily" for civilian employees. The shell I had was 1976, the liner 1961. Since the liner would only fit this type of parka, the basic design (but perhaps not in detail) most likely dates back to 1961 at least.

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...ighlight=parka

Here is a thread that shows some examples of the Zivile Wache.

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=475028

Steve

[Asbjoern]

"Primarily" for sure. Meanwhile I learned that the long parka without nationals was also worn by submarine crews in combination with a special version of the olive green moleskin field dress!

Jens

[Gordon Craig]

Gentlemen,

More things to learn again! Thanks for posting the two links Steve. I never di get around to looking for the Dienstwache shirt. Must do that soon.
I am not surprised to hear that these zivile parkas were also worn by the BW in some instances. Realy interesting to me about them being worn in the submarines in conjunction with a special green moleskin uniform.
My parka is different than the parka you posted Steve in that there never were any flaps on the lower pockets. As I said before, the BW produced endless models of parkas. As with many other uniform articles. It will keep us collectors researching things for ever!

Regards,

Gordon