Schneetarnanzug in the BW

[Gordon Craig]

Gentlemen,

This could be considered as part two of my thread on GJ snow camouflage which can be found here;
http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=783565

Snow camouflage clothing is not well covered in either Kunstwadl’s book (page 155 ) or Schuster’s book (page 133/134) so lets talk about it here.
Schuster mentions the first all white two piece suite worn by the BW and shows the pants. Kunstwadl has a picture of GJ from the 60s showing the white two piece suit in wear.
The next piece of snow camouflage tried was the white cape with pine needle green splotches on it. The cape was not effective and there are some comments on the web from ex BW troopers saying it was a pain in the a–s as it constantly got tangled.
The Poncho is not what you would totally expect from the name. The name Poncho probably comes from the fact it is a single piece of cloth that goes over the head. From the picture below you can see it is a rectangular piece of cloth. The hole for the head is not cut in the centre of this rectangle. This makes the piece of cloth that hangs down the back longer than the one in the front. The hood is permanently attached. There are a number of tapes sewn in various locations. There is one on the front and another one on the back that allow the front and back pieces to be tied together between the legs. On my poncho the tape on the back has a loop tied into it to make this task easier. The tapes on the sides allow the wearer to tie it around his body. There are “cuffs” on each side of the poncho that are elasticized. The only tape I can not find a use for is the tape sewn under the right “cuff”. Does anyone know what this tape was used for? (That is not me wearing the poncho!)

[Gordon Craig]

The makers markings on one edge of the poncho.

[Gordon Craig]

The poncho was short lived (shown on page 133 of Schuster’s book), although I have been unable to find out how long it was on issue. It was replaced by a two pieced suit. This two piece suite, referred to by Schuster as the first model, is pictured below and on page 133 of Schuster’s book. It is white with green pine needle splotches the same as was used on the poncho on one side and reversible to plain white on the other. It was held closed on the front with tabs and buttons. There is a large breast pocket, closed by a two buttoned flap, on both the white and the pine needle sides. There is a reversible hood affixed with buttons.

[Gordon Craig]

View #2 of this jacket.

[Gordon Craig]

Both sides of the hood.

[Gordon Craig]

The final pictures of this jacket. Notice the size tag at the neck. I don't know what sizes these jackets came in but WWII Wehrmacht snow camouflage came in sizes 1,2 and 3.

[Gordon Craig]

There was a second model of this reversible white/pine needle two piece suit. It was of the same basic cut but the jacket appears to have been slightly longer. It has a buttoned pocket on the front but is closed by a zipper instead of buttons. This is pictured on page 134 of Schuster’s book. I do not have one of these “second model” uniforms. There are lots of copies on ebay.de but I haven’t seen a real one yet. Perhaps some other forum member could add pictures of one from their collection. The one I have shown here is a copy from a camping store in Germany.
There were numerous problems with these camouflage uniforms. They soaked up water like a sponge and there are comments by ex BW members on line to confirm this. They got dirty quickly and needed to be washed often. This tended to change their colour to a darker shade of white through use and washing. The white bleached cotton the suits were made of was darker than the snow and in the mid UV sections was not an effective camouflage.

[Gordon Craig]

There were numerous problems with these camouflage uniforms. They soaked up water like a sponge and there are comments by ex BW members on line to confirm this. They got dirty quickly and needed to be washed often. This tended to change their colour to a darker shade of white. The white bleached cotton the suits were made of was darker than the snow and in the mid UV sections not effective camouflage.
These problems led to the design of a new all white two piece suite. This suite is pictured on page 134 of Schuster’s book and in some pictures below. It is made of paper-like material (polyethylene - spinning non-woven fabric). This type of material would probably not absorb the moisture as the previous suits had. I don't won one of these suits either and perhaps someone can post pictures of one from their collection.

[BWilhelm]

A nice write up Gordon. Thank you! I love the pattern but I'm not a fan of the garments that were made with it. Short, lacking useful pockets and ill fitting. They couldn't have screwed it up much worse if you ask me. They should have made something more along the lines of this:



I was out shoveling snow today with it on over top my Swedish M90 camo jacket. I can attest to the fact that Schneetarn cloth becomes very wet very fast.

A friend of mine was an officer in and retired from the Bundeswehr. He is another one who really liked the camouflage pattern but did not like the garments made from it.

[Gordon Craig]

BWilhelm

Thanks for your kind comments. Where did you get this scheentarnanzug from?

Regards,

Gordon

[BWilhelm]

It's a one off custom job. I posted it sometime back here:

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=749297

[Collectinsteve]

Great topic! There's usually not much to get excited about in terms of snow camouflage as it's usually just white cloth made into a simple oversuit. The Bundeswearh was one of the only countries to employ a reversible type with something other than white on the other side. Goes back to various garments made in WW2.

Gordon has hit on all the general issue uniforms. There are a few other trials pieces too, so I'll try and work them in all together:

1. Trials around 1960. For sure "palm leaf" and "broad splinter" reversible white were tested. Both patterns were the two black print screens of Splittertarn pattern tested in 1957. There might have been a third that was only white, but it's unclear if it existed.

2. First Modell 1962?-1966? Button fasteners with detachable hood. Reversible white/needles.

3. Second Modell 1967-2000s? Zipper front with snaps and attached hood. Reversible white/needles. Comes in at least two major colorations. with the darker one being the more recent type.

4. Cape early 1960s. There appears to be only one type, but they sure did make a lot of them. There was a surplus supplier a few years ago that was selling them in packs of 10 really cheap. Reversible white/needles.

5. Third Modell 2006?-present? Simplified version of the standard oversuit made from water resistant cloth. Solid white only.

6. "KSK" Modell 2000s-present. No similarity to the earlier designs in any meaningful way. It is a complex and very rugged design that appears to be intended for wear over thermal liners and not the standard uniform. Although it is called "KSK", and seems to have started out as such, there's a lot of them out there so I think at some point they were put into wider use. Solid white only.

7. Helmet cover 1980s? I forget the details about this, but it is a plastic type material with needles on one side. I don't remember if it reverses to white.

Gordon, to answer your question about BWilhem's smock, you can see details of his excellent work here:

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...ght=schneetarn

Steve

[Collectinsteve]

Oh, and then there is the US style reversible GJ parka. I guess that should count as snow camo even though the primary purpose was for warmth.

Steve

[Collectinsteve]

Here's some pics:

1. 1960 Trials:









2. 2nd Model:






3. KSK type:



And a related thread:

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...ght=schneetarn

Steve

[Gordon Craig]

BWilhelm,

Thanks for the link to your earlier thread. I must have missed it when it was posted.


Steve,

Thanks for your additions to the thread. Lots of things for me to look for!

Regards,

Gordon