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**Rev462** · 12-14-2007, 08:02 AM

Stonemint:

One other thing you can do is turn the sleeves inside-out and see if the sleeve lining has been opened and re-sewn shut. If so, you should be able to see evidence of this - old stitch holes, mismatched thread & stitching, perhaps loose bits of thread hanging around.

To my knowledge, officer collar tabs were not worn with wooly tunics as was sometimes done during WWII. (That's probably why officer tabs were put on your tunic - my "sturmed" tunic has the earlier, embroidered officer tabs.)

Matteo:

Unpiped wooly service tunics did exist into the early 70's. I have a genuine, Grenz non-career (i.e., wooly) NCO unpiped service tunic dated 1972 or 1973 (it's been a while since I've looked at it).

I would venture that the unpiped service tunic with French cuffs existed from about 1959 to 1974. I believe the unpiped service tunic with French cuffs replaced the WWII style, slit cuff wooly tunic in 1958/59. I don't think the slit cuff tunic was used beyond 1958. All unpiped tunics were eliminated after 1974 - officers & EM/NCO.

**iannima** · 12-14-2007, 08:53 AM

Originally posted by Rev462 View Post

Unpiped wooly service tunics did exist into the early 70's.
I would venture that the unpiped service tunic with French cuffs existed from about 1959 to 1974.

I have never seen an unpiped EM tunic in the flesh, indeed until fairly recently I did not even know that they existed. I therefore bow to superior knowledge, but my own reading of this thread
http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=202036
would be that these are pretty rare beasts produced in the early 1960s... Had they been produced for as long as you suggest, would they be as rare as everybody is saying they are?

**Rev462** · 12-14-2007, 07:14 PM

Matteo:

I had a look at my wooly, unpiped Grenz NCO tunic and it is dated 1972 ("B").

I agree that unpiped tunics should be much more plentiful since they were produced into the early 70's. I can think of a couple explanations for their scarcity. Either they were: 1) produced in smaller quantities than the piped tunics, or 2) they tended to be used until they were unusable.

I lean toward #2. Apart from the piped tunics, which are still rather easy to get, early enlisted stuff (say, pre-1972) is pretty rare. I mean, how many EM visor hats from 1966 - 1970 have you seen? How many EM trousers from 1966 - 1970 have you seen?

Not many, at least in my experience. To me this suggests that the stuff they wore on a regular basis - service tunics, trousers, hats, was all just beat to death. I think the piped tunics were worn in a pinch, or had the cuff bars removed for use as service tunics when unpiped tunics were unavailable.

**willie777** · 07-30-2008, 11:57 AM

I bought this tunic for $51 bearing in mind that this could be a modified one. Indeed it was. The sleeve lining was split open at the sides and the piping was removed from there. It does not look so good, so I will attempt to fix the spot where it was cut open and badge it up correctly and restore it or something, as it already is modified. This tunic was unissued, as the white tag in the inside chest pocket is still blank. What do you suggest I do with this? Add the white piping back to the cuff?

**Kartofelpreußer** · 07-30-2008, 04:39 PM

I would think adding the piping back would be cost-prohibitive to the value of the tunic, especially considering that what you will end up with is really no more original than what you have now.

Probably the best use at this point would be to badge/display as an admitted approximation/reproduction of an early 60's service tunic.

**grossmacht** · 07-30-2008, 07:28 PM

I can't tell from the posted pics if the cuffs had been re-sewn. If so, It leaves the question, by whom?
The sturn tunics i've seen, and even had in my possession all had the cloth collar tabs and repro buttons...maed to look as close to a WW2 Wehrmacht. As they are now purchasing real repros from Poland, and of course china, i don't think they are still in the doctoring market for early tunics...and it seems odd that there would be one with altered cuffs and the original pebbled buttons...which I guess if it were original DDR dark collar unpiped cuffs, they would be field grey?
I admit it is out of my expertise...but either way, it seems like an awful lot of effort to go through to convert it "half-assed" and even more effor to revert it back to who knows what. I know that lots of half-assing took place at sturm in the hey-day...perhaps this is a transitional sturm re-tailor...went through the effort to remove the cuff-piping, but ran out of repro buttons?
I'd leave it as is and use for display...remembering full well that it's of dubious origin...
-d

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