Hi all! This tunic came to me just today and I don't know what to think about it. The tunic is standard field grey Ulanka with yellow piping and flight boards. The tunic history, came from the family, been in same collection since 1970 (no doubts to this). However several things confuse me.
1. This individual was a pilot, but started in Ulanen-Regt. Kaiser Alexander II von Rußland and then became a pilot in 1917. The piping colors for von Russland is red, yet this tunic has yellow piping. I know pipings came in different colors for "regiments": for aviation troops during the war, and some individuals kept their piping from their original units (von Richtofen being a prime example). This individual was wounded in 1917 and was relegated to desk duty for the remainder of the war. Could he have switched his piping yet retained his uhlan uniform?
2. This tunic looks like an EM tunic rather than officer. I know some guys wore EM tunics as a work tunic or combat tunic rather than their nice officer one. Was that standard? The depot marks are on the back of the tunic yet very faded. Was this a common practice for officers and field grey tunics from WW1 (my experience comes with German WW2 where anything was possible)
3. One board popped off so you can see the stitching, The boards look good to me, the piping is more vibrant than the lower parts of the tunic which could indicate wear or replacement later on.
I'm at a loss for this one. I don't know if the individual would have changed his piping after getting wounded, and kept his uhlan tunic rather than switching to the standard tunic in 1917. The story from the family is the tunic came from the deceased pilots wife in the late 60's/70's. The guy who had it was a huge enthusiast for WW1 aviation. There are photos with him and the pilot in the hospital, but no records of the tunic from the wife. I know the old adage, don't buy the story; but this story is pretty good. There would also be very little reason for the individual to fake the tunic and the story, especially in the 70's/80's. I'm just at a loss to why it is not officer quality, why the piping is yellow rather than red.
1. This individual was a pilot, but started in Ulanen-Regt. Kaiser Alexander II von Rußland and then became a pilot in 1917. The piping colors for von Russland is red, yet this tunic has yellow piping. I know pipings came in different colors for "regiments": for aviation troops during the war, and some individuals kept their piping from their original units (von Richtofen being a prime example). This individual was wounded in 1917 and was relegated to desk duty for the remainder of the war. Could he have switched his piping yet retained his uhlan uniform?
2. This tunic looks like an EM tunic rather than officer. I know some guys wore EM tunics as a work tunic or combat tunic rather than their nice officer one. Was that standard? The depot marks are on the back of the tunic yet very faded. Was this a common practice for officers and field grey tunics from WW1 (my experience comes with German WW2 where anything was possible)
3. One board popped off so you can see the stitching, The boards look good to me, the piping is more vibrant than the lower parts of the tunic which could indicate wear or replacement later on.
I'm at a loss for this one. I don't know if the individual would have changed his piping after getting wounded, and kept his uhlan tunic rather than switching to the standard tunic in 1917. The story from the family is the tunic came from the deceased pilots wife in the late 60's/70's. The guy who had it was a huge enthusiast for WW1 aviation. There are photos with him and the pilot in the hospital, but no records of the tunic from the wife. I know the old adage, don't buy the story; but this story is pretty good. There would also be very little reason for the individual to fake the tunic and the story, especially in the 70's/80's. I'm just at a loss to why it is not officer quality, why the piping is yellow rather than red.
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