Afrika cuff band on sleeve opinion

[Tim O'Keefe]

Hi Paul

Thanks for the added pics. Also thanks Willi for adding the photo of pic of Hauptmann Sandrock of the HG Div wearing the HG ct on the right & the Afrika ct on the left sleeve.

Here are a couple of my AKCT's. The top one is in great condition but never worn. The lower one is a tunic removed example. You can see the wear to the tunic worn example both on the outside & inside of the jacket arm. Little bit of apples & oranges but the difference in wear is easy to see....

with kind regards
Tim

[PaulW]

Hi Tim, nice pair of contrasting bands, looks like the worn one has seen some action.

With regard to the fliegerbluse above, it is of course a walking out tunic. There is a minimal sign of wear on the collar edge, the interior of the collar is minty, probably due to a collar liner of course. There is little sign of anything other than truly minimal wear to the interior lining.

The lack of an RB number (introduced in 1942) and the mix of rayon (introduced 1942), and cotton lining material would I would think date the blouse to 1942. The earliest the Afrika band could have been worn is (according to the WAF's own Afrika band section):-

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/camp...nstitution.htm

(realistically) from May 1943, possibly later (some were slow to be received, the section above shows a Wehrpass with a January 1944 issue date), therefore it's quite possible (IMHO) that the blouse pre-dates the band in terms of wear. The same may apply to the HG NCO band if the wearer wore the blouse as an Obergefreiter, with the standard EM band. Mike Davis was of the opinion that there may have been another band there previously. Under those circumstances you would expect less wear on the bands than the blouse itself, though even that is splitting hairs with what looks like a minimally worn 'best blue' (sorry for the RAF term) walking out tunic. Looking at the fliegerbluse in hand, again, I see more wear on the inside than the outside of the cuff-bands, about what I would expect under the circumstances noted above (a minimally worn non-combat tunic).

As mentioned and shown on the other thread, to my eye, the interior partial machine stitching attaching the bands matches the thread (under magnification) used in the construction of the blouse in terms of type and age.

Best regards, Paul

[PaulW]

Adding some reference pics relating to Post 10 (HG soldier with "Afrika" armelband, awarded after service in another unit and transferring into the HG, in this particular case.)

[PaulW]

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HG soldier with Afrika band

Hi, on the subject of HG troops wearing Afrika bands I was trawling through WAF (as you do!) and found this thread from 3 years ago:-

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...7&highlight=HG

showing a Hermann Goring Obergefreiter wearing a late-war Luftwaffe M43 tunic with an Afrika band. As Willi says in the above thread, these tunics were seen in Italy and the Eastern Front from the Fall (Autumn) of 1944 to the end of the war.

I've added the picture, it is of course credited to the WAF member "Gran Sasso" collection.

Stunning picture!

Regards, Paul