March 1941 dated, LW para splinter pattern step-in smock!

[Philippe]

Hello All,

Below for your enjoyment a very rare "bird" a March 1941 dated
Luftwaffe para splinter pattern step-in smock.



Click here to see more photos of this early splinter pattern para smock..

Happy collecting!


Philippe
www.majorplm.com

[John Hodgin]

Thanks Philippe!

Jump smocks are my favorite Fj clothing to see and discuss. NICE! Splinter step in smocks in decent condition are very rare.

Regards,
John

[Willi Z.]

Great Philippe!!! A superb piece!! Like John, I think nice early smocks my favorite.

Willi

[SMP]

.... FANTASTIC !

Great photos Philippe. Are you the same Philippe who put together the French book on WW2 German helmets ?

Regards
Steve.

[Philippe]

March 1941 dated, LW para splinter pattern step-in smock!

Hello John, Willi and Steve,

Thanks for your interest.

BTW, just curious about this M.40 splinter pattern step-in smock, how many survived and are in collections today ?



Yes Steve, I'm the author of the book.






Happy collecting!


Philippe
www.majorplm.com

[John Hodgin]

Hi Philippe,

IMO, splinter step in jump smocks are more rare than green smocks (with pockets). Eric's pocketless M-38 illustrated in Peters "Rgt.3" is an exception; pocketless smocks are extremely rare. During my collecting 'histroy' I've had four splinter M-40's that were still in step in configuration (only one at a time), plus one that was converted to snap/button up. Have seen perhaps three others that were still step ins, including yours. These that I mention are jump smocks that are in good to excellent+ condition. There are some "relics" out there (faded, torn, snaps rusted out, etc.), but these don't count, as they have little value because of their poor condition.

Regards,
John

[John Hodgin]

Additional Info.

Hi again Philippe,

Those four M-40 splinter step in jump smocks were all made in 1940. Three were dated 12-40 and one was dated 11-40. A friend has another one dated 10-40, it's the earliest I've seen in splinter pattern..

Regards,
John

[John Hodgin]

a little more....

Dear Philippe,

Three of the four splinter M-40's were made by Schultz, the other was a Hubert like yours.

Early on Hubert put it's markings in the snap facing like yours, later they changed to the proper place on the upper left pocket lining. Early R. Hubert jump smocks were made from greun/gold meliert. Schultz's smocks, IME, were not. Here is a breast eagle from an early Hubert jump smock.

I can't quite tell from your photos, but your Hubert smock appears to be standard green twill, and not geun/gold meliert; is this the case?

Regards,
John

[John Hodgin]

a correction...

Was posting from work before and forgot that this smock was made by Hubert. Therefore the break down is even, two Schultz and two Hubert. This Hubert was dated 11-40 and is not melieren material.

Regards,
John

[John Hodgin]

eagle

Here is the above smock's breast eagle, sewn on with dark brown thread. It was an interesting smock. Would ask for detail photos but I don't know who owns it now.

From this smock, and (I think) Philippe's, it's clear that Hubert was using both plain green and melieren materials. Willi, have you seen both materials used by other makers?
JH

[John Hodgin]

again....

Eagle

[SMP]

Hi John, Willi, Philippe etc,

Can someone tell me which smocks had the small, vertical breast pleats that are found about half way down from the upper pockets. I have them on my Hubert smock and a friend has them on his cut down green smock, but none of my other smocks have them.

Regards

Steve

[John Hodgin]

Chest pleats

Hi Steve,

All M-40 step ins (that I've seen) have the pleats you mentioned. M-38's do not have them, nor does the first, double zipp model. Pleats were, of course, omitted again on the final pattern, so they are unique to M-40 jump smocks. You can see pleat beside the eagle on the last photo I posted.

Best,
John

[SMP]

Thanks John,
......so whats the difference between an M38 and an M40 ?

Always learning

Regards

Steve

[John Hodgin]

Hi again Steve,

Was away from the computer all day.

What's the difference between M-38 and M-40 jump smocks?

M-38's were all made without pockets. However, most surviving M-38's had pockets added post manufacture. At first pockets were added without any guidelines as seen in the photos of RK winners after Eben Emael. When M-38s received the standard configuration of four pockets with zipper flaps, as Willi's in the Kurtz book, this pocket alteration was professionaly done by the manufacturers. This was also the case with conversions to snap/button up; in both cases these are "factory recalls." Neither was "field" done.

M-40's were the first to be manufactured with pockets. In addition, they have the small relief zipper beside the base of the long zipper. M-38's do not have this relief zipper. Then there is the pleat you mentioned on M-40's. This allowed the smock's chest area to expand when the gas mask bag was worn underneath the smock.

How's that?
Best,
John