New Police Tunic

[W.Unland]

Hello,

Just arrived and thought I would share. What is it you say?

Hard to photograph with a flash to show the "mottled" color.

[W.Unland]

NO....nothing connected to the dark side or TENO or any of the other "police lite" branches

It is typical M36 and is NOT post war or East German.

[W.Unland]

It's a Gendermerie officer's summer mottled tunic with removable insignia. All the bullion just doesn't wash well, so a real summer use tunic converted from an enlisted grade issue tunic.

Some might say such a thing did not exist, but you know those wool tunics get pretty hot, and even officers need something they can wash the sweat out of without destroying their insignia.

[W.Unland]

To be honest, the insignia was restored by me based on best evidence of original use.
All buttons match, are war time maker marked, and are original to the tunic.

My somewhat "controversial" mottled officer eagle's background is a spot on match for the tunic.

This photo shows the "true" color of the tunic best. More "green" than some other "mottled" cotton tunics I have seen.

Regards,
W.Unland

[old siagon]

Hello my friend,

I love it! This is by far one of the coolest Police tunics I have seen in some time. Very very rare!!!

Well done!
Vince Leone

[Gerd W.]

Very rare and VERY nice; congrats

[SCHUPO]

Bill,

One will also find SS insignia with snaps and screw posts so they are removable. Nice tunic.

[Richard P]

Very attractive tunic, superb restoration tastefully done. Congratulations,

Richard

[billbert]

Nicely done...Billbert

[sonderverband]

That's a beauty! There's a "dark side" TENO police tunic on German ebay right now. These are pretty tough to find from what it says.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...STRK:MESELX:IT

Keep on keepin' on - Earl

[W.Unland]

The "dark side" was a cryptic reference to the SS, which some dealers and collectors are trying to turn the civil police into an auxiliary of to jack up the price of civil police relics. TENO on the other hand was an organization in it's own right which served a legitimate safety related function (unlike the SS) and I only mentioned them in the same sentence as the SS because they both used square collar tabs sometimes applied with snaps.

Yes that tunic is nice and has been discussed on the forum, unfortunately as a civil POLICE collector it is a bit out of my area of interest.

Regards,
W.Unland

[Dave C.]

Bill,

Excellent job on restoration and I do appreciate your orange taste!

[dblmed]

A Very Special Late War Gendarmerie Tunic!

CONGRATS Bill(!)

What A Very Special Late War Gendarmerie Tunic!
You really put it together RIGHT! You have the GIFT....

(Instead of a career as an Officer of the Law - you may have missed your true
calling as a Schneidermeister! Just think of ALL of the neat items which might
have come your way? - instead of Policing Watts & Willowbrook & the Gay Pride Parade!

I think that you 'coined' a great term with the "POLICE LITE" - for the legitimate
Polizei Auxiliary Organizations! It fits just right, IMO. ...Best, Dave/dblmed

[JoeW]

Bill, that is a h ell of a neat tunic. Accolades to you on the restoration.

[RobertE]

A very interesting tunic, Bill. The snaps make sense to me, and your restoration is nice. As far as the mottled officers sleeve eagle, I own one of these and continue to believe they are good, pre-1945 birds. A perfect match!

regards, Robert