DAK Feldgendarmie sleeve eagle and boards ID help

[Dave Wyatt]

I picked these up in a vet lot I purchased last Friday. I was curious to know the boards ranks and what the piping is for on each. Also, if the sleeve eagle is DAK Feldgendarmie? Thanks for any help!

[Dave Wyatt]

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[Dave Wyatt]

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[Dave Wyatt]

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[W.Unland]

The orange piping is Gendarmerie, rank is low grade NCO. Green piping is Schutzpolizei. Board on the left is a Meister, or warrant officer. These boards are civil police. The army FG would have used army boards

The eagles are a bit problematic. There is NO civil police regulation specifying a tan backed eagle. What is the true color? Are they faded green cotton, gray, or tan? I cant really tell on my monitor as they look tan. If really tan, they should therefore of necessity be tropical army feldgendarmerie. Orange was used by the army FG as well as the civil Gend.

If the eagles are faded green they could have been used on the green cotton twill work tunic, if gray I have no idea.

W.Unland

[Dave Wyatt]

Thank you very much for your explanation! Here is the lot they came with......

[Dave Wyatt]

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[W.Unland]

Well the group is certainly convincing and a typical vet group, and I would say all is good.

Can you clarify the eagle's background color?

I forgot to add the Schutzpolizei were the big city and riot police and the Gendarmerie the rural police if you are not familiar with the terms. The oval shape of the eagles suggest that they are pre 1941 if that helps.

Bill Unland

[John T]

Wonderful tropical eagles Dave!

[W.Unland]

After some research I found that A "tropical" tunic " to follow the pattern of the SS tunic" was authorized in 1943 for use by the Ordnungspolizei in specific areas including southern Italy, at least according to Deuster. Based on that, these brown backed gendarmerie Eagles are a possibility. All of the photos that I have seen of cops wearing tan have shown green backed standard Eagles, but I cannot discount that these might have been produced.

My reading of the regulations is confusing. There is a section in 1937 specifically banning brown backed Eagles, but the 1943 regs authorizing a tan uniform, which I assume also means a tan backed eagle.

If these are good, they are the first I have ever seen.

But again, on my monitor I just can't tell if they are tan or faded green. The original poster hasn't clarified, and my eyes can't tell. That green backed cotton shoulder board has color shifted, not faded, to almost the same shade. If made with the same dye the Eagles could have originally been green.

It would really solve a mystery for me if I could tell the actual color. I would like them to be tan, as that would confirm such an insignias actual existence.

W.Unland

[John T]

HI Bill,

That is very interesting. The eagles that Dave has and another eagle that I obtained came out of two different woodwork lots. I do not think they are faded from another color as they are in the same shade of brown/tan. I had speculated that they were worn in Italy or the Balkans and that would conform with what you have mentioned above.

John

[MarcoPennisi]

After some research I found that A "tropical" tunic " to follow the pattern of the SS tunic" was authorized in 1943 for use by the Ordnungspolizei in specific areas including southern Italy, at least according to Deuster. [...] My reading of the regulations is confusing. There is a section in 1937 specifically banning brown backed Eagles, but the 1943 regs authorizing a tan uniform, which I assume also means a tan backed eagle. [...] It would really solve a mystery for me if I could tell the actual color. I would like them to be tan, as that would confirm such an insignias actual existence.

W.Unland

Police field units in tropical dress actually wore Waffen-SS Sahariana-style tropical blouses (both early and late variation). No Ordnungspolizei served in Southern Italy , Deuster writing Italy alone. I even doubt that German cops in this country donned any tropical clothing . AFAIK period pics of policemen in tropical clothes are related to Greece/Yugoslavia and, yes, show sleeve esagles with a dark colored (green) backing.
The (May) 1937 ban of the sleeve eagles you mention refers to the mottled-olive tunic of Gendaremerie-Bereitschaften (AKA Strassenpolizei). In fact the introductory order for this garment didn't even mention a national emblem on the sleeve. This short-lived uniform shouldn't be confused with tropical clothing.
A "tropical quality" Army Feldgendarmerie sleeve eagle might be conjectured.
I agree the actual color of the backing should be positively determined.
MP

[vonStubben]

Polizei items are not my speciality, & this is just a shot in the dark, but could they be oatmeal colored for use on a drillich tunic?

[W.Unland]

Police field units in tropical dress actually wore Waffen-SS Sahariana-style tropical blouses (both early and late variation). No Ordnungspolizei served in Southern Italy , Deuster writing Italy alone. I even doubt that German cops in this country donned any tropical clothing . AFAIK period pics of policemen in tropical clothes are related to Greece/Yugoslavia and, yes, show sleeve esagles with a dark colored (green) backing.
The (May) 1937 ban of the sleeve eagles you mention refers to the mottled-olive tunic of Gendaremerie-Bereitschaften (AKA Strassenpolizei). In fact the introductory order for this garment didn't even mention a national emblem on the sleeve. This short-lived uniform shouldn't be confused with tropical clothing.
A "tropical quality" Army Feldgendarmerie sleeve eagle might be conjectured.
I agree the actual color of the backing should be positively determined.
MP

Thank you so much. I can always count on you to catch any small, meaningless errors that I make, such as Italy vs south Italy.........

And yes I was aware that the 1937 order was regarding the SA colored tunics. I only mentioned it because those are the only two mentions of an off colored brown/tan sleeve eagle that I could find.

The insignia in question appear to be light green/grey to me in larger photos. Possible use.......unknown.

Again, the construction of these seems good. If a fake a good one. Color is odd. I have another grey backed eagle on cotton of a different pattern in green, so OrPo not Army. I have speculated that it was used on a shirt rather than a tunic, but grey shirts????? Whom if anybody wore grey shirts in the Ordnungspolizeipolizei?
I have no clue.

If these are all fake then I give up. It is henceforth impossible to determine originality any longer based on pattern and construction.......


But thanks again I do stand corrected.

[germanpolice]

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