Early S A Brownshirt

[Bob Coleman]

THIS BROWNSHIRT BEARS THE EARLIEST FORM OF INSIGNIA WORN BY S A MEN CIRCA 1931/32. AT THE TIME, THE MEMBERSHIP WAS NOT LARGE ENOUGH TO ESTABLISH STANDARTES. THE UNIT NUMBER REFERS TO A GAUSTURME. tHEREFORE, THE COLLAR TAB REFLECTS THE 7TH STURM OF GAUSTURM 9. THE BLACK COLLAR TAB WITH YELLOW NUMBERS, GOLD BUTTON AND YELLOW AND BLACK COLLAR PIPING INDICATES THIS UNIT WAS LOCATED IN HANNOVER-OST. NOTE THE ABSENCE OF A SHOULDER STRAP. THE SHOULDER STRAP WAS INTRODUCED IN THE FIRST PATTERN UNIFORM OF 1933

[Bob Coleman]

Unit Tab

[Bob Coleman]

Unit Tab With Truppfuhrer Rank Tab

[luftwaffe blue]

Lovely shirt Bob, what was the significance if any in the SA with only having the one shoulder strap after 1933?

[Bob Coleman]

Single Shoulder Straps Served The Purpose Of Retaining The Cross Strap As Well As Designating An Area Of Rank. The Single Shoulder Strap Was Utilized Not Only By The S A, But Also Political Leaders(who Wore One On Their Brown Sirt And Two On Their Tunic), N S K K, N S F K And The Allgemeine Ss And On The Black Uniforms Of The Ss-vt And The Ss Totenkopfverbund. The Political Leaders Dropped The Shoulder Strap Completely In 1934 With The Inception Fo Their 2nd Pattern Insignia. The S A Changed To Paired Shoulder Straps On Their Tunics Only With The 1939 Insignia Change As Did The N S F K. The N S K K Continued To Wear Single Shoulder Straps Throughout The War Period Except For Some Of The Militarized Units.

[Bob Hritz]

Bob is correct in that the single strap was for the control of a cross=strap.

Also, Hitler was an Austian and copied the single shoulder board design from the Austrian tunics of a better era.

The earliest have no shoulder board, at all, as the uniforms were locally acquired and there was no need for exotic rank structures other than the collar tab ranks. The ability for the shoulder board to hold the cross-strap in place made it more difficult, in the early years, for a physical opponant to swing you around by your strap and make fighting more difficult by having a strap interfering with arm movement.

In modern days, the cross-strap has been all but abandoned, with the exception of dress and parade uniforms. Most unfortunate is the man who is being swung around by someone who grabs his cross-strap from front or rear.

Bob Hritz

[laurens]

What a great shirt this is!! Thanks for sharing this 'early bird' Bob.

This is indeed an early shirt of Gausturm Hannover-Ost, but the 9 on the collar tab is for the 9th Standarte, that was a part of this Gausturm since 1931 (in Bereich der SA Gruppe Nord).


Best,

Laurens

[Bob Coleman]

LAURENS-
THANK YOU FOR THE CORRECT INFORMATION