Abraham?

[Dave Kane]

Why delete..why not just close so others can read?

Anyway, I was following with interest and found that the Oberst. was promoted to Gen. rank in June of '43....of interest is the tailor lable dated March of '43..

Didn't he have a hint that he was in line for promotion and if so why purchase at this level?

Worth discussion...

[phild]

Why delete..why not just close so others can read?

Anyway, I was following with interest and found that the Oberst. was promoted to Gen. rank in June of '43....of interest is the tailor lable dated March of '43..

Didn't he have a hint that he was in line for promotion and if so why purchase at this level?

Worth discussion...

I'm with you concerning the deleting of the thread.

As to the tunic, it is interesting speculation as to why he would have bought this grade of tunic. My thoughts are (without knowing his exact and specific history timeline of evacuation from Stalingrad) is that he bought this tunic as a stop gap while having better tunics made up to replace lost uniforms or perhaps just excessive weight loss!

This tunic was/is IMO an "off the rack" low cost officers tunic as evidenced by the ink stamp chest size on the inside label and overall quality. This type of tunic would be one step up from an issue tunic that could be purchased from the unit supply and officer converted, in other words a daily wearer for field or range type wear.

Keep in mind that labeled tunics do not always mean "tailor" made, but rather more simply who made them...tailored custom or otherwise.

There could be a number reasons that he elected not to spend money and upgrade the insignia on this one to Generals rank....one being that he may just not have liked wearing it as far as fit and comfort.

I will also say that I have seen a few late war officer tunics (similar to this one actually) that had award loops made like this one. That is thin, thight and straight as opposed to the thicker braided "loop" shaped loops.

On the onese that I have seen in person, these type loops are plenty strong to hold awards even a DK.

[NTZ]

So another words he went out and bought a tunic (which even in this quality was a lot of money) wore it for a few months then basically discarded it to his closet? He also looks to have never worn it with his awards too. Abraham from photos looked to be a very thin and frail man leaning on the tall side. It would be interesting to see the size of this tunic.

[CWP]

I absolutely agree with phild, trying to guess why Abraham bought this tunic and then did not upgrade it is just speculation. We can't know that he knew he was going to be promoted when he was. I'm not sure how the clothing allowance worked for Heer officers, but I would imagine this clothing allowance was increased on promotion to General and perhaps Abraham simply elected to get a new uniform rather than continue to wear this off-the-rack tunic. I can think of a lot of reasons why Abraham would not have upgraded this tunic but again it is just speculation. I will also add that as collectors we always assume that replaced insignia was replaced after 1945 and this is not always true. Evidence indicates that insignia and sometimes even lining components were removed for cleaning of uniforms and then re-sewn. This is one likely reason why groupings associated with Wehrmacht officers often include multiple unused pieces of insignia (tabs and boards).

[phild]

So another words he went out and bought a tunic (which even in this quality was a lot of money) wore it for a few months then basically discarded it to his closet? He also looks to have never worn it with his awards too. Abraham from photos looked to be a very thin and frail man leaning on the tall side. It would be interesting to see the size of this tunic.

I have not done the exact math, but the chest size is 98 cm which I believe would be around a U.S. 38 inches (more or less), this seems to be a common or very average size for the period and profession.

My GUESS is that he lost or had to trash most of what had with him up to his evac from Stalingrad. Maybe he had a few tunics left back at home as "better dress that still fitted him or sort of fitted him, who knows. He needed a quick buy daily wearer while he was waiting for better tunics to be made...which may have taken a couple of weeks...I am not pretending that I know for sure these are just logical guesses.

I do agree that this tunic does not show signs of extensive wear and certainly not combat use...which is consistant with his sevice assignments during this period. Hard to say if the tunic about the extent of award mounting "days" as judged by loop wear. Let's say that he had this tunic for 90 days based on the window presented. Even if he wore it for half of those "duty days" say about 35 or 40 times (days)...I see no reson that it would show more loop wear than it does. Also keep in mind that a lot of KC bearers did not bother to wear the DK every day as it was big and many thought it gaudy.