Kriegsmarine Brown Uniform study

[NickG]

Here's something (out of my collection) that you don't see to often...
A Kriegsmarine so-called "Brown" jacket (or "brown uniform" and often accidently mistaken for tropical...)
These tunics were intended for officers and senior NCO's as a informal garment or for work/office wear, replacing the more formal blue uniform and Angolia calls these "the Brown jacket of the Blue uniform"!
This particular one, executed in tan HBT material, was recently found in Tuscany Italy, completely stripped with added civilian buttons, now brought back to life!
Its an interesting piece, as it has flapless bottom pockets usually associated with the earlier style, the "stand-up collar" version.
This 2nd pattern is usually encountered with flaps on the skirt pockets... (matching the breast pockets).

[NickG]

side view

Side view. Note fake French cuffs!
These KM "Brown uniforms" (a casual substitute for the blue uniform "reefer tunic") sometimes came in HBT as shown,
but more often in cotton and even very nice ribbed corduroy (with matching corduroy pants which I also own...see post 10)
and the "brown jacket" came with the typical KM armpit area ventilation holes, as also seen on KM tropical tunics...
another reason to confuse the two styles!

[NickG]

close up

close up

[NickG]

RBNr

stamp: RBNr
Yes RB#s were also used for Kriegsmarine contracts (late war?)

[NickG]

comparison

Here's a comparison, an early first model (NOT MINE! a dealer offer), note early stand up collar!
Its manufactured in the exact same HBT material as my 2nd model, but like I wrote earlier
these uniforms came in various fabric materials!

[NickG]

proof

Here's proof that these uniforms (even in cheap HBT quality material) were still intended for officer use (and Senior NCOs)!
Stamped ("form" = style): "Offz. jacken" (Officer jacket)

[Trance_Eyes]

Hey Nick,

cheers for sharing mate... Have been getting bang into the KM side of things lately and with the help of KM-Spain and yourself have been learning greatly.

Keep it coming as i really do appreciate the information ::

[NickG]

period image

Period image shipboard!! Here a Senior NCO wearing a brown uniform tunic of the more common cotton variety (so not HBT obviously)
According to Angolia-Schlicht's KM book vol.1, these brown jackets (or uniforms) were originally intended for "officer cadets"
but starting 1939 also allowed for officers and senior NCO's. The jacket was permitted for wear at barracks and headquarters, so basically land based duty (work attire, like in office settings) SEE PERIOD IMAGE POST 12,
but, as the below picture proves, definetely also worn shipboard as well.
So used as informal wear, substituting the (more formal) blue uniform, along with blue cap and no doubt blue trousers even!
Hence Angolia's description (in his KM book Vol. 1) "the brown jacket of the blue uniform"

[NickG]

confusing

These so-called "brown uniforms" (which came in cotton, ribbed corduroy and HBT as illustrated with 2 examples) are obviously really tan in color and therefor often confused with KM tropical uniforms...AS DEPICTED BELOW... now I'm straying a little bit...

Standard KM tropical uniforms (exception tailor made for officers) had belt hooks (koppelhaken), that's a good way to tell the difference! + the removable buttons with "S" rings, also standard with tropical uniforms!
Here's an example of such a tropical KM uniform out of my collection. Its an entirely different animal all together compared with the "brown" jacket and certainly not limited to officers (shown here...)
Of interest is the tropical KM breast eagle (in lieu of the metal pin breast eagle) in the extremely hard to find blue variety,
you'll find Heer DAK eagles a lot easier and even those are getting impossible and pricey!!)

[NickG]

mannequin

Here's a mannequin with tropical kit (belt is an unofficial French conversion)

[NickG]

still straying

Here's an example of an enlisted tropical KM uniform out of my collection with coastal artillery insignia + the more common yellow BeVo tropical KM breast eagle!

[NickG]

Hey Nick,

cheers for sharing mate... Have been getting bang into the KM side of things lately and with the help of KM-Spain and yourself have been learning greatly.

Keep it coming as i really do appreciate the information ::

Thanks for the thumbs up trans-eyes!
All that field-grey has a tendency to get boring after a while... so I thought lets put a thread together of a different color!!!

Lets end my collaboration to this thread with one final period image of the "brown uniform" in an office setting, as intended
(here a senior NCO, note blue uniform shoulderboards!)
and again not to be confused with KM tropical uniforms also shown on this thread (again out of my collection),
shown for comparison purposes!
Hope this was educational.

Any other examples out there? Brown uniform? or even KM tropical?
KM-Spain perhaps?

[km-spain]

Hi Nick, very interesting thread. I’m sorry but I can not show you any item here, the tropical and brown Km uniforms are my forgotten collection area, and I only have two pith helmets and a shirt (and about this one I’m not 100% sure).

The tunic from the first posts is not from the brown uniform IMO, the brown officer and NCO tunic were the same as the white ones but in brown, and these drill tunics were used as work/duty garments. Anyway I have never seen this model, or the other with the stand-up collar, in use by the KM. Almost all the KM stuff were marked with the depot control stamps, but any of this tunics have that stamps, so are we sure that these were used by the KM personnel, not me.

Nick, IMO the eagle of your tropical tunic is not a KM one, I think that this kind of eagle, blue over tan, is from the Heer and not the navy.

[NickG]

Thanks for your input! I agree its puzzling to see a poor quality hbt uniform tagged as "offiziers jacke" but tags don't lie... its not a mistake... its for officer use! Maybe these are Kriegsmarine cadet (officer candidate) work uniforms?
I am confident that its an officer's related KM piece. I believe that enlisted work uniforms (in hbt) usually only have bottom pockets... are more simple in design...but I do agree that an officers brown uniform one would expect to see made in cotton or ribbed corduroy... better materials...its a puzzling piece, but I like it!

Regarding the tropical breast eagle blue on tan, its 100% tropical kriegsmarine and the rolled edging is typical for KM manufactured eagles. If you know Kriegsmarine you'll know what I mean. This eagle is actually depicted in Angolia's KM book volume 1, but yellow on tan, but in the text it states that these were also manufactured in blue on tan (my example). Its 100% kriegsmarine and accurate for this tunic.

Thanks for your opinion and responding to my thread!!

Nick

[km-spain]

Nick your right in most of your comments.

These tunics, I have seen 2 or 3, are tagged as officier jackets, but are we sure that they were used by the KM?, I don't know but I never have seen a period picture of them in use and any of the pieces that I have seen had the KM depot stamp, so .

About the eagle I understand what you mean, and could be also used in a KM tunic but is very unusual and not authorized, but I have seen many rare things along these years. Some time ago I bought a Heer General tropical tunic for a friend, and when I received it, the tunic was a navy EM tropical jackect with the KM depot stamp. The auction house told me that this jackect came directly from the daughter of the man, so almost everything is possible during a war.

We are always learning .