White collar liner

[WWIIBuff]

Hi all,

I have questions regarding the collar insert or liner that I see many officers wearing. First of all, what are these called? Secondly what were they made of? Were there different types? When were they worn, for dress only, or also in the field? Were they strictly used by NCO or officer ranks? Did some soldiers wear a white dress shirt instead? And lastly, has anyone ever seen these become available or is their a place to get repro ones to display on my tunics?

Thanks
John Klein

[WWIIBuff]

White collar liner

Back to the top. Hoping for answers.

John

[J Melvin]

John, I do not know the German for them. We call them collar binds. They were worn by all ranks. They simply button into the collar of the tunic. I think that there may have been a stiff version. But, there are also cloth versions. They really are simply meant to keep the tunic from chaffing the neck. Look at the post on collar binds and you will see a source for them in the US.

[Dave Suter]

It was called a Wäschenkragen. The ones I have are made of some kind of plastic-like material, although I don't know exactly what it is. NCOs & privates could wear them with private-purchase tunics. There were a couple of other types of collar lines that were made of cloth but they look different. Shirts were worn with the field blouse, although this was against regulations.

[CSP]

John:
There is another thread on this Forum - same topic pretty much. I have always thought they were called kragenbinde...but like many German terms, there were probably several that may have varied based on the different uniforms. I am most familiar with ones made of cotton...stiff or very soft depending on formaility of the uniform (waffenrocks used a stiff collar - interestingly enough almost exactly like I wore with my Cadet uniform when I was at West Point). The softer kind usually are a combination of dark green and white.
I am traveling right now, so cannot scan either.

[CBSPERRY]

I have one on my Oberst Smoke troop Uniform and as these very knowledgeable folks above me have stated mine is also a very stiff cotton. I will try to post detailed photos as well.

Chris