Opinions on this custom tailored Luftwaffe 4-pocket tunic

[K Bandow]

I would like opinions on this 4 pocket Luftwaffe tunic I got in a recent trade through the forum. The story behind it is that the guy who owned it prior to the collector I got it from had it since the early 1970's, and that is was custom tailored in the Netherlands during the war, thus the stitching style on the back. It definitely shows a lot of age, and had been altered at some point (looks like it was first made to look like a M43 style, but had been converted to look like a luftwaffe HBT 4 pocket with the pleated pockets. Also, the previous owner did add the trade badge to it FYI.
Any opinions gladly welcome!

[K Bandow]

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[NickG]

As the former owner of this piece let me explain what I know about it.
Its custom tailored in the style of a Luftwaffe Blue tropical uniform with fake French Cuffs, however its way more tailored, a more close fitting design (which you would expect from a Senior NCO) and has Luftwaffe blue wool zig zag reenforced (stiff) collar backing material, which you would never see on regular "off the rack" Luftwaffe blue cotton summer uniforms.
The dye has faded and the khaki base color is showing in certain areas and at one time it had its pocket reshaped/repositioned it appears.

The reason why I know that its a Dutch made piece is because it was found in a place called Wassenaar on or around 1973 and the Luftwaffe indeed had troops there (I googled it) with a huge communications bunker complex (130+ structures) called "Rijksdorp".
The complex was so big and advanced that later the Dutch Airforce occupied some of the structures in post war years.

The other clue that its Dutch made (it has no tags, no stamps) is the back panel of the uniform. Compare with this picture (of course again a senior NCO tunic).
The example below, owned by fellow WAF member Bergfuhrerkiser, is also a Dutch originating German uniform and has an identical back panel lay out.

The LW uniform is in its original unaltered "as found" condition BUT as Karl stated... I must confess that I did add the communications sleeve trade badge...
as communications were a big thing for LW in Holland. The Reichs air defence basically started in Holland...reporting all air activity heading for the Reich...

[NickG]

Here's a picture of this same uniform, showing its rank insignia when it was still in my possession.
Note the angled pocket corners which (besides the fake french cuffs) is a typical Luftwaffe style.

[NickG]

Missing in the earlier posts here's the shoulderstrap detail, a stabsfeldwebel (promoted from Oberfeldwebel, pips moved).
Besides officers usually only senior NCO's had the means and access to custom made uniforms,
partially to show their status (and to stand out).




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[phild]

Very nice and obviously a rare varient. I agree that this is Dutch made as the characteristics of their style of work is very evident. I would guess that collector's valuations of a tunic like this would be be all over the place, ranging from less than a "regular" private made version to about the same value and for some a fair deal more. I would think that it would be a nice to have example for an advanced LW uniform collector. Thanks for the post.

[NickG]

Very nice and obviously a rare varient. I agree that this is Dutch made as the characteristics of their style of work is very evident. I would guess that collector's valuations of a tunic like this would be be all over the place, ranging from less than a "regular" private made version to about the same value and for some a fair deal more. I would think that it would be a nice to have example for an advanced LW uniform collector. Thanks for the post.

I agree that a valuation would be hard and depend on what the buyer is willing to shell out to close a gap in his collection... Because of the Dutch history it would be a lot more attractive to a Dutch collector (even though it does not have a Dutch tailor label). One thing is for sure, foreign made LW tunics are extremely rare (a lot rarer than WH or KM).
I have only seen 2 other foreign tailored LW tunics on WAF, an Irish made 4 pocket "trikot" (fine wool) tunic belonging to a POW officer, made during his captivity and a Belgium made musicians 4 pocket wool tunic from Ghent. Both had foreign tailor labels and were close facsimiles of German made versions, but with slightly different pocket/flap shapes and materials, just like this light weight summer variant that started this thread. Even though it lacks a foreign tailor label, the back panel is a dead-give-away that its a Dutch made garment, which are always a lot more tailored than most German designs, including shoulder padding on Dutch made woolen uniforms.





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[PaulR]

I agree that a valuation would be hard and depend on what the buyer is willing to shell out to close a gap in his collection... Because of the Dutch history it would be a lot more attractive to a Dutch collector (even though it does not have a Dutch tailor label). One thing is for sure, foreign made LW tunics are extremely rare (a lot rarer than WH or KM).
I have only seen 2 other foreign tailored LW tunics on WAF, an Irish made 4 pocket "trikot" (fine wool) tunic belonging to a POW officer, made during his captivity and a Belgium made musicians 4 pocket wool tunic from Ghent. Both had foreign tailor labels and were close facsimiles of German made versions, but with slightly different pocket/flap shapes and materials, just like this light weight summer variant that started this thread. Even though it lacks a foreign tailor label, the back panel is a dead-give-away that its a Dutch made garment, which are always a lot more tailored than most German designs, including shoulder padding on Dutch made woolen uniforms..

Very interesting uniform. I feel good about it as well. While the workmanship is not that good, I do feel that it was made to be a working uniform. I do like it. Valuation on this item is tough, IMHO.