Non Regulation Waffenrock

[Rob E.]

Great thread.

[wessel]

This is a Medic WR converted with poc kets and cuffs added. Unfortunately he also took off the blue piping at the front, although the inside edge has piping!

[Johnny R]

Removing the piping was according to the regulations, a lot of people left it on especially on the front lapels, probably as it looked like a RH piped service tunic.

[NickG]

That is an awesome conversion Wessel. Love the intact collar eding! Thanks for showing your pocket added example!

As shown with all these examples (surviving rocks and period pictures) regulations were not or partially adhered to, as Johnny also pointed out.
These prewar parade tunics were recycled for the most part as "best dress" on-leave uniforms and only towards war's end were stripped down versions reissued to 2nd rate units like Volkssturm/fighting HJ, who wore whatever they could get their hands on! (combat used Waffenrocks)


http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...ght=waffenrock


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[billbert]

The time for the asphalt soldier parades was long over...time to put it to use... Billbert

[NickG]

A prewar (apparently unaltered) waffenrock from 1938 sold recently on Estand and had besides the 1938 date also a war-time RBNr stamp added...
so ot went throgh some kind of mod!

I think it was possibly altered for war time use (less bling) but my hunch is that it was post war restored to its prewar condition (1938) .
Sorry I did not keep an image of the waffenrock, maybe the buyer can chime in? but this is what the war time stamp looked like!

[bradcancian]

I might be diverting this thread slightly, but how common were converted waffenrocks? Do many people have these in their collections? I have two in my collection (one done extremely well, the other less so), and it looks like there were plenty more conversions done as the war wore on...

[rove]

maybe

interesting?

[Johnny R]

That is an early issue 4 pocket tunic, you can tell by the angle of the lapel at the top.

[CWP]

Here is one that I got yesterday. I really like these and see them only rarely. The collar tabs and breast eagle have been replaced but I still went for this one because of the rarity. The NCO Tresse is original to it, the EKII ribbon probably added in my opinion. I believe that this is actually a late-war conversion, the wool fabric used for the factory replacement collar and cuffs is what I would call typical for 1943 and later. All piping has been removed, the silver buttons have been replaced with field gray buttons. This started life in 1936 as an issue Waffenrock. I paid $600 for this which I think is a fair market price considering the insignia restoration.

[CWP]

The collar is a standard factory collar but with a wool underside as often seen on M44 tunics, I would guess that this conversion dates to around 1944. It looks like it might have had backed collar tabs on it at one time, possibly sewn on by the NCO who wore it; I would guess the factory would have supplied this with unbacked tabs like those it has now. It is also possible that the large tab ghosts could be evidence of foreign voluteer tabs or some other kind of different collar tab. To me it is tantalizing to wonder if this uniform was issued for Volkssturm use.

[CWP]

The bridles for the shoulder straps may be restored, I'm not sure. The inside of the added French cuffs shows the striped lining material from 1936 with extensions made of typical late-war artificial silk.

[CWP]

Markings inside including a unit stamp for a Panzer regiment.

[CWP]

The front closure buttons are the Bakelite type. There is no way to know if these were sewn on before or after 1945, they are obviously not the only buttons to have been on this jacket as it would originally have had silver buttons. I really enjoy the period portraits in this thread showing conversions in wear and I would love to have one to display with this item, I will be keeping an eye out for any offered for sale.