Designer combat jacket?

[Allan P.]

I have offered an Heer infantry combat jacket [no pictures yet unfortunately] made out of the material used to make the Italian poncho.

I know that caps were made from Italian camo' material, but is there any documented evidence that combat jackets were made from 'foreign' materials?

I appreciate that I haven't given you all much to go on, but any thoughts?

Thanks,

Allan

[Angel Farré]

I have seen trousers and tunics made from Italian material worn by members of the LW, Heer and Waffen SS, also from Hungarian camo, this here courtesy of Munich who shows a photo from his father wearing one tunic/parka made from this material.


Cheers

Angel

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Allan, the trouble is with all these tailormade/field made/ Non standard items is that they are very hard to date. If made with wartime materials and thread, they are nigh on impossible to say for certain when they were made? WW2 style Italian camo cloth was used post war and is a similar, but not identical pattern to that used during the war. There is also this pattern of cloth used post war by the Czechs for fur lined parka's.
It all really boils down to price and provenance? Personally, I would not buy one, as selling it on at a later date might proove difficult.
I can't recall seeing a Heer jacket made from this cloth, most tend to be Waffen SS from the LAH & HJ Divs. But I do not see why it could not have been done?
Hope that this helps?
Cheers, Ade.

[Frank Heukemes]

Dear Allan,

here is the picture of my father Angel is refering to. I talked to him recently about these customized uniforms made out of "foreign" camouflage material and this is what he said:

"I felt a need to have a field parka tailored of that Hungarian camouflage material, because we thought the German (Heer) camouflage pattern not good enough for the area we were fighting in (Russia at that time). The German colours were too light, we needed darker and different tones (Hungarian camo has dark auburn tones mixes with greens). I had many "slings" made of cloth sown onto especially the upper back of the parka to stick branches into those slings to make sure the clearly visible silhouette of the head was turned into bushwork."

My father also claimed he also had one made of Italian camo. He was not a member of the Waffen-SS, he was a Panzergrenadier in the Windhund Division (116th)

Cheers, Frank H.

[Ralph A]

AHA!

WindHund Division, eh? Then how do you explain THIS:

Are those Reich State secrets?

[Chris Boonzaier]

Guy on the right looks like a straight version of David hasselhoff.

[Rick Research]

That's Errol Flynn, Chris, getting papers from either David Niven or Frank's dad--


We told you he shoulda been in the movies, Frank!

My great-uncle Major USAR John Schwarz went for the same matinee idol mustache and "50 mission" crusher cap (rather odd, since he was in New Guinea in the QMC!), but I think he was aiming for the Clark Gable look. (His ears weren't that big, though).