Unusual Tunic

[Johnny R]

[NickG]

Nick,

I think its just the shadow with the way the light is coming into the photo. With his arm up a bit it tends to cause the boards to buckle a bit. That said, who knows? I have seen stranger combinations on German uniforms, why not SS boards, perhaps he liked the black underlay and the way it makes the waffenfarbe pop. Those crazy officers.

Matt

Lets ignore the Santa riding a unicorn BS

Yeah I like that explanation...
A white waffenfarbe on a white tunic kind of blends, gets lost ... The black edge is darker than the blackened shadow below it.
So a black underlay makes the white infantry farbe stand out more Who knows?
Btw this is what the tunic looked like unmodified! (with stand up Austrian collar and no buttons on the pocket flaps!)

[jacquesf]

Nick, I will give it to you. It seems the waffenfarbe on his collar tabs are black as well. Maybe a pionier. The positioning of the eagle is really interesting.J

[Johnny R]

Santa on a unicorn is right up there with most of your observations and thoughts on German uniforms. Why can't anything ever just be a normal officer tunic or a modified prewar tunic worn by a normal line officer. This picture without all the fantasy is interesting enough in itself to not have to make up bizarre unfounded delusional stories about SS officers.

[Kengir]

I'm more just at a loss as to Johnny having a picture of Santa riding a unicorn at his fingertips without so much a pause!

-Jeremy

[NickG]

Nick, I will give it to you. It seems the waffenfarbe on his collar tabs are black as well. Maybe a pionier. The positioning of the eagle is really interesting.J

Yeah maybe that is all that were staring at...just black engineers farbe and the white is actually
just the edge of the silver braid...makes sense with the collar tabs branch farbe too.
Maybe he is simply an Austrian gebirgspioniere, but without wearing a sleeve edelweiss.
Killer image with a neat converted tunic! Case closed.

PS: it's interesting that SS officers wearing Heer officers shoulderboards is a common occurrence
and a fully accepted and a period documented practice, but the other way around is considered unicorns and Santa Clause territory...? Tailors supply and customer preference can lead to all kinds of combinations...even breast eagles mounted below the pocket flaps...

[Hans Kristian]

. . . .

...:d:d ..lol....

[Hans Kristian]

Nick, I will give it to you. It seems the waffenfarbe on his collar tabs are black as well. Maybe a pionier. The positioning of the eagle is really interesting.J

Waffenfarbe could be dark blue..

[Johnny R]

Austrians wore their rank on the collar and these were issued with and without plain shoulder boards sewn in like this.

The image you posted is for an officer (pilot) and was not worn with shoulder boards.

The boards in Tim's image look to be thin cloth (like the tunic, hence your "kink") and I suspect are not German but part of the prewar issue jacket.

The one in Tim's image is light white/oatmeal but some were grey green as well. These were the same pattern as the WWI summer tunics and were made long after WWI and were worn for the entire War (WWII).

http://www.austro-hungarian-army.co.uk/infunif.htm

[NickG]

The one in Tim's image is light white/oatmeal but some were grey green as well. These were the same pattern as the WWI summer tunics and were made long after WWI and were worn for the entire War (WWII).
[[/url]

Good contribution, much better than unicorns and Santas!!
Yes a WW1 design stemming from the Austro-Hungarian period...white or oatmeal...varying colors for sure existed...
This one is definitely not white! and retains its stand up collar but pushed down.
No buttons added to the pocket flaps either...only a high sitting BeVo chest eagle and shoulderboards were added!