Wartime or Post-War Sahariana?

[Andrew.L]

I've searched the web for any information about the differences between wartime and post-war Saharianas, but was unable to come to a conclusion regarding this tunic that I recently acquired.
When I first picked it up, I expected it to simply be a mislabeled Spanish Sahariana, but after a few minutes of inspection, I noticed that the buttons were of the same type and material as those used by the Italians, two button cuff closure, and a pointed rear collar typical of Italian uniforms.

I found two orange stamps on the inside of the tunic, one rectangular stamp marked with a large S and 1957, as well as another number that was illegible, on the rear pleat there was a small 3. The tunic does not show any evidence of ever having insignia or shoulder boards, or even the buttons to permit shoulder boards. There is no fading to speak of; the backs of the pocket flaps are the same shade as the rest. The only issues I could find were two missing buttons, a few rust stains, and heavy set creases that one could expect from long term storage.

According to one article, the S on the stamp indicates that the jacket was meant for use by the Italian army policing Somalia, which from what I understand could mean that it was re-issued from wartime stocks. Is there any way to figure out whether it was manufactured during or after the war?

Front

Rear

Cuff

Rear Detail

Front Detail

Inside

Button

Stamp


Any help with figuring this one out is appreciated.

[NickG]

Is that a thrift store price tag? You probably stole it! You are right 1000% Italian. Good score! and it looks promising to me.

Sometimes the date stamps can throw people off and the garment could actually be older than what the stamp reads.
I have a war time Italian Naval tan tropical jumper and pants also with later orange date stamps (in my case 1946), reissued or rather "re-inventoried" and stamped, using unissued war time stocks. Could be the case here.

Can't answer 100% if its war time nor do I know why their are no shoulder strap provisions...perhaps removed? but as you wrote no evidence of that....
Could be Italian police re-issue not needing them maybe? I have no idea but I like your sahariana!

[Andrew.L]

I bought it from a lovely little surplus store in PA, only $24.
When I asked the store owner about it, he said he got it from a man in Italy in the 80's and said that it was re-issued. I'm not sure why he wasnt asking more for it, as he seemed to know a decent amount about the things he was selling.

[Ardire]

Nice! I'm jealous!

[tankredi]

It's one of these "misterious sahariane".
The word is that they were produced during ww2 for the navy but never issued and stocked away. After ww2, in the 50ies, some of them were issued to the Carabinieri for the Somalia UN peace keeping mission.
Still, this is not confirmed.
Nobody really knows what these sahariane are all about but many collectors over here consider them as post ww2 and don't want them in their collection.