As someone with more than a passing interest in uniforms worn by the Wehrmachthelferinnenkorps I am always on the lookout for new items for my collection. Unfortunately female items are hard to come by. Part of that’s due to the fact most women either civilian clothing or because many of the so called “uniforms” were patterned on civilian designs, which were easily adapted to civilian use after the war. I was checking out the Kriegsende website which has a section devoted to female clothing (mostly civilian) and found the jacket which I will be discussing.
An article titled Bekleidung, Ausrüstung und Dienstgradabzeichen der Marinehelferinnen (Clothing, Equipment and Rank Insignia of Female Naval Auxiliaries) was published in the Deutsche Uniformen Zeitschrift dated 15 October, 1943 and described a new uniform for Marinehelferinnen (MH). Some of that description is provided below:
“Naval Female Auxiliaries stationed in the occupied eastern territories including Norway and Finland, were authorized duty clothing. The overcoat, jacket, skirt, and pants were medical-grey in color. As distinctive insignia they wore a blue cuff title with the inscription ‘Marinehelferin’ on the sleeves of their greatcoat and jacket.
The tailored jacket had an elongated look, no belt, was fastened by three buttons, had two diagonally cut pockets and a pocket on the interior right. The skirt was manufactured from the same material, had two front pleats and closed at the side. The pants also made from the same material, were cut like Norwegian ski pants with two side pockets.”
Here are some wartime pictures of the jackets. All the pictures I’ve located show the jackets with diagonally cut pockets, however most of the contemporary examples have pocket flaps. Most contemporary examples are also dark blue/black in color, whereas most wartime pictures appear to be a medical gray or green. Here are some pictures.
An article titled Bekleidung, Ausrüstung und Dienstgradabzeichen der Marinehelferinnen (Clothing, Equipment and Rank Insignia of Female Naval Auxiliaries) was published in the Deutsche Uniformen Zeitschrift dated 15 October, 1943 and described a new uniform for Marinehelferinnen (MH). Some of that description is provided below:
“Naval Female Auxiliaries stationed in the occupied eastern territories including Norway and Finland, were authorized duty clothing. The overcoat, jacket, skirt, and pants were medical-grey in color. As distinctive insignia they wore a blue cuff title with the inscription ‘Marinehelferin’ on the sleeves of their greatcoat and jacket.
The tailored jacket had an elongated look, no belt, was fastened by three buttons, had two diagonally cut pockets and a pocket on the interior right. The skirt was manufactured from the same material, had two front pleats and closed at the side. The pants also made from the same material, were cut like Norwegian ski pants with two side pockets.”
Here are some wartime pictures of the jackets. All the pictures I’ve located show the jackets with diagonally cut pockets, however most of the contemporary examples have pocket flaps. Most contemporary examples are also dark blue/black in color, whereas most wartime pictures appear to be a medical gray or green. Here are some pictures.
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