WL M40 trousers vs. WH M36 trousers

[Zip3120]

Hi mates
I have a nice pair of M36 trousers for the Heere and a nice pair of M40 trousers for the Luftwaffe.
They are very similar to each other!
We can differentiate them only by the color, which is actually very similar, we can only see in a day light a soft shade of blue in LW trousers.

My question is:
can we find, with an accurate examination, other significant differences between the two?
liner, marking position etc?

Marco

[Glenn McInnes]

Wool color or LBA stamps are the only way I could ever tell.







Glenn

[GAMS1]

The LW one is the lower one i woulsd say ? More blue grey than grey !
I agree , markings are not the same also , including the positioning on the other side .
Nick

[Zip3120]

Hi mates
thanks you for your answers.

The LW one is the lower one i woulsd say ? More blue grey than grey !
I agree , markings are not the same also , including the positioning on the other side .
Nick

Hi Nick
yes the LW one are the lower.
Please could you exactly explain to me which are the difference between the H and LW
markings? different position? font style? different description of sizes?
Please are these differences always present or only sometimes present?
ciao

[Zip3120]

Hi mates

which are the difference between the H and LW
markings? different position? font style? different description of sizes?
Please are these differences always present or only sometimes present?
ciao

Please can anybody answers to my questions?


Marco

[phild]

Please can anybody answers to my questions?


Marco

The position is different. H stamps are generally on the right (as worn) side waist band lining and LW are generally on the wearers left side of sometimes left center rear waist band.

H stamps will normally include a one or two letter city abbreviation followed by two digit date. LW will not be marked this fashion, but will usually have a LBA followed by an abbrev and 2 digit date.

Often lining material and buttons will be different between H and LW trousers and really once you personally see a few examples of each color, you will no longer even come close to mistaking them.

[Zip3120]

The position is different. H stamps are generally on the right (as worn) side waist band lining and LW are generally on the wearers left side of sometimes left center rear waist band.

H stamps will normally include a one or two letter city abbreviation followed by two digit date. LW will not be marked this fashion, but will usually have a LBA followed by an abbrev and 2 digit date.

Often lining material and buttons will be different between H and LW trousers and really once you personally see a few examples of each color, you will no longer even come close to mistaking them.

Hi Phild
thanks for your answers.
Please are these statements always present in LW pants?
I started this thread because I have two trousers that differ only by a slight color of shades. One is a little more bluish as you can see in the previous photos.
I always thought that the little darker pair was LW, but now I doubt that they are really LW pants.
The marking are clearly Heere type for their position... buttons and liner are like the heere type...
Please which are your opinions? Are they really LW?

[Zip3120]

Hi Phild
thanks for your answers.
Please are these statements always present in LW pants?
I started this thread because I have two trousers that differ only by a slight color of shades. One is a little more bluish as you can see in the previous photos.
I always thought that the little darker pair was LW, but now I doubt that they are really LW pants.
The marking are clearly Heere type for their position... buttons and liner are like the heere type...
Please which are your opinions? Are they really LW?

Please can anybody answers to my questions?


Marco

[phild]

I'm sorry that I will not be able to give a definitive answer on these, maybe someone can and will.

My problem with a positive ID is as follows:

1. The exact color shade is difficult to judge, so based on what I think that I see these could be in the range for Heer (Stone Gray) LW or perhaps even Red Cross (the German organization of that service)

2. The trousers look to me to be period originals, but the markings or stampings are not typical of Heer or LW in either location placement (possible for Heer) or more to the point their composition and content. In addition in my experience to have a four digit date stamped in a Heer or LW pair of trousers is very unusual...as I never recall seeing it.

3. To me the balance of all details that I think that I see on these trousers lead me to believe that the are NOT LW. Most LW trousers I see from this early period (for example) have composition buttons for the braces not stamped metal......LW uniforms form this period were finished out nicer than most issue Heer items. I could look at fly buttons and how or if the leg hems are lined to get more information.

4. What is left is either Red Cross or a pair of Army trousers that did not get processed through a depot .......for some reason and were size stamped and sold out of the supply system by the maker(?) or some other scenario.



Sometimes we run into things in this hobby that we can not fully account for.

Someone may have run into this type of item marked this way and have the answer........

[Zip3120]

2. The trousers look to me to be period originals, but the markings or stampings are not typical of Heer or LW in either location placement (possible for Heer) or more to the point their composition and content. In addition in my experience to have a four digit date stamped in a Heer or LW pair of trousers is very unusual...as I never recall seeing it.

Hi phild
many thanks for your reply.
I too think is very difficult to say if they are H or LW... however a friend of mine have a nice original LW M43 trousers with a four digit date stamped.

[phild]

That's a good point. I do see the 4 digit dates used in some LW items and I think (on reflection) that I have seen it used before in LW trousers.