SS Hitlerjugend U-boot jacket

[Winterkampf]

Hello guys,


I have a question about the leather U-boot jackets that whore the 12Th SS panzerdivision Hitlerjugend.

Did all the jackets have SS Panzer shoulder straps when they where in traning/combat?, on most of the photo's I have seen they have shoulderstraps. Was it a regulation by the SS? or did they it personel to look better on the tank?

[Jody]

Panzer leather

Hello guys,


I have a question about the leather U-boot jackets that whore the 12Th SS panzerdivision Hitlerjugend.

Did all the jackets have SS Panzer shoulder straps when they where in traning/combat?, on most of the photo's I have seen they have shoulderstraps. Was it a regulation by the SS? or did they it personel to look better on the tank?

Hello,
Not all of the leather jackets had shoulder straps. I have seen many photos in books were they are absent.

Get a copy of the book Panzers in Normandy Then and Now and you will see what I mean.

Regards,
Jody

[Panzer Rob]

Hello guys,


I have a question about the leather U-boot jackets that whore the 12Th SS panzerdivision Hitlerjugend.

Did all the jackets have SS Panzer shoulder straps when they where in traning/combat?, on most of the photo's I have seen they have shoulderstraps. Was it a regulation by the SS? or did they it personel to look better on the tank?

If you study period photographs of the Hitlerjugend in books such as H.Meyer's "The History of the 12.SS Panzer Division," "Panzers and the Battle of Normandy" etc. you will see that the leather jackets being worn by the majority of the HJ Panzer crewmembers are in fact not U-Boot style leather wrappers, but appear to be more like a standard cut field tunic, with square pockets and straight cut, button-up fronts. I remember reading that these jackets were either made from leather stocks acquired in Italy or were actually Italian made jackets - I can't remember for sure - it's too early and I've only had one cup of coffee

In fact, period photographs of the leather U-boot wrap being worn by any Panzer crewmembers are quite rare. I have seen maybe half a dozen or so, and most of those are not Waffen-SS but Wehrmacht Panzer crewmembers (a couple shots of RK holder Horst Hain in his black leather wrapper come to mind). There's no doubt that both the Waffen-SS and Wehrmacht panzer crews wore them, but just not to the extent that most people believe.

If anyone has images of Waffen-SS Panzer crew in the black leather U-boot wrap I'd love to see them

Rob

[max12ss]

please....show me where are the regular army cut leather uniforms..??? Soldiers of the 12.SS HJ... All wear U-boot style jackets...


http://galerie.kvhwest.com/displayim...album=21&pos=9

http://galerie.kvhwest.com/displayim...album=21&pos=4

http://galerie.kvhwest.com/displayim...lbum=22&pos=53

http://galerie.kvhwest.com/displayim...lbum=22&pos=60

[NickG]

If anyone has images of Waffen-SS Panzer crew in the black leather U-boot wrap I'd love to see them

Rob

Note Kriegsmarine Anchor buttons on leather coat sleeve cuff!

[Fritz]

My two cents...

It was not only the HJ that received these Marine suits but also (at least) the LAH during the normandy campaign and a number of other units thereafter.

Straps were added on either unit level or because of personal taste (like with coveralls etc.). As it has been said here they were worn with and without straps.

To my knowledge the story behind it is that they were introduced on the request of an ss officer (Max Wünsche?) as a fire protection and since the Marine didn't have use for their large stocks they were transfered to the armoured units and were quite popular among the crews of armoured vehicles.

Cheers

Fritz

[Fritz]

In fact, period photographs of the leather U-boot wrap being worn by any Panzer crewmembers are quite rare. I have seen maybe half a dozen or so, and most of those are not Waffen-SS but Wehrmacht Panzer crewmembers (a couple shots of RK holder Horst Hain in his black leather wrapper come to mind). There's no doubt that both the Waffen-SS and Wehrmacht panzer crews wore them, but just not to the extent that most people believe.

There are a number of photographs and they sum up to far more than 6. These suits were rather widespread among the armoured units from midd 1944 on, you can mostly find the black variant on photos but also the grey one, which is somewhat scarce. And yes, Heer-Units did wear them too.

Cheers

Fritz

[stonemint]

I had an unissued one w/o straps, and had pebble-finish buttons, with no sign of ever having had KM buttons or other types. It also had no KM markings for that matter, either. It now resides in a prominent collection here in AZ.

[billmunny]

U Boat Leathers

Yup, these KM leather sets were intended for the Italians, but when the Italians switched sides, they were never reassigned back to the KM. LAH, HJ tankers and motorcycle dispatch riders and others commandeered them for use in field combat beginning with the Normandy battles, and they were personalized according to taste with pebbled buttons, shoulderboards, medals, etc.

Peiper wore famously such a jacket, and after the war wore his KM-cum-tanker U boat leather jacket minus its insignia around his home and property before his untimely murder.

[max12ss]

yes....italian story...

these two types are in my collection...

http://www.kvhwest.com/index.php?id=kozenak