Leather Greatcoat

[Tom M]

Hello Fellas.

Bought this Private indirectly from a German Vet. The story goes he bought this in Austria in 44'. I know the sceptcism surrounding leather coats but I have a feeling with this one. The quality in the hide is top notch and construction is consistent with the period. Penny for your thoughts?

I can take more pics if you require them.

[Tom M]

...

[phild]

I will try and avoid a long dissertation on leather overcoats but, they seem to be an area of real misunderstanding.

The coat that is pictured is absolutly a civilian origin leather coat of a pattern that was produced before,during (very little due to leather restrictions) and after WWII.

While it is true that there are some existing photos of German Military officers wearing civilian style leather overcoats while in uniform, this practice was not "official" or conforming with prescribed regulations and therefore I believe very rare and of a temporary nature.

Leather overcoats authorized for military wear followed in pattern and color very closely with the standard military cloth versions.
In general this means that they had two rows of six buttons each, spaced as their cloth counterpart, two flaped hip height side pockets, turn back cuffs (real and "faux") usually a half belt with two button (somtimes this was omitted on these) and for the services of the Whermacht were in some range of gray, blue gray or green-gray color.
By regulation these coats were fitted with shoulder boards and somtimes even SS arm eagles and various cufftitles were worn as well but, this is not often seen.

In short, there is nothing about the coat shown that would make it more of a candidate for military wear than say a black or brown civilian wool overcoat would be.

If you had a photo of the owner wearing that coat with shoulder boards and in military uniform I would say it would be a curosity and not much more. Without those attributes it is simply a civilian leather coat of a pattern used in central Europe from the later 1930s thru about the early 1960s.

[Tom M]

Thanks for the info Phil. Wouldn't the inner clip, which I have photographed above, suggest that this was for military use? Can anyone decipher the abbrv D.R.G.M?

Cheers.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Tom, not heard from you in a while. DRGM = Deutsches Reich Gebrauchsmuster (German Reich Registered Design)

Cheers, Ade.

[phild]

Tom,

You will have to judge when the clip and it's hanging strap were placed in the coat. I would have a hard time seeing that it would have come with that feature from the maker therefore I believe that it was added. You will have to see if you believe the wearer did this pre-45 or if it was done post-war.

Is the coat slit from the inside for this to "feed" thru the pocket? Keep in mind that if so, the dagger would be hanging from a near vertical no-flap slash pocket...which seems like it would look awkward in wear.

Leather overcoats (military) were not allowed to be made during some point in 1944 (I forgot the month) and civilian leather coats must have been near impossible to get from around 1942 on...maybe even earlier.

Anything is possible for an officer to have owned and even worn on occasion, but you have ask yourself would this item have been the target of a late war purchase and wear with a military uniform? Maybe the answer is yes...it's possible but, I would not depend on the daggerhanger alone to clinch it for me as they are easy to add.

I might also say that the dagger clip apears to be of a style and material that is found circa mid 1930s....this is not (for me) a wartime clip...much less one from 43 or 44. Earlier hardware cold have been used it's true, there just seems to be nothing screaming that this was a wartime military used garmet and it certainly is very far off from a regualtion leather overcoat.

It is a nice looking coat and if it is of pre-45 origin it is of a general style often asssociated with plain clothes police and other officials who did not operate in uniform.