SS Uniforms

[kevb]

Hi,

Silly question maybe, but how did they keep the uniforms clean in the field, did they have a number of spares available ?? or was there a laundry system in place .... just curious to how we see these beauties 60+ years later in the conditions we see sometimes.... John Pic i would like here your thoughts also?

Thanks

Kev

[Dennis S]

I believe the wool uniforms were brush cleaned

[Massimo F.]

as far as I know they "dry cleaned" wool uniforms using clothing whips like this one to remove dust. Also the life span of a field tunic was quite short specially under front line conditions during fights etc..

[Dr. Strangelove]

Hey !

Hey, Charlie Snyder sole me one of those and swore it was used to beat Prisoner's at Dachau ! I have been lied to.

[Massimo F.]

I've seen several of these whips most of them where RAD marked and I was told the same story about beating prisoners etc..

[Dr. Strangelove]

Snyder

Ole' Charlie's been making that outrageous claim for years.

[ApathyL]

Hi,

was there a laundry system in place ....

Thanks

Kev

Yea there was a laundry system in place, front loader washing machines LMAO maybe they washed it in old bathtubs or in old barrels cut in half or in a stream, as in the old days, but im not too sure if in the middle of the Eastern Front they cared about the dirt on there clothes...they just got a new one if the old was totally down. The nice ones today in my eyes are just survivors from the families out of closets and been stored for 60+ years, or very slightly worn ones that are also from family or vets.

Cheers, Les.

[Josef Hahne]

A late war Waffen-SS vet. told me once, " We did not have lice in 1944. The lice had us!!" Clean uniform, I think the average Landser dreamed of having a clean anything toward the end.

Sepp

[leibermuster]

German Vets I have talked to have told me that to kill lice they would use benzine sometimes. Also the local civilians could be paid to clean uniforms.
As mentioned above, the clothing whip and brush were commonly used. If you look at most well worn tunics, the nap is worn away and this can partly be explained by the fact that the brush removes a light layer of wool with the dirt.
Combat troops didn't wash much and American troops said that when they dealt with German prisoners they had an awful stink and were often infested with vermin.

[phild]

Hi,

Silly question maybe, but how did they keep the uniforms clean in the field, did they have a number of spares available ?? or was there a laundry system in place .... just curious to how we see these beauties 60+ years later in the conditions we see sometimes.... John Pic i would like here your thoughts also?

Thanks

Kev

There has been a lot of information offered on this subject on this forum over the years.

I think that it is pretty well accepted or at least it should be that most of the uniforms that we have today fall into two categories:

1. Officer and some NCO leave at home uniforms that were private owned and one of several sets that the person had. Most of these were mint to excellent condition when the war ended and if well stored will be near mint today.

2. Unissued stocks of EM contract uniforms. There were tens of thousands of unissued unforms still in depots and garrison supply rooms during the last 6 months of the war when this facilities were being captured...and allied soldiers would take these as trophies.


According to the regulations and many personal accounts the EM had the uniform on his back only. When it was no longer fit to be worn it was replaced and turned in for salvage. Officers and some Nco's would often have a couple of uniforms in the field and one or more left back at their home, as they owned the uniforms...(some but not all NCOs fit this as well), they generally had several. High ranking offcer's might have owned many.

When the soldiers were captured or surrendered as the war came to an end, most went into the POW camps with the clothes on their back. Most cloth combat uniform items were very dirty, worn and sometimes lice infested when the soldiers were captured..this could include those in officer field baggage...but probably not all. most GIs or British soldiers did not want these uniforms and they normally would not clothes being worn by POWs anyway.

A lot of un-issued EM uniforms from all services were stripped of insignia and given to DPs, civilians and POWs. A lot of all of it was burned for a number of reasons (I could take you to spots on the ground as where piles as big as buildings were burned)...

This is a long answer but it is not a simple story.

There is no problem with most orignal SS uniforms today being near mint condition because if they were stored properly that is exactly how they were when the war ended. Very little true combat worn clothing survived by the time the POWs were released...I would say it is almost rare to find true combat worn uniform items today.

[Ian Hulley]

Good answer ^^

Ian

[kevb]

Guys,

Thanks for all the replies......

Always learning

Kev

[Palmenmuster]

If you find uniforms from Norwegian Freivilligen, they are usually hevily used and abused. Those who left the service before the war ended went back to Norway fully equipped and often did service in the Police or Hirden after their WSS service. Their old SS uniform were either stowed away or used as working garment.

An old vet told me that they often got the locals to clean their uniform when they were resting behind the lines ( Eastern front), they also had their smocks and parkas wich they tended to use over the fielduniform.

Best regards, Tom

[Steinar]

They burned their uniforms? Hats? I have seen lots of POW photos and especially POWs in Canada had uniforms in good conditions.

Do we have any pictures of uniform burning?

[Basil]

They burned their uniforms? Hats? I have seen lots of POW photos and especially POWs in Canada had uniforms in good conditions.

Allied POWs received occasional supplies of new uniforms via the good offices of the International Red Cross and I imagine that German POWs during the course of the war may have benefitted from a similar system to replace worn or damaged clothing.

I've seen photographs of German POWs after the war wearing what looked like a cross between British battledress and prison uniforms.