Maybe someone else out there saw this uniform?
A few years ago I used to frequently visit a dealer/collector in a nearby Surrey town.
He once showed me a photo of his business partner wearing a black SS uniform which purportedly belonged to Otto Ernst Remer who rose to fame in Berlin due to his part in the quashing of the later stages of the July 20th plot.
I only ever saw the cap, a black sidecap with very heavy wire insignia.
The owner was himself of a military background. The story of the uniform was that the owner's father's unit stopped a Jeep (or Kubelwagen?) during the Battle of the Bulge (I think), detained the passenger and let the driver go. Having released the driver (why?) they opened a case in the rear of the vehicle and found this uniform within - the owner's name being our friend Remer).
His father was later killed in the war and his effects (including the case) were returned to the family home where the dealer later found the trunk in the attic.
When he told me this story I was then amazed by his good fortune but since then several questions have occurred to me.
1) Why would Remer (an Army man) have been awarded an honorary SS rank and uniform?
2) Why (in the heat of battle) would anyone try and take along a possibly-incriminating dress uniform)?
3) Why does this story sound horribly familiar?
If any other members from the South of England know of this uniform, or anyone else can recall the story, I'd like their views.
Good hunting,
Grossfuss
A few years ago I used to frequently visit a dealer/collector in a nearby Surrey town.
He once showed me a photo of his business partner wearing a black SS uniform which purportedly belonged to Otto Ernst Remer who rose to fame in Berlin due to his part in the quashing of the later stages of the July 20th plot.
I only ever saw the cap, a black sidecap with very heavy wire insignia.
The owner was himself of a military background. The story of the uniform was that the owner's father's unit stopped a Jeep (or Kubelwagen?) during the Battle of the Bulge (I think), detained the passenger and let the driver go. Having released the driver (why?) they opened a case in the rear of the vehicle and found this uniform within - the owner's name being our friend Remer).
His father was later killed in the war and his effects (including the case) were returned to the family home where the dealer later found the trunk in the attic.
When he told me this story I was then amazed by his good fortune but since then several questions have occurred to me.
1) Why would Remer (an Army man) have been awarded an honorary SS rank and uniform?
2) Why (in the heat of battle) would anyone try and take along a possibly-incriminating dress uniform)?
3) Why does this story sound horribly familiar?
If any other members from the South of England know of this uniform, or anyone else can recall the story, I'd like their views.
Good hunting,
Grossfuss
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