Heeres GJ-Windjacke in Waffen SS use

[NickG]

Thanks for sharing the non Heer windjacke examples T.K. !
Here's another neat image. Not SS related but still interesting I think!
An officer, but not a mountaintrooper, still wearing what appears to be a double breasted GJ windjacke!
(could also be made out of leather I guess...hard to tell)

Free Polish armored forces negotiating the surrender of the local Wilhelmshaven garrison 5/5/45.

[montañes]

Hi,

Very interesting thread.

A very early Nord Division, from a newsreel.





Handschar ranks and NCO wearing the windjacke.



Jaime.

[Johnny R]

Nick, you post some odd stuff. Do you have a reference for the images in post # 8 being wartime? The tan coat you posted in #2 on the bottom is IMO a 1920s civilian coat or RH and has a replaced collar made from some other type of material which means it was probably worn post war or by a POW etc. The military jacket was patterned after a popular civilian design and is almost identical, early ones often have the GJ insignia added to increase value.

[NickG]

Outstanding contribution. Big thanks. I knew Nord was issued these and I expected Handschar used these also,
but lacked photographic proof. Thanks again.

[Johnny R]

Outstanding. Contribution. Big thanks. I knew Nord was issued these and I expected Handschar used these also but lacked photosgraphic proof. Thanks again.

Glad you got your "photosgraphic" proof. Stop destroying original items for your whims please?

[NickG]

It was sold to me as a WH type with military pebbled buttons already on it...
(as you know standard WH types did not come with pebbled buttons so it was already "played with"...)
It was a fixer upper...lacking many buttons, missing back belt, missing cuff straps,replaced collar....
frankly a mess... so adding something (rank) did not make it worse...it was already in relic condition
BUT it did have a ghost of a sleeve edelweiss oval and the prior owner acknowledged that!
(but who knows when that was put on it? Anyway I added it again!)
I also used original ersatz paper buttons even to make it "somewhat" presentable! I believe I succeeded!

I do know these originated from civilian designs.... what this one probably was initially.
My green one is a standard Heer contract unmessed with, nothing later added!!!

[Johnny R]

You can post whatever you want but the reality of it is that you are adding to tunics and sewing stuff that was never there on. That is crap okay, no IMO. It is terrible. Sorry, but to me it is one of the worse things someone can do to original items. Post some images of you "Handschar" field police tunic for others to comment on.

[NickG]

You can post whatever you want but the reality of it is that you are adding to tunics and sewing stuff that was never there on. That is crap okay, no IMO. It is terrible. Sorry, but to me it is one of the worse things someone can do to original items. Post some images of you "Handschar" field police tunic for others to comment on.

I agree with you. I never mess with prestine tunics...certainly no enhancing! Prime example:
Look at my Nederland SS officer tunic restoration. Great condition but stripped....
(10,000 hits on that thread lots of interest), No shield was added as was recommended... not to do it...never had one!!
The Handschar MP impression on the other hand was a relic tunic...could have been anything really,
originally restored as TK officer by a prior owner (with the fresh out of a duffle bag story, until he got busted, remember?)

I do admire your restoration skills Johnny. You do it right and go the extra mile to locate insignia in matching condition!

[Johnny R]

Your "restoration" was pure speculation and unfounded, it tells us more about you than the tunic. Please post photos of your Eastern SS Foreign volunteer field police tunic. That is a personal favorite related to this subject and theme.

[Johnny R]

I agree with you. I never mess with prestine tunics...certainly no enhancing! Prime example:
Look at my Nederland SS officer tunic restoration. Great condition but stripped....
(10,000 hits on that thread lots of interest), No shield was added as was recommended... not to do it...never had one!!
The Handschar MP impression on the other hand was a relic tunic...could have been anything really,
originally restored as TK officer by a prior owner (with the fresh out of a duffle bag story, until he got busted, remember?)

I do admire your restoration skills Johnny. You do it right and go the extra mile to locate insignia in matching condition!

You do mess with tunics, look at your own photos. Think about it. You create crap when you "restore" these things.

[NickG]

You do mess with tunics, look at your own photos. Think about it. You create crap when you "restore" these things.

It was restored on a budget meaning I used parts I had laying around regardless of what was on it originally. As you could not tell what was on it originally to begin with....who cares?
"On a budget" means cheap...so a Feldgendarm eagle as opposed to expensive SS sleeve eagle. Croat because many pictures exist of Croat MPs wearing such Gendarm eagles...Why foreign unit? It was a 6 button Heer tunic (that somebody else already had restored as SS so I went with that branch because of the SS collar ghosts...) and besides that I have images of Handschar wearing 6 button tunics... Foreign units often got ex-Heer "hand-me downs"...we all know that!

but why even defend that tunic here?...We are straying totally off topic!
This thread has to do with Windjacken in non-Heer service, not on tips how to restore correctly!!
I am not trying to build a SS windjacke... (btw I did get complements on that Handschar MP "impression".
Yes that's what I was calling it, never claiming it was restored to its original configuration! Boy are we straying now!
This topic belongs here:
http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...=1#post5024100

[Johnny R]

There is no "on a budget" to restore properly or ethically. What you did with your "restorations" and thousands of budget dollars working on discount mint CTs etc. (to me junk) is create what your wanted. that is obvious from the cost of the insignia. Fool yourself not us.

[Johnny R]

Post a link to your odd SS field police tunic, that is a personal favorite. I remember showing it to a Vet in Wiking and he laughed.

[NickG]

Back to the original topic. Lost Battalions is selling a repro Windjacke using this illustration (displayed with SS uniform).
Looks pretty decent!

So these were also issued as standard "mountaineering kit" to SS-GJ units like Nord (and even Handschar)
Would love to see more period images! Thanks for the period image contributions, keep them coming!

[Obergruppen2]

Page 187 of 'Prinz Eugen im Bild' shows a member of the staff of KG Skanderbeg wearing a standard Heer Windjacke.

Third pic from above