Officer's collar tab piping removed for field wear?

[NickG]

Besides this thread showing many examples;
http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=698320

Eddie, here a couple more images for you that I found! This practice of wearing unpiped tabs was more common than understood!

[NickG]

and an unpiped TK example;

[doomtown]

Hey, thanks Nick! These are some great pics, when do most of these date from? Can you define a period when this started?

[NickG]

Hey, thanks Nick! These are some great pics, when do most of these date from? Can you define a period when this started?

Well during the blitzkrieg many of the Waffen SS troops removed their collar tabs entirely for security reasons...(blank collars)
but after that campaign, I guess starting Barbarossa for field use many officers opted to go with less bling for safety reasons,
while serving at the front, so I would say anytime between 1941-1945. (images here and in the thread link are from all periods,
and mostly Ostfront!)

[doomtown]

Interesting! Here's some photos that I found on the internet showing this too.

[Felix]

Frontline combat officers tended to remove the piping and also cap cords to avert sniper attention(more often than not associated with Infantry officers). Adorning themselves with enlisted uniforms and even insignia was a frequent occurrence. Therefore in the field, officers were indistinquishable from their fellow enlisted and NCO's - exactly what they were trying to achieve.

To avoid sniper attention is what I have read as well. Not common, but not uncommon or perhaps very rare so to speak. Most SS officers kept their piping even late in the war, as can be seen on the majority of insignias saved and also in period photos. We know from surviving examples. But it happened that officers removed the piping.

Cheers
//Felix

[doomtown]

It's certainly an interesting topic and something that I now look for when I see a photo of an SS officer. German soldiers sure liked to do interesting things with their uniforms and seemed to enjoy breaking the rules and regulations.

I wonder about surviving examples though, that is, if the pieces that survived untouched were "frontline" tunics or, more likely, walking out pieces that were kept at home. Or even how little surving tunics have been messed with. Un-piped collar tabs look "wrong" to us today, so who knows if some tunics were "corrected", or stripped tunics(probably the majority in 1945) had piped tabs added so that they would look "right".

I often see un-piped bullion tabs for sale as "NCO", which they probably were, but really how would you know if they were used by a cautious Officer or a NCO wanting to look sharp? There's no way to tell really. I think the majority wore piped tabs, but NickG() has practically collected a book's worth of images that show that Officers also removed the piping at times. It's a fun topic, and I've definitely learned a lot.

[NickG]

I think the majority wore piped tabs, but NickG() has practically collected a book's worth of images that show that Officers also removed the piping at times. It's a fun topic, and I've definitely learned a lot.

Thanks for the Doomstown!
Here's my favorite one from the other thread. This "bling-ness" Untersturmfuhrer is taking it to a whole new level!

The ultimate "low key" (no bling) officer's front line look: (better safe than sorry!)

-Enlisted M40 tunic with factory applied enlisted sleeve eagle
-Enlisted pants
-Enlisted low boots
-Enlisted belt
-Enlisted tabs
- Untersturmfuhrer rank pips + boards added !
(even his field cap does not appear to be piped... but hard to tell...blurry image...)

He really wanted to blend in with the troops, taking cautionary measures like this!

[doomtown]

Here's a pic that a friend let me post, I might be seeing it wrong, but I think he's also missing his piping

[John Pic]

No there is clearly piping on that one.

[doomtown]

must need my glasses!

[TonyS]

John, I cannot find the link, but here is a short discussion on it http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...ighlight=Andre

This the one?

Think it's owned by DougO.

[NickG]

A beauty. That one is depicted in Beaver's book. Love the doeskin tabs
The tunics that I've restored got inspired by the pictures in this book, wanting that combat look (and I had budget restrictions!)

More here: (for those who might have missed this thread)

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...ighlight=twins

[jacquesf]

[QUOTE=TonyS;6122952]This the one?

Think it's owned by DougO.


Yes that is it, If i remember correctly Andre sold it to Doug. Nice to see it again, lovely piece. J

[istra63]

I have period photos of Officers wearing collar tabs without piping, many of them being quite prominent figures in the Waffen SS.
To name a few:
Otto Kumm
Otto Baum
Heinz Harmel