Photographic study of SS gear in Czechoslovakia

[NickG]

Another resistance fighter in full SS tropical kit to include a sun helmet (+ resistance badge mounted on the front) of which hundreds and hundreds were found after the war.
All stock piled for SS Sudfront use but left unused in the depots! Note Czechoslovakian ammo pouch.

and a surviving example of such a helmet. Image borrowed from the Afrika Korps Forum where it was identified as an unfinished LW helmet from the Czech hoards.
In my view it is one of the typical SS pith helmets which NEVER had shields attached. The norm! This is how these were stocked in the depots with Sahariana kit.
(and perhaps also minty tan steel helmets for those who believe in that connection!)

Hope this was interesting! Thanks
NickG

[NickG]

OK last set..as I discovered 1 more terrific photo which also shows SS tropical caps being worn!
First off resistance fighters during a funeral wearing SS Sahariana shirts and pants (first guy appears to be wearing the tunic actually)


And a Czech resistance fighter following a tank in FULL tropical gear!
and more resistance fighters in FULL tropical SS Saharianas including tropical boots and SS tropical caps!
(British Commonwealth Czech army vehicles in the back ground...and a lone Russian Soldier walking in the middle of the street, May 1945)

Doing this study I noticed that when tropical SS tan was used, the resistance decided to wear it FROM TOP TO BOTTOM, the entire SS tropen uniform,
including footwear often...basically emptying the shelves at the SS depot!
None of the Germans would wear it as they used their standard continental SS uniforms, so it was a SAFE uniform to wear,once liberated from the warehouses.

As a contrast post war (45-46) they only opted to wear the SS Sahariana jacket or SS shirt with Czechoslovakian sidecap and trousers, SS tropical boots,
while serving in the borderguard-security forces....Hardly ever the tan pants! So an easy way to date the images!
This concludes my presentation, wanting to illustrate why the huge amounts of unused SS tropical gear came out of the Czech republic, including head gear !

It was stockpiled there for future use, campaigns that just never happened, except for the SS Polizei Division mass employment in "SS tropen" gear to Greece
in 1944 (via Prague) and primarily issued to ANTI partisan SS units operating in the Balkans. Ironically in Czechoslovakia the uniform of choice FOR partisans!

[TrondK]

Great thread Nick. Thanks

[kammo man]

Has any Tropical uniforms shown up using used pebbled buttons that were mixed manufactures ?

owen

[kapitein]

Nice study Nick, great pics, now we know about whre all those Italian camo parka's came from. Have any of the trop caps survived?

[HAF]

Have any of the trop caps survived?

this tropen caps are spectacular rare today ,so me think not many survived.

[NickG]

Has any Tropical uniforms shown up using used pebbled buttons that were mixed manufactures ?

owen

To: Owen: I believe the glass buttons are usually marked "RKG" (and dated 1943 on 2nd model tunics).
Because they had special olive painted glass buttons, few makers were available and usually the same...but I guess a replacement button could
have been marked differently!

_______________________________

Thanks for the contributions guys, I will do one more load of war time uprising images to prove the enormous quantities of SS tropical gear that was liberated.


It is interesting that the Warsaw uprising uniforms were typically SS camo caps and smocks. That was the most common look for the Polish freedom fighters.

The Czechs on the other hand initially wore whatever they had (mostly civilian, police and old Czech army uniforms) until the SS tropical gear became available
and they switched to a much more uniform look to include such SS tropical caps! Dressed in tan, a safe color as the German opposing forces used continental field gray,
but by the time these became widely available the street fighting (4 days) was already ebbing down...capitulation was around the corner...hence so many uniforms surviving!
Here some cap examples since it was asked...

[NickG]

So SS tropical caps were used as well as pith helmets from the same SS tropical inventories...
Huge quantities was grabbed and after the war ended sufficient left over supplies still available to uniformly gear up all the border guards early post war,
as I already illustrated...

[NickG]

The group photo shows members of the partisan unit “Smrt fašizmu”. (that's Czech for "Death to facism")
Pretty much EVERY single member is dressed in SS tropical gear!!! Their base operations was 1 hour South of Prague in Příbram (in German: Freiberg),
so this means the SS tropical gear became available to units well outside of Prague, not limited to the city center barricade fighters...
which to me is another indicator that much of it became available and used in other regions!
Here some close ups:

[NickG]

Another SS tropical cap in wear by a resistance fighter in Prague May 1945. Complete uniforms were worn from head to tow including helmets!




A German with such a rare cap and Sahariana (first pattern with pocket pleats) a Czech (female) fighter in the same uniform,..shoulder yoke clearly visible,
but 2nd pattern, no pocket pleats! It looks like the majority of these SS tropical uniforms are the later pleatless styles!

THE END

[NickG]

Found some more examples!

Post war Czechoslovakian borderguard wearing a W-SS sahariana shirt!

[NickG]

Same shirt seen here in a CZ border-guard/military display.
(photo credit goes to as tagged!)

[NickG]

Same "sahariana kit"....
2nd image a resistance fighter in baggy tropical pants of German origin!

[NickG]

Czechoslovakian airforce pilots 1946-1947
Note 2 piece Luftwaffe "Channel suits". Production of these continued after the war with Czech hardware (snaps and zippers),
once German supplies ran out and they had the patterns already.

[NickG]

Germans surrendering to Prague partisans and local Police in 1945.
I wonder if this could be one of those Dunkel Gelb (disputed) all tan helmets? ,(post #24-25 & post #65-67)
that match the Saharianas so well! Baggy tan pants too...