Let's take a nice up close look at a mint unissued Waffen-SS HBT dot pattern camouflage uniform set.
First we will start with the front of the tunic.
First we will start with the front of the tunic.
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Before we go any further I would like to show you something that I found inside the tunic that is extremely rare. Having collected and handled numerous dot camo uniform sets over the years I have never seen this little item before.
When I first came into possession of this uniform set I decided to go through all the pockets just to see if there was anything unique inside. One never knows what you might find.
The top and bottom pockets on the outside of the tunic revealed nothing, but the inside pocket which is made to carry a first aide bandage had something unusual inside.
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At the very bottom of the first aide pocket I found a piece of paper all folded up.
And when unfolded it revealed something very interesting and unique to the tunic itself.
There were numbered sections 1 thru 8.
Boxes 2 and 4 have penciled in what appears to be someones initials?
And box 7 has the number 381 penciled inside.
To the left and right side of each box the paper has been cleanly cut away.Comment
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In the lower left hand corner of the paper tag is a coded number.
Perhaps the B stands for "Bekleidung" (Clothing) and the number is a file number for this particular paper label?
Also printed on the paper label is the German word Jacke (jacket).Comment
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Printed on the label are the metric size numbers for the jacket or tunic.
Normally the number in the center is the manufacturer code number.
In this case the number is 393.
What's interesting is the number above the center number is 39443.
Could it be a coded way to display who the manufacturer is and year the jacket was made?
With the 44 indicating the year 1944? 39443Comment
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Here's a full view of the manufacturer's label found inside the first aid pocket.Comment
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What's really unique and interesting is the numbers printed on the paper label are an exact match to the numbers which are ink stamped on the inside of the jacket.
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Another view to show the position of the ink stamp is located on the inside of the jacket on back area towards the top.Comment
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This will be an ongoing thread by me in which I will continue to post more detailed photos of the jacket and pants with captions.
If you have something interesting to add to the study of this uniform then please feel free to post it here.
Otherwise I will consider this thread a place where anyone can come to see a nice original mint unissued example of this unique uniform to study and use as a reference guide.Comment
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That to the best of my knowledge is the first time a cutters tag has been found with a jacket.
Its beyond rare.
owenComment
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Isn't this an odd place for it to be stamped though ?Comment
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Not first on this forum
some guys here have dot tunics with these tags
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So here is an interesting update which helps to answer a few questions and correct my question about the number 39443 containing the year of manufacture.Originally posted by Remy Spezzano View Post
It turns out the SS ink stamped their tunic size markings a little different then the German Army did. After some minor research and also thanks to another forum member sending me a photo of his paper label, I was finally able to correctly decipher the ink stamped numbers on my tunic.
It turns out that the first line of numbers is not one large grouping containing the manufacturer code and the year produced. Instead there are three separate numbers shown. Due to the ink stamping on several of the numbers being incomplete I interpreted the numbers incorrectly. Now that I have a break down of what each number represents I was able to correctly figure out the size numbers for the tunic.
I created a little reference chart to show what each number represents in relation to size.Comment
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That's great news. Please if you can, try to find the photos of the paper tags and post them here so we can compare them to the one I have.Originally posted by Disco Partisan View PostNot first on this forum some guys here have dot tunics with these tagsComment
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Here is the first paper label we have to compare. This was sent to me today by a fellow collector who purchased his mint unissued dot tunic around the same time I did and possibly from the same source.
As you can see his paper tag has the same B/0538 number and also the same manufacturer code 393. The ink stamping of the size numbers are definitely more pronounced and easier to decipher.Comment
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