Zeltbahn Made Of Italian Camouflage Material

[Panzergrenadiere71]

Hi all,I have the possibility to buy this zeltbahn .It looks OK to me but the only thing that make me dubious is the fact that this one have the metal buttons instead the bakelite ones.Your thoughts?Thank you

Cheers
Emilio

[Panzergrenadiere71]

N.2

[Panzergrenadiere71]

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[Panzergrenadiere71]

N.4

[Panzergrenadiere71]

N.5

[Panzergrenadiere71]

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[Frosch]

Emilio,

It looks like one of four that I have and it seems like a good wartime piece to me.

/David

[Fred Green]

Zeltbahn

Greetings,
I have a question about this piece. What do those markings say? To me the last two words look like "cromo america"!?!I have always been interested in italian camo but have not really handled any. Was this stuff shipped to Germany as raw material and made into a zelt there or were they fabricated in Italy. I find this stuff fasinating!

Fred Green

[Frosch]

The name printed on the selvage is that of the Italian cloth manufacturer.

The general manufacturing characteristics, particularly the button hole, look like those found on German-made items.

Of the Zeltbahn sections made of Italian cloth that I have, one is stamped 1945 and another is also dated (but I cannot remember the date) and has an RB number, which suggests that it was made under German control.

As far as I know, these items were made of material from surplus Italian stocks and are associated by many collectors with the Leistandarte and Hitler Jugend Panzer divisions, probably due to photographic evidence that tankers overalls made of this material were used by members of the above-mentioned units. However, the material was also used by other units, such as Polizei-Regiment Bozen, a few images of which can be seen below.

The officer on the left is wearing a privately-tailored uniform and is carrying a helmet with a cover made of Italian material:



The officer on the right in the image below is wearing a jacket made of Italian material:



The jacket can be seen in more detail here:



I am not aware of where the Zeltbahn sections were produced, but the general style and quality of manufacture suggests to me that they were made in Germany or by German-controlled factories in the occupied territories.

/David

[Robbie Farrell]

Italian Camo

I picked up one of these around 1980 and it is almost identical to the one posted. I am confindent these are German made during the war from Italian Stocks. There are many pictures of German troops wearing Italian camo material. There is a great series of photos of German troops walking down a street "somewhere in the Ostfront, possibly in the eastern part of Germany" wearing Italian Model 1939 backpacks late in the war.