Original German WWII Heer Army Named 17th Cavalry Regiment Oberstleutnant Officer M36 Service Tunic with Leather Reinforced Breeches - Dated 1941

Original Items: Only One Set Available. This is a fantastic pattern German WWII Heer Army Cavalry Oberstleutnant Officer's M-36 Service Tunic, complete with great set of leather reinforced breeches. The tunic shows moderate wear from service and in very good display condition. The interior still has a complete embroidered maker tag on inside of the collar, which reads:

Armeemarinehaus
INHABEN
Deutscher Offizier-Verein
Berlin

There is a logo on the left side of the label, and there is also a nametag on the inside of the right breast pocket, which has the same maker information on it, but also indicates what looks to be the name Otto v. Buchwald, as well as a date of 4 / X 1941 (or maybe 1940) in the lower left corner. It's very rare that we get tunics with the nametag still legible, making this a rare treat!

The tunic is made from lovely "whipcord" weave wool gabardine, in the standard Heer feldgrau (field gray) color. It features four pleated pockets with scalloped flaps and non-magnetic painted pebbled buttons. The front closure features five of the same buttons on the right breast flap meeting an equal number of reinforced buttonholes on the left flap. All look to be faintly marked on the rear, and the buttons are sewn directly to the fabric, which does make them a bit more prone to tearing off, which may have happened with a few, as they are magnetic, unlike the pocket buttons. The collar on this tunic is more of a lay down style, and does not have any hook and loop closures.

The interior is lined with with a very nice gray green colored rayon cotton blend twill fabric, while the sleeves are lined striped rayon. There is are horizontal slash pockets on the inner chest on both sides, with the name tag in the right side. It has the correct large eyelet opening into the left waist pocket for attachment of an officers dagger. We do not see any major repairs, just some light wear from service.

It is adorned with the usual rank and branch insignia used on German tunics. The attractive Army breast eagle is the correct early pattern officer's silver bullion hand embroidered type on a dark bottle green background, and is stitched to the outer layer of fabric only. The collar is wrapped in flaschengrün (dark bottle-green) wool, and has officer's field litzen collar patches on each side, which are woven from silver bullion thread with dark bottle green backgrounds matching the collar. It is in very good shape, and is usually one of the first places to show damage from use, however in this case it is free from holes and major wear.

The colored bullion stripes on the litzen are colored Goldgelb (Golden-Yellow), the Waffenfarbe (corps color) for Cavalry, as well as reconnaissance and armored reconnaissance units with cavalry traditions. The front closure and cuffs of the tunic bear piping of the same color. The “sew-in” style Stabsoffizier schulterklappen (Field-grade Officer shoulder boards) of this tunic are constructed with two rows of fine silver flatware "Russia Braid" double piping, which are plaited together to form a loop around the buttonhole. They are in very good condition, and each has a single gold rank "pip" installed, indicating the rank of Oberstleutnant, equivalent to a U.S. Army Lt. Colonel. Each also has a gold metal 17 cypher attached, for the 17th Cavalry Regiment. There are two thread loops above the left pocket for a medal bar. Overall condition is very good, showing only light wear, and no major damage that we can see.

The included breeches are in very good condition, made from whipcord weave wool fabric in a lovely steingrau (stone gray) color, often preferred by officers. They also feature soft suede leather reinforcements on the inside of the legs, so these are designed for actual riding, as one would expect for a cavalry officer. They have a button fly closure with four hidden buttons with another button that shows at the top, as well as an internal button for a more secure fit. The suspender buttons on the outside of the waist band are all intact. There is a button closed horizontal pocket on the right rear seat, as well as the usual diagonal slash vertical slash hip pockets. The bottoms of the legs lace up to fit better inside boots.

An outstanding German Cavalry Officers Uniform set, ready to outfit with awards and display!

Field Tunic (Feldbluse) Model 1936
Terms such as M40 and M43 were never designated by the Wehrmacht, but are names given to the different versions of the Model 1936 field tunic by modern collectors, to discern between variations, as the M36 was steadily simplified and tweaked due to production time problems and combat experience.

When the NSDAP came to power in early 1933 the Reichswehr, the armed forces of the Weimar Republic, were near the end of a two-year project to redesign the Army Feldbluse (field-blouse). Beginning in that year the new tunic was issued to the Reichsheer and then the rapidly growing Wehrmacht Heer, although minor design changes continued to be made until the appearance of the standardized Heeres Dienstanzug Modell 1936. The M36 tunic still retained the traditional Imperial and Reichswehr uniform color of grey-green "field gray" (feldgrau) wool, but incorporated four front patch pockets with scalloped flaps and pleats (on Reichswehr tunics the lower pockets were internal and angled). The front was closed with five buttons rather than the previous eight, and the collar and shoulder straps were of a dark bottle-green instead of the Reichswehr grey. Compared to the Weimar-era uniforms the skirt of the feldbluse was shorter and the tailoring was more form-fitting due to Germany's adoption of mechanized warfare: soldiers now spent much time in the confined space of a vehicle and a shorter jacket was less likely to pick up dirt from the seats. It also included an internal suspension system, whereby a soldier could hang an equipment belt on a series of hooks outside of the tunic. These hooks were connected to two straps inside the lining, which spread the weight of equipment without having to use external equipment suspenders. The M36 was produced and issued until the very end of the war, though successive patterns became predominant.

SS field uniforms were of similar appearance externally but to fit their larger patches had a wider, feldgrau collar, and the lower pockets were of an angled slash type similar to the black or grey SS service-dress. The second button of an SS Feldbluse was positioned somewhat lower, so that it could be worn open-collar with a necktie. Due to supply problems the SS were often issued army uniforms.