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    My DDR tunic


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    GrenztruppenEMTunic002.jpg

    Looks like to be a non professional EM tunic of the GT ; wrong shoulder boards...

    those "VEB" tagged ones are seldom seen I would say...

    The cuff title denotes the tunic was tailored after 1976 ; af far as I remember, the switch to open collar tunics occured end 1970s/early 1980s for the non officers ; officers gradually switched to the open collar tunics from 1974 on.

    Edited by olivyaya
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    GrenztruppenEMTunic002.jpg

    Looks like to be a non professional EM tunic of the GT ; wrong shoulder boards...

    those "VEB" tagged ones are seldom seen I would say...

    The cuff title denotes the tunic was tailored after 1976 ; af far as I remember, the switch to open collar tunics occured end 1970s/early 1980s for the non officers ; officers gradually switched to the open collar tunics from 1974 on.

    But what of the collar and button placement? I am unable to find an image anywhere of an EM tunic such as this one. It still has the collar clasps, but they are useless with the button placement. It is difficult to see without seeing them side by side, but as I am sure you know, EM tunic buttons were higher and the top of the collar was "longer".

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    You are right, sorry I misunderstood you... I had never noticed the collar size difference !!! Very interesting !!!

    As for the buttons, on the last picture, the top button is placed ABOVE the breast pockets' line... typical of late 80s production...

    Earlier, the top button is sown BELOW the breast pockets' line

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    Most of my stuff is packed in boxes in my basement... so it will be difficult for me to check... but I'll keep an eye from now on while surfing the web... and as soon as I dig into my boxes again...

    Having said that, it is interesting to note that as time went by, the DDR tried to save as much as possible whenever and wherever they could... which meant, eg, a growing simplification in the production of uniforms. In this sense, what is strange is that the shorter collar tunic should be the later type, since the other one is saving on fabric... it should be the other way round...

    Very interestind indeed...

    Edited by olivyaya
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    The buttons positionning is the same as for officer tunics are concerned... you can verify it on your very 1st tunic in this post, the Luftvertidigung one... late 70s, top button BELOW the breast pockets' line !!

    After checking, apparently not the same as far as the officer type tunics are concerned... I have early tunics and later ones which both have the top button BELOW the breast pockets' line...

    Edited by olivyaya
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    So, I am still unable to identify this tunic.

    To restate my quandry:

    1) The tunic has no NVA markings, only a VEB label in the inside pocket that reads "VEB (B) Kleiderwerk Wernigerode.

    2) The collar is short, like on an officer tunic.

    3) The placement of the button holes is like an officer tunic, except that it does have a fifth button at the collar and clasps.

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    So, I am still unable to identify this tunic.

    To restate my quandry:

    1) The tunic has no NVA markings, only a VEB label in the inside pocket that reads "VEB (B) Kleiderwerk Wernigerode.

    2) The collar is short, like on an officer tunic.

    3) The placement of the button holes is like an officer tunic, except that it does have a fifth button at the collar and clasps.

    I actually think you have ! The tunic is an early 1980s GT one for non profesional soldier ; the collar size is not a problem, must correspond to the era when the tunic was tailored... what we would need to check is whether all earlier type wolly tunics have the same type of collar, and later ones a larger collar... The buttons position clearly shows the tunic is not of later production !!

    As for the officer tunics are concerned, I have found this one in my collection ; it has the same buttons positionning as your woly type tunic... but this one is a bit special since it is a former black collar tunic that has been converted to an open collar tunic after 1974.

    image5xy3.jpg

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    I actually think you have ! The tunic is an early 1980s GT one for non profesional soldier ; the collar size is not a problem, must correspond to the era when the tunic was tailored... what we would need to check is whether all earlier type wolly tunics have the same type of collar, and later ones a larger collar... The buttons position clearly shows the tunic is not of later production !!

    As for the officer tunics are concerned, I have found this one in my collection ; it has the same buttons positionning as your woly type tunic... but this one is a bit special since it is a former black collar tunic that has been converted to an open collar tunic after 1974.

    image5xy3.jpg

    Thank you for continuing to help. The button positioning is not the same though.

    Edited by siampete
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    Thank you for continuing to help. The button positioning is not the same though.

    No, it is not exactly the same since my tunic is an officer gabardine tunic... not the same as yours wolly type...

    But as far as yours is concerned, the button positionning does indicate a periode, in your case not the latest type !! It would have been easier to confirm if your tunic had markings... but since it does not, some of the exposed details do give some interesting information !

    Edited by olivyaya
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    Thank you again for trying to help. Do you happen to have a copy of "Uniformen der DDR"? Someone told me that they saw a tunic like mine on page 84.

    Thanks,

    Robert

    Yes, I do have it, but mine is the 1st Edition and no picture on page 84 ! Your reference msut be from the following edition...

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