Hungary The M1951 Gymnastica

[Gordon Craig]

Gentlemen,

Well another Saturday and I had told my wife yesterday that I wouldn't be going to any flea markets today. Well, by breakfast this morning my resolve had disappeared so I set out for Ecseri right after breakfast. Now that I have been here for a while, pickings are slim at Ecseri. High prices because of the tourists, a dwindling supply of medals/awards (especially the high end ones) and my collection has grown so that I only need certain items now. There really wasn't much to look at except someone new has set up a militaria stand that I hadn't seen before. Of interest were some Rakoci era tunics he had hanging up. After some haggling, I left the table ones and came back again to bargain, we settled on a price for a 1951 model Gymnastica. A tunic I did not have in my collection, and a padded coat often refered to as the "Tankers uniform". The padded uniform shows up wear by other units, especially during the 1956 revolution when it is seen in wear with "Kadar's Hussars". I'll post the padded jaclet later when I have had nore time to examine it.

The Hungarian Gymnastica closely resembles its Russian parent except for the "stand-and-fall-collar". It has two hidden breast pockets with external, buttoned flaps. It has a four button front and a double buttons sleeve cuff. There are loops at the shoulder seam of each shoulder for the slip on boards. There is a button sewn on the shoulder at the collar end to hold the shoulder boards in place. Those two buttons are missing on this tunic. There would have been two five sided collar tabs in the service-colour of the arm-of-service as well as a metal device showing the arm-of-service. For example, for an infantryman, the collar tabs would have been green with metal crossed rifles on each one. The arm-of-service was indicated on the shoulderboards by using the same colur as the collar tabs but the metal insignia was not used. Only rank insignia was shown. The collar tabs and shoulderboards are missing from this tunic but will be replaced as soon as I can find a set. The difference in the colour of the tunic material clearly shows where the collar tabs and the shoulder boards were at one point.

Regards,

Gordon