Kriegsmarine U Boat uniforms

[The Monkey God]

Hi Guys,

Have been told this...

"Originally the U boat Denim Jackets were British Denim blouse captured after the fall of France in 1940 as the British Army left behind 1000s of unisssued Denims."

Is this true? If so in what year did they start issueing there own tunics or did they always use British ones?

[2dresq]

Hi Guys,

Have been told this...

"Originally the U boat Denim Jackets were British Denim blouse captured after the fall of France in 1940 as the British Army left behind 1000s of unisssued Denims."

Is this true? If so in what year did they start issueing there own tunics or did they always use British ones?

This is from John Angolia's "Die Kriegsmarine Uniforms and Traditions" Vol2. Page 294.

This doesn't state when the supply of uniforms were available for the front line boats like the U-99 U-30 and others.

From reading books like Donitz's Crews, and Torpedo Los, and other wonderful examples. The U-boat commanders and crews were able to adapt their uniforms almost to what the boat captain or group commander allowed.

I'll bet that sailors probably continued to keep those French/british coats with a KM breast eagle on board and in their rotation.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

JustinG

[Gordon Craig]

Hi,

There are lots of period pictures showing German u-boat crews wearing British battle dress tunics. I don't have any dates at hand at the moment.

Rgerads,

Gordon

[The Monkey God]

So its TRUE then that is fascinating!!!! Thanks guys!!!

[mariner]

Found this that might be of interest...

Its of the U30 commander Fritz-Julius Lemp, clearly wearing British battledress. It appears to be the denim type as apposed to the woolen type which would make sense I suppose! :whistle:

[bigjarofwasps]

A version of Battle Dress intended for working clothing was produced from denim with several manufacturer's variants

German U-Boat crews were also commonly issued with British Army battledress (with German insignia added). Large stockpiles had been captured by the Germans after the fall of France in 1940.

Germany also produced a new uniform in 1944 to replace its existing uniforms, it largely resembled the Battle dress.

[The Monkey God]

Cheers guys for all your replies.

I found this one another forum.

"It was the denim type. Insignia-wise, bit of a mish-mash. Sometimes no insignia, sometimes shoulderboards, sometimes cloth breast eagles, sometimes metal breast eagles. They also sometimes replaced the buttons with gold Kriegsmarine ones too."

[mariner]

:cheers:

[mariner]

:cheers:

[The Monkey God]

Thanks again guys.

One more question if I may be so bold............

Is this historically correct? Did they really wear the U Boat board on their shirts?

[Gordon Craig]

The Monkey God,

I am not sure that I understand your question. If you are asking if matrosen and unteroffiziere wore the u-boat badge on their service dress as is shown in the last picture you posted then the answer is yes.

Regards,

Gordon

[The Monkey God]

The Monkey God,

I am not sure that I understand your question. If you are asking if matrosen and unteroffiziere wore the u-boat badge on their service dress as is shown in the last picture you posted then the answer is yes.

Regards,

Gordon

Thanks Gordon, yeh sorry perhaps I didn`t word that as best as I could, but you got the gist, yeh thats what I was after confirming, many thanks

[The Monkey God]

I have also been able to ascertain the following information, which has proved most helpful & informative. I`ll post it below for the assistance of those....

"The type worn was the grey/green denim battledress uniform as it was a work style uniform but also comfortable and cool to wear within the hot confines of the U-Boat. You may already be aware but vast stocks of the said uniform were captured after the capitulation of the B.E.F. at Dunkirk. Enterprising Kriegsmarine officers saw these and decided to utilise them for their U-Boat crews."

"I have seen them worn in photographs as being 'British standard', and as having been modified. However, the 'usual' modifications undertaken by Germans were by having the buttons replaced and by having the British epaulettes removed. These were usually replaced with their own style buttons (many different types) and, depending on rank, having their own shoulder boards sewn on or attached."

"Bearing in mind the British BD was an unofficial uniform for the Germans, as such, each individual tended to add whatever rank or insignia they wished to the tunics. However, the 'norm' was to have the Kriegsmarine embroidered or bevo breast eagles sewn above the right pocket, and rank insignia sewn or attached wherever appropriate. For instance officer and NCO ranks attached their own epaulettes, whereas lower ranks attached appropriate patches on the left sleeve i.e. chevrons, etc. Maats and Obermaats (mates and leading mates) quite often attached metallic corners to the collar tips, to denote their particular rank.

Medal ribbons, trade qualification patches and other awards were also attached to the button holes, left sleeve or the left pocket, respectively. However, metallic medals and awards were often left off as they tended to snag onto the internal machinery within the U-Boat.

After the captured British stocks were exhausted (they were normally used for one tour only and then burned) the Germans manufactured their own denim BD uniforms in a blue-grey or teal-green colour. The pattern was very similar except that they omitted the 'fixed' British style epaulettes and the map pocket on the left leg."

[D. Hogan]

New member, but I am very intrigued by the u-boat arm. I was aware of the useage of British battle-dress being used among the u-boat crews, but what I'm curious about is what they wore prior to the fall of France? Everything I have come across is 1940's onward.

[Gordon Williamson]

Prior to the use of the denim U-Boat Blouse, or captured British Battledress, the most commonly worn garment on operations was the grey leather single or double breasted jacket which of course remained in use throughout the whole war. Brown denim work jackets and tan tropical jackets were also worn.