Heer Mystery Waffenrock photo.

[Gordon Williamson]

One of the rarest of all Waffenrock tunics is the one for the Feldgendarmerie. The Fg were only formed during mobilization for war and a Heeresverordnungsblatt in December 1939 prohibited further manufacture of the Waffenrock, so the window of opportunity for the manufacture of Feldgendarmerie Waffenrocks was very brief.

On top of that, during this period there were only a small number of Fg units so we have a tunic which only a small number of people could have worn, manufactured for only a very short period.

Over many years I can count the number of photos with the Fg Waffenrock I have seen , on the fingers of one hand.

but what makes it even more interesting is the fact the guy has the Panzer Assault Badge !

My guess is that he served in a Panzer unit, earned his badge, was wounded ( he wears the Wound Badge) and whatever wound he received, rendered him unfit for climbing in and out of tanks, so he was re-assigned.

Photos of Feldgendarmen with the EK1 are hard to find, but this one may well be unique in having the Panzer Assault Badge. !

[hucks216]

Very nice photo. That is the first time I have ever seen a real Fg Waffenrock as opposed to the Recruiters one that is usually 'talked up' to be Fg by dealers despite no arm eagle/cuff band.

[Gordon Williamson]

Hi Kevin,

Yes, all the orange piped Waffenrocks I have seen have been recruitment. Even the big Bender book on Waffenrock's doesn't mention Fg, though their existence is known from the few photos that exist. I guess it was because the authors didn't have access to either an original example, or period photos.

I'm on to another photo of this very same guy, from the same source but shown in his regular Feldgendarmerie service dress.

[PKeating]

Would the cuffs have been dark green, like normal Heer waffenrock? And what colour would the cuff title have been at this stage?

[Gordon Williamson]

Hi Prosper,

The collar and cuffs would be normal Heer dark green. Apart from the orange waffenfarbe, and the use of the sleeve eagle and Fg cuffband, everything else about the Waffenrock is bog-standard Heer.

Some of the very early Feldgendarmerie wore the Polizei Waffenrock with brown collar and cuffs during the transitional stage 1938-39. with a mix of Polizei and Heer insignia, like those shown here.

There was an early Polizei style Feldgendarmerie cuffband ( similar in style to the police "Motorisierte Gendarmerie" and "Deutsche Wehrmacht" bands ) on a darkish brown wool base, but the guy in the Waffenrock photo is wearing the regular Heer pattern BeVo woven Fg cuffband.

[Gordon Williamson]

Here's the other photo, from the same seller, of the same guy, this time as a dog handler, in normal field grey service dress.

This is the sellers image, not that clear, but the Feldgendarmerie cuffband is definitely there. Hard to tell if the sleeve eagle is worn.

[Wessel]

Hi Gordon...This is a Recruiting/FG NCO visor I have had for a number of years. How can you tell to which Branch it belongs?

[Wessel]

Interior.

[Gordon Williamson]

Hi Gordon...This is a Recruiting/FG NCO visor I have had for a number of years. How can you tell to which Branch it belongs?

With great difficulty.

If a cap is clearly an early Tellerform style, you can be certain it was manufactured as a Recruitment cap as the Feldgendarmerie didn't exist until mobilisation for war, so for instance a 1937 made orange piped visor could not be Feldgendarmerie so you'd be safe to ID it as recruitment.

Likewise, if you were able to date a cap by its construction features or even a date inside, as being mid-late war, then it could not be recruitment as they changed to White Waffenfarbe in 1942.

For all the caps made in the interim, you can't really tell.

Unfortunately the colours varied significantly too, I have seen orange piping ranging from a definite basic Orange similar to that you'd find on a civil Gendarmerie cap, through to a definite orange-red. Likewise with the piping on Feldgendarmerie shoulder straps.

I am sure that lots of Feldgendarmerie stuff has been written off as "faded artillerty red" over the years.

Lovely cap by the way !!

.

[Gordon Williamson]

Just an example. When comparing the Waffenrock tabs, the Officers looks Orange and the NCOs looks red.

In fact both are Orange with the difference only really apparent when compared to the true red of an Artillery strap.

[Wessel]

Thanks for that info. I'll just treat it as a Recruiting visor if I want to sell it.

THis image compares my Officers Arty WR with the NCOs Recruiting WF, and although the photo is not that good there is a distinct dfference in natural light.

[Gordon Williamson]

The appearance of the image on-screen is another problem, and I totally agree with your comment about differences being more apparent "in the flesh" in natural light.

Light and shadow create all sorts of false impressions. The collar tabs on your Artillery officers WR on my screen look rather orangey whereas the underlay to the straps appears a more definite red. I'm sure in real life they are all clearly the correct "Hochrot".

Given all the discussions there have been over the years about the various greens ( Jäger, Gebirgsjäger, Panzergrenadier etc) and how untouched tunics etc to one branch have appeared with Waffenfarbe generally assumed to be from another, I am sure the same occured with some of the "redder" shades of Orangerot.

I tend to keep a couple of pieces of known Artillery Hochrot insignia on hand. If I pick up a cap I believe may be Fg, I try to access the piping from an area where there is no fading and if it is distinctly different to Hochrot, I'm inclined to class it as Orangerot.

I was recently sent some images of a tropical Fg Feldmütze which looked red on the images and I would have assumed was Artillery. However, it came from a large batch of several hundred original unissued caps in mint condition, unfaded and which included all sorts of Waffenfarbe colours so direct comparison with Artillery examples made it quite clear that this was Fg.

In the end though I suspect there were batches of Artillery Hochrot which due to variances in dyeing etc may appear more orangey, and Orangerot which for the same reasons appear more reddish. Caps like yours are clearcut orange, so fortunately no question.

[Gordon Williamson]

Same problem as with the Waffenrock comparisons above. In real-life and in natural daylight, there is a distinct difference between the pale orange on the Gendarmerie cap and the Orange-red of the Feldgendarmerie cap. Trying to capture the difference on camera isn't so easy, but I think you can see the Army cap has a more vivid orange shade.