German Police tunic....opinions?

[reneblacky]

Funny bugger!!!!!

I thought I took all the made in hong kong stuff off!!'m

ya missed that one mate hehehe

[martinsuper]

Schutzpolizei Tunic in the rank of Hauptwachtmesiter.

Very rare rank, especially late in the war which this tunic is. The tunic does have all of the hallmarks of the WW2 correct style. But remember this one thing. The standard police tunics and insignia were made WW2 style well into the 1950s. Can you see under the collar tabs at all to see if there are signs of aging? A tunic like this was at the last MAX show.

Later in the war with the police getting involved in combat more and more their tunics took on this style. A nice police oversees cap in green piping or a police combat helmet would go well with this tunic.

Nice find. But as for me, I'm still Gendarmerie!
Hey, that rhymes...

-Martin

[qotd]

Thanks for the reply. The collar tabs are fairly well sewn down on the jacket, but from the little parts I could see under, i don't see a great deal of difference between the aging on the jacket and the small areas I can peel back on the collar tabs.

[martinsuper]

Thanks for the reply. The collar tabs are fairly well sewn down on the jacket, but from the little parts I could see under, i don't see a great deal of difference between the aging on the jacket and the small areas I can peel back on the collar tabs.

Sure. As everyone else has said, no reason to think this one is a fake. But they were worn by the post war police. Then again, what wasn't used post war for at least a short period? I had a chance to buy a WW2 US Army issued rural police pass. Essentially it was police who were not Nazi party members and were put back to work to keep the peace. Featured a lot of pictures of WW2 uniforms still in use as late as 1949. I recall one officer wearing the same tunic, however it was very visible where his sleeve eagle used to be.

Eventually I am going to need to buy a tunic like this, but I would want one without insignia or in rural police setup. If you have any other police questions, feel free to contact me!

-Martin

[martinsuper]

One other thing I forgot to mention is that the eagle and collar tabs are the technically correct versions to be worn on this tunic. The only thing that could be "better" for me would be if the shoulder boards were the subdued versions, but they do not have to be subdued to be right.

Also, it is technically correct for their to be a BeVo eagle on this or the and eagle like the one you have. But and eagle with a district name and the canvas summer weight version would be incorrect. I have a set of insignia at home to match this tunic, I will take a picture and post it.

-Martin

[qotd]

Thanks again. Like I said at first I was given this jacket, as my good mate felt i needed an original jacket and handed me this!!!

It is even better to know it appears to be s originals jacket that is technically correct!!! I had no doubts my mate was giving me an original tunic, but with all this info it is getting better and better!!!

[martinsuper]

Fair enough! Just so you know a little more about your tunic. I have attached a picture of some late war/combat police insignia. Notice that the collar tabs are the same as yours.



Now you see the difference between these boars and yours? The boards are have are subdued so they do not shine like the ones you have. So I'm thinking your tunic was non-combat. The eagle in my picture is BeVo. Your eagle or this eagle would both be correct for your tunic.

The police eagle and cockade would be for the M43 cap.

Now there is something in my picture I really want to point out to you. The uncut "gold" collar tabs at the top are sometimes found with the Haupwachmeister rank of your tunic.
The boards in my picture are Meister boards. A Meister was usually the highest ranking NCO in a police area and because of his rank and responsibilities was given officer privileges.
But sometimes if an area was fairly small, or if a small group of police had a special task like guarding a government building, there was a good chance that a Meister was either not available or not in charge. Your tunic is the rank right below Meister and to show that the Hauptwachtmesiter was in charge, "like a Meister" he was given gold collar tabs like those. This signified that that NCO was in charge, but not a Meister.

So I hope this was not "too much information" but I wanted to give you some more backstory on your tunic, why it's right, and how it could be different. If the boards were subdued and the eagle was BeVo it could have been a combat tunic. If your collar tabs were gold/green instead of silver/green your particular police NCO might have been in charge of an area/special assignment.

But still, the rank of Hauptwachmeister is VERY Rare because police were given rank based on their assigned tasks (and considering their experience) and often NCOs became Meisters.

[qotd]

Thankyou for your post, and I don't believe you can ever have too much information!!!!

I appreciate your time in posting the pics and can certainly see the variations. I have not had much to do with police items, but now I have one, your information is greatly appreciated and I now realize what I have and appreciate it even more, especially since it was given to me for free!!!!!

[militarymania]

very nice tunic,,,what else will he give you???

[qotd]

I have a pile of Australian and amerivan gear he has given me. I have given him a lot of modern Australian camouflage gear, and a few odds and ends.....I wouldn't say we swap gear, it seems if I find something he may like I give it to him and vice versa