Tropical M43 Wehrmacht Combat Tunic

[Luftwaffe 1941]

After saving up my cash I was finally able to buy myself a Wehrmacht combat tunic. It’s a nice tropical example too!

I recently bought this from a friend of mine "chbingle" as he’s known here on the forum. The tunic itself looks good to me, but I do have some questions regarding some of the things attached to it.

When my friend first received it after winning it on auction, it came with an NCO whistle attached to the first button, and tropical unteroffizier shoulder boards. He believed the shoulder boards were reproductions, and replaced them with authentic non tropical EM shoulder boards. I still have the tropical boards, so maybe someone here could tell me if they really are repros.

The shoulder boards and whistle that came with this tunic I believe were added. The collar insignia shows the rank of EM, not unteroffizier. So even if the tropical boards turn out to be real, they wouldn’t display with this uniform.

So here are my two questions. Would a tropical tunic like this example ever be found with non tropical shoulder boards? Lastly, would a regular non tropical belt ever be used in conjunction with a uniform like mine? I recently bought myself a nice Wehrmacht Belt/Buckle set, and was wondering if it would look correct if I displayed it on this tunic.

Any and all opinions are welcome!

PS- This tunic came with a first aid packet still inside its internal pocket!

[BrodieBartfast]

A very nice tropical combat tunic! I wouldn't mind one of these myself.

As for the shoulder boards, I would offer my amateur's opinion and say that the tropical boards are reproductions. They would also be incorrect for this tunic, as there is no silver tress on the collar to indicate an NCO rank. Non-tropical shoulder boards would not typically be seen on a tropical tunic, but they will do fine as stand-ins until you can find a set of tropical EM boards to replace them.

In regards to the belt, it would be better to find a tropical webbing belt. They're expensive, but worth it to build an authentic tropical uniform. That does mean greater expense, but the end result will be worth the extra cash spent (in my opinion).

Regards, B.B.

[Luftwaffe 1941]

A very nice tropical combat tunic! I wouldn't mind one of these myself.

As for the shoulder boards, I would offer my amateur's opinion and say that the tropical boards are reproductions. They would also be incorrect for this tunic, as there is no silver tress on the collar to indicate an NCO rank. Non-tropical shoulder boards would not typically be seen on a tropical tunic, but they will do fine as stand-ins until you can find a set of tropical EM boards to replace them.

In regards to the belt, it would be better to find a tropical webbing belt. They're expensive, but worth it to build an authentic tropical uniform. That does mean greater expense, but the end result will be worth the extra cash spent (in my opinion).

Regards, B.B.

Thanks for your thoughts BB!

I'll be on the hunt for the proper shoulder boards and belt then. Now that I think about it i'd much rather display this tunic with the correct accessories, then trying to force it all together using the wrong pieces. For now i'll be displaying that regular Heer belt on it's own. It may be challenging 'and expensive' to gather the correct pieces, but as you just said in the end it will be worth it.

Thanks again for the advice, you talked some sense into me!

Best regards- Jarret

[JPhilip]

Hello,
There is no tropical combat tunic , tropical walking out tunic or tropical dress tunic, just tropical tunics of the first, second or third type.
This one is the third type. Tropical tunics were not worn in Afrika only, but on almost all fronts where the german army fought, including Soviet Union, France, Italy, in the Balkans, Greece, Romania etc....
Many wartime photos show late tropical tunics worn with woolen shoulderstraps and leather belts (often with steel buckles).
The tropical shoulderstraps and webbing belt are nice and representative of the african campaign but when a german soldier was issued a tropical tunic, he didn't receive for sure the latters. During the 1943-45 period, web belts were also worn with woolen or camouflaged tunics...
This tunic is nice...
Thanks

[NZMark]

That's an attractive 3rd pattern tunic - some wear to it but not abused. May we see the depot stamp, please? 3rd pattern tunics were first manufactured and worn in Tunisia by late 1942 - I am still looking for an affordable 1942 dated example (I have seen two so far) so they are out there, but the majority date from 1943. Wool straps are very commonly seen on tropical tunics so no problem there, while leather belts were also very commonly used with tropical uniforms.
Regards,
Mark
NZ

[Luftwaffe 1941]

Sorry for the late response, I just now saw your post.

I looked high and low, and unfortunately I couldn't find any depot stamps on the inside of the tunic. So the exact date of manufacture on this example remains unknown. Since it's the later 3rd pattern I assumed it would have been used in places like Italy, Greece, and Southern France. I had no idea some of these made it to Tunisia by late 1942. Thanks for sharing that with me! I also want to thank you for giving me your thoughts on leather belts and wool shoulder boards being used on tropical tunics. Since first posting this thread I have displayed the tunic and belt together in a glass display frame on my wall. All the pieces look fantastic displayed together! I'm hoping to post some photos of the display on this thread soon.

Best regards- Jarret