Heer Cuff Title Question, What Might Have Been Here?

[Eddie]

Hi guys, I have a tunic that I got a few months back and I was just going over it and noticed that there was a spot on the right sleeve where a cuff title seems to have been. I searched the forum for "Heer Cuff title", and found a thread where Ade describes the possibilities:

"Grossdeutschland
Propagandakompanie (Grey waffenfarbe piping to the litzen and shoulder straps)
Heersmusikschule (Worn at the school)
Unteroffiziervorschule (Worn at the school)"

I believe the tunic to have been stripped after the war and it has replaced insignia, so I wouldn't guess much based on what's on it now, but do you guys have any guesses or clues on how to determine what cuff title this may have been, of the four listed above? Here are some pictures of the thread and where the cuff title was, and it is exactly 14 cm from the cuff.



Thanks!
Eddie

[Eddie]

* I found it fairly hard to get a good photo, even in good direct sunlight, the measuring tape in the first photo is meant to represent where the cuff title seems to have been, and the distance from the cuff to where it looks to have been sewn on in the second photo.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Eddie, there is one other very slight possiblity and that is the Afrikakorps cuff title. Very few troops got home leave from Afrika, but their is photographic evidence of the the title being worn on the regular wool continental M36 tunic.

As the tunic has been stripped it is impossible to say what might have once been there.

My biggest concern is that collectors mess around with things, adding or even taking away items of insignia just because the tunic is not what they want, with no regard to historical integrety. This really muddies the waters and many years ago it was not even frowned upon like we would now.

My other concern is the wear to the knap of the wool where a title once sat. It is very worn and more or less matches the rest of the sleeve. Had a cuff title sat there during the war for any length of time, one would expect the cloth to be in better condition with much more of the woolen knap to the cloth showing. This would especially have been true had it been a "GD" or Propagandakompanie cuff title. Less so perhaps with the school titles as these would have only been worn for a few months.

Cheers, Ade.

[Eddie]

Hi Ade, thanks for the fast reply!

You make a good point about collectors adding things, that could very well be what's going on. It's easiest to see the outline on the back of the sleeve for some reason, and you're right, there's not a lot of nap where you'd expect it to be. I took a picture of this sleeve with the sleeve of my Der Spiess Feldbluse, to show the difference in wear, now, the Der Spiess Feldbluse is nearly a rag due to wear, but maybe these pics might give better clarity?

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Eddie, the "piston rings" where the Spiess' rank tresse once sat are indeed much easier to see and is really much more like what one would expect.

The "GD" title is possibly the best bet, but only going by numbers alone. There would have been more of these around than any of the other possibilities. As an aside, there are far too many "GD" tunics around today for my liking.

Cheers, Ade.

[Eddie]

Thanks Ade, I suspect that you're right especially in regards to the knap wear. Man, I love this hobby, but stuff that's been tinkered with is such a bummer and so frustrating! I bet there are way too many GD tunics around than there should be, so obnoxious what people do to these things. I like restoring objects when it's within reason and likely that the way it's being restored to is more or less what it was in 1945, adding stuff that was never there though...