Heer Mantel

[ME110]

A new addition to my Heer Collection.
A ‘Mantel fur Fahrer vom Bock’ - coat for drivers (sitting) on (horse drawn vehicles) seat. Fully lined with Fox fur and with a wide fit for comfortable seating. In good condition with the often missing hood.
These coats came with and without the leather reinforcement at the shoulders, but the distinguishing feature is the leather patches at the waist side.
Talking of the waist side leather patches, many authors have claimed that these were for the holding of stick grenades whilst on sentry duty (notably Angolia and Schlicht in their famous ‘Uniforms and Traditions of the German Army Volume 1). However I find this very hard to believe. Indeed on my example the width of the leather band is such that it would probably be physically impossible to fit the shaft of a stick grenade through it. I have seen no wartime written or photographic evidence of this. Given that this Mantel was initially specifically designed for horse drawn vehicle drivers, I think it is far more likely that the side leather patches are associated with the use of horse reigns etc? (Although I am the first to admit that I have no direct evidence of this). It is also worth stating that like in all armies, this Mantel was often used for roles other than that which it was originally intended - such as cold weather clothing, Sentry Guard Coat etc - a good example of this is von Paulus wearing an example of this type of Mantel when he surrendered the 6th Army at Stalingrad.
Cheers,
Colin

[ME110]

Paulus wearing an example of the above Mantel.

[Kohima]

Fabulous example, Colin!
Great to see such an item, as I have a penchant for the less ‘glamorous’ arms, who kept the whole thing going.
Like you, I find it extremely unlikely that the underarm reinforcement panels were for grenades. The coat is specifically intended for supply use and not a frontline garment.
The greatest threat to a column would probably come from the air, for which the odd MG might come in handy, though partisan ground attacks cannot be ruled out.

As outstanding as the U&T works are, the authors do occasionally misdescribe and misinterpret details and it’s best to re-examine the information given against original examples.
However, these panels are clearly designed to carry something, potentially, abrasive... Much scouring of period images required, methinks!

[TWS]

Wow! Great example of an uncommon Mantel. Congratulations Colin! Thanks for sharing and allowing members to see an example of this model.

FYI, Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Paulus was not a "von".

[ME110]

An example of this type in wear from the famous Brian Davis book.

[JPhilip]

Hello,
A great example, the condition is just perfect.
You know what i think about this type of Mantel.
Thanks