Shoulderstraps - Gebirgsjäger / Jäger (& some shoulder slides)

[PaulW]

Hi, just showing some 'M40' style Gebirgsjager / Jaeger enlisted man shoulder straps, nothing special but I have been looking for a pair for quite a while and had almost given up! Thank-you to German E-Bay!

I also picked up some shoulder strap slides at the same time which I will also show.


The straps are well worn with the wool nap largely worn away and with corresponding wear to the rayon piping.

They are slightly mismatched in length (one is 11cm, and the other 12cm) but I think possibly worn as a pair? One has more wear to the piping, perhaps (if worn as a pair) one shoulder was used more than the other - for carrying weapons/ kit etc?

Hope you like them!

Regards, Paul

[PaulW]

Shown next to a Panzer-Grenadier pair for comparison.

[PaulW]

Showing on an M42 tunic with a similar wear to the nap. A good match, what a pity it's not a Jaeger tunic!

[reneblacky]

Great to see the comparisons Thanks for showing.

[PaulW]

The Bau Battalion 159 shoulder strap slides shown on a pair of Bau straps. Of course they were sold as Kradschutzen - they always are! (££££ )

As it happens my interest is more Bau...

Brücken-Bau-Bataillone - Lexikon der Wehrmacht

- the 159th was a Bridging Unit with the 2nd Panzer Army on the Eastern Front for some of it's existence, in 1943 it was absorbed into the Pioneer arm along with other Bau units. After that this Brown Waffenfarbe was only used by a few Units tasked with using 'compliant' POW's with construction duties until the end of the war.

Note the variation in the hue either from initial dye batch variations, or storage/ fading over the years. Even the shoulder straps rayon piping have a minor hue variation. It can be something as simple as one on top of the other, exposed to daylight, for years, perhaps decades whilst in a collection...

[PaulW]

The Infantry Regiment 313 slides. This Regiment was part of the 246th Infantry Division until 01-01-42 when it was attached to the 337th Infantry Division, with which they went to Russia later in 1942. They had a tough time with Army Group Centre before being almost destroyed by the July 1944 Soviet Bagration Offensive. What was left of them was later reformed as a Volksgrenadier Division later in 1944.

There is no Divisional history for either of those two Divisions, but there is one for the 313 Regiment which makes these slides more interesting than they otherwise would be. Published in 1961 by veterans, luckily I managed to find a copy:-

W. Schmidt/W. Mittelsteiner/W. Kieser: Die Geschichte eines Infanterie-Regiments 1939 - 1945. Geschichte des Infanterie-/Grenadier-Regiments 313, Wiesbaden 1961

Lexikon der Wehrmacht - Some brief information on the Lexikon der Wehrmacht, which of course leads to more information when following various links.

This is actually my second pair (first pair shown on the Infantry straps). I liked them so much I bought them twice!

Regards, Paul

[PaulW]

Great to see the comparisons Thanks for showing.

A pleasure Rene!

Was very pleased to find these straps, the 159 and 'spare' 313 slides were a bonus. German E-Bay is definitely worth a look occasionally!

Best regards, Paul

[reneblacky]

Best to you Paul.