Artillerie Waffenrock w/ strange story

[RustyRelics]

This is my first acquisition of 2023, and I didn't pay a dime for it!





So today I present to you my first Waffenrock, an artillerie waffenrock to be exact. It's a bit mothy, but it's not horrible and is still quite displayable. It has all but one of it's silvered buttons, and everything is piped in red for the artillery branch of the Wehrmacht. The eagle is bullion, indicating that this was for an officer or NCO of some sort. I couldn't find any labels, or markings on the inside, but I don't know if Waffenrocks even had them. It has some award loops that I'm tempted to use.


How I got it was an interesting story.


My boss knows about my collection, and she knows I have things from the dastardly Germans, so when she saw me coming off the production floor yesterday morning, she took me aside and said, "Hey, you collect Military stuff, right? I have a swastika jacket that my dad had, and I was wondering if you could take it off of my hands, and get it out of my house."

I drove to her house, and she came out the door with the jacket in a garbage bag. When I opened it up, and saw what was inside, I got really excited, but didn't show it. She then proceeded to tell me that in his last years, her dad decided to collect all kinds of militaria, mostly from the Cold War, and later American stuff. When he died last year, she gave most of the items to her brother, but he refused to take the jacket because he thought it was a "nazi killing squad" jacket, and he actually advised her to burn it. (luckily she didn't). it sat in her garage for a couple of months, but this month she had to get rid of it one way or another, because she and her Jewish fiancé were moving in together. Then she remembered hearing me chatting with a buddy of mine in the breakroom about my collection of Ike Jackets, and that's when she thought of me.


She paid me $20 for gas, and thanked me. I was almost too excited to speak, so I thanked her real quick, and tore off home.


There's nothing to it, just a plain jane jacket with no history, markings or fancy doo-dads, but it was free and my first, so I'll enjoy it for now.

[kwc271]

Wow! It doesn’t get any better than that! Great score! I personally don’t have an authentic WW2 German uniform in my collection yet, I just can’t afford one(at least a good one). I am envious

[lebus12]

Nice story with a happy end !

[RustyRelics]

Wow! It doesn’t get any better than that! Great score! I personally don’t have an authentic WW2 German uniform in my collection yet, I just can’t afford one(at least a good one). I am envious

It'll happen omne day, just gotta save up for them. If I quit buying miscellaneous relics and Ike Jackets, I probably could afford a M35 Jacket every now and then.

[kwc271]

Yeah, me too. I think that may be my problem as well

[TWS]

Great score for the price! The rank is for an NCO, Unteroffizier to be precise. It appears the regimental numbers were picked out of the shoulder straps. That was common because during the war there was an order to do that. Although that order often disobeyed because the soldiers weren't wearing the parade Waffenrocks often at all after that point and they didn't bother to fish them out and pick out the numerals.

At a minimum, I'd say you need to at least treat her to lunch one day soon.

[Neil Hever]

I may have a replacement button if you need it. Neil