-
Unusual Soviet Uniform
At least it's unusual to me!
I picked this one up for a very good price a few days ago. It has been 'rebuttoned', with one missing and none of them original to the tunic, but I plan on replacing them with a matching set soon. As stated in the title, this is not a pattern of Soviet uniform that I am familiar with. It clearly belonged to a man serving in the armoured forces, an enlisted man going on the insignia (or lack thereof). The material is very heavy and coarse, and it has been padded internally, particularly around the chest and shoulder area.
It has a medal bar attached to it, an uncommon version made of plastic, with what I believe are an original trio including the Medal for Battle Merit, Medal for the Defence of Stalingrad, and the Medal for the Victory over Germany. The Medal for Battle Merit is unfortunately not numbered. Whether the bar is original to the tunic or not I have no idea, but it proved impossible to remove without risking breakage, so I've left it in place. I've also since added a guards badge to the other side, as there was a hole indicating one had been there previously.
There is an ink stamp inside, along with several versions of the original wearer's service number, including one stitched in white thread! The date appears to be either 1952 or 1953, though it's a little difficult to make out. The 5 could even be a 6.
This uniform does have some problems, but I'm pretty pleased with it overall, especially for the price!
B.B.
-
04-24-2023 11:40 AM
# ADS
Circuit advertisement
-
-
by
Kohima
Made in Kyiv!
That’s a nice surprise, given I’ve been buying a lot of stuff from Ukraine recently. This one came from a UK dealer, though!
I also add, because I forgot to in the initial post: if I were to replace the buttons on this tunic, should they be polished brass or green painted? I’m erring on the side of the former, given the buttons on the shoulder straps.
B.B.
-
Hello Brodie!
From the looks of it, this is an Obr.55 parade/formal uniform for a conscript of the Soviet army. The shoulder boards are also the 1955 model, and the tunic is missing its black collar tabs.
In my opinion, the date is 1963. The medals do not belong to the uniform (he was a conscript, was probably only born near the end of the war or straight after), however are a nice little bonus.
The material is salt and pepper cotton, which was rather rare to be seen. I believe they only used it for a couple of years to make tunics, as the only other 2 salt and pepper cotton tunics I've seen are both dated 1963.
May I ask how much you paid for this?
.
Bookmarks