Tropical sleeve edelweiss?

[Stosser]

We were talking this past weekend about how common this insignia would have been.

Probably only the GJ Kp. of Svb. 288 wore it. The 756th GJR probably didn't get much DAK stuff before they shipped. When the 1st and 5th GJD came to the Med in late '43, it seems doubtful that they would have switched much of their kit.

What are others' opinions?

[Yuri]

Never seen any of them. Have You got any photos ?

[glenn]

Same question, do you have period photos of it? Only pictures make things true...

[Grabenkater]

I have read that these were not intended for issue to Heer GJ units, but were produced to be for political (brown uniforms) mountaineering clubs. I have never seen one on a Heer issue uniform thats guarenteed to be applied in period.

[Stosser]

We've found no pictures and that is the reason for the question. IF they existed, they must then have been very rare. For that matter, I don't ever recall actually seeing a picture of any Svb. 288 units.

There are some vendors that have sold them (Cyrus Lee and National Capital Historical Sales, for instance), but we'd like to find some documentation before adding them to our impression.

[Heeresbergführer]

Servus Wüste-Gebirgsjägern,

From all the research that I've been doing for the last 30 years or so on this subject, I have yet to see any evidence of the Tropical Edelweiss being worn. I have Werner Kost's (Oberleutnant 1. Zug/2. Kompanie/ Sonderverband 288) book "Gebirgsjäger in Libyens Wüste," plus several other books and periodicals, all of them show Gebirgsjägers in North Africa wearing the standard continental Edelweiss on Dark Green or Field Grey.

Here are a few photos from my collection also:






Horrido!

"Papa"

[Heeresbergführer]

The 756th GJR probably didn't get much DAK stuff before they shipped.

This is the typical DAK issue clothing and equipment that the 756th GJR wore in Tunisia:

When the 1st and 5th GJD came to the Med in late '43, it seems doubtful that they would have switched much of their kit. What are others' opinions?

The 1st and 4th GJD's were being issued tropical kit in the Kuban (Southern Rissia) in early 1943. Plus, the 1st wore mostly tropicals in Greece and Yugoslavia.


In Italy, you would see a mixture of tropical and continental clothing.
5th. GJD Officer:


I would highly recommend that you get Roland Kaltenegger's book "German Mountain Troops in World War II"


http://www.amazon.com/German-Mountain-T ... 079&sr=8-1

[Stosser]

Thank you, Patrick, for the staged picture of a reenactor doing the 756th.
Can you cite some original sources related to what he 756th wore?
Thanks!

[Heeresbergführer]

Servus Stosser,

The "staged" photo is a reconstruction of original uniform and equipment being worn by a model from an article "Les Gebirgsjäger de la Panzerarmee Afrika, 1941-1943" in the French magazine "Armes Militaria No.87."

Here are a few other references for you to check out:

AFRIKAKORPS: Tropical Uniforms of the German Army 1940-1945 by Jacques Scipion & Yves Bastien.

AFRIKAKORPS: Tropical Uniforms, Insignia & Equipment of the German Soldier in World War II by Robert Kurtz

ROMMEL'S ARMY IN AFRICA by Dal McGuirk

AFRIKAKORPS 1941-43 by Gordon Williamson

THE GERMAN ARMY 1939-45 (2) NORTH AFRICA & BALKANS by Nigel Thomas

Gebirgsjäger: German Mountain Trooper 1939-1945 by Gordon Williamson

Die deutsche Gebirgstruppe 1935-1945 by Roland Kaltenegger


Good reading and good luck with your impression.

Mit einem kameradschaftlichen Horrido!

Patrick

[Stosser]

Thanks, Patrick, for the list of references.
I have seen them all except the Scipion and Kurtz books. Do they have any specific references to Gebirgs Infantrie Regiment 756?
One of the few Geman sources I've located, Possinger's book on the 334th Divison (parent of 756), deals only with the division's time in Italy.
George Forty makes mention of his conjecture of their uniform and equipment in "The Armies of Rommel". The staged French photo you posted is nice, but is, again, only conjecture.
So the question remains, are there any original sources about what the 756th wore in North Africa and the wear of the "tropical" edelweiss?

[Heeresbergführer]

Servus Herr Blofeld,

Kaltenegger's book "Die geutsche Gebirgstruppe 1935-1945" mentions that the 334th Division was outfitted with tropical uniforms and received the new MG-42. There are also several photos in this book showing 756th Gebirgsjägers wearing tropical uniforms...caps, tunics, breeches with knee length Wickelgamaschen, mountain boots, and continental green or feldgrau backed sleeve Edelweiss.

Dal McGuirk's book also has a nice photo from the Imperial War Museum showing POW's from Geb.Jäg.Rgt 756 captured by the Green Howards in Tunisia, April 1943. All are wearing tropical uniforms.

My guess, from looking at these photos and reading what has been written, is that the standard Gebirgsjäger in the 756th Regiment pretty much wore the "staged" uniform shown in my previous post.

Now I've been in this hobby of collecting original militaria since I was a kid in the 1960's, and far be it from me to say that anything dealing with the German Army in World War II is set in stone. I am always searching, learning and finding new things about Gebirgsjägers. I would love to see an original tropical Edelweiss show up in a photograph and/or an original tunic. Please post something when you find it.

Mit einem kameradschaftlichen Horrido!

Patrick