wwii axis reenactment forum

Hello friend,
i'm Alex. I'm looking for some tips on the GJ uniforms of Reichswehr and Wehrmacht eras.
On Angolia's Uniforms and traditions of the German Army i read that the Gebirgler of the Reichswehr wore a pair of special trouser similar the breeches of the mounted troops as well as the usually Kniebundhose. I'd like to know if they really existed or not because I didn't find any other reference about it.
Please let me know.
Regards,

Right , the following image is taken from ' The German Reichswehr' , Schlicht and Kraus. Sorry it's not a great image , but it illustrates perfectly the trouser/sock combination worn by the Gebirgsjager on mountain exercises. You can just make out the leather patches on the knees of the chap sat outside - essentially the same trousers worn by the Alpenkorp in the first war . Outside of exercises , GJ wore pretty much what the regulars wore, a close fitting set of breeches with three buttons below the knee, often with long Wickelgamaschen . The M36 Berghosen were adopted around 1936....

Same book , shows artillery and infantry , this time with normal trousers and Wickelgamaschen , and some with the patched trousers - its hard to make out the difference in these black and white pics dated 1925 .

Hello Halle, many thanks for your reply, very instructive.
Did the Reichswehr Gj's troop wore the Kniebundhose? In the Wehrmacht I know that this ankle pants were worn by the Hochgebirgstruppen and not by the normal GJs

Hi Alex ,
I think the kniebundhosen was generally worn on mountaineering excercises , not active service. I'm not sure whether the Reichswehr period saw them in use, but I don't see any reason why not. A couple of pictures from Roland Kaltennegers book ' Spezialverbande der Gebirgstruppe 1939-1945.





There's a difference in the two sets of kniebundhosen - the second picture shows guys in kletterhose , close to a civilian style , whereas the NCO at the top is wearing more the pattern you're talking about I think .

Guy at the bottom again wearing the Bergwacht badge ...

Guy at the bottom again wearing the Bergwacht badge ...