Original German WWII Heer Army Medium Grade Administrative Official M36 Uniform Tunic Dated 1940 - Modified From Enlisted Tunic

Item DescriptionOriginal Item: Only One Available. This is a very nice German WWIIHeeresverwaltung(Army Administration) M-36Dienstrock(Service Tunic), which was converted during the period from an enlisted tunic, and is in excellent condition. It looks like theflaschengrün(dark bottle-green) collar was replaced with a gray one, and it also had a strap an eyelet installed on the interior for use with an officer / official's dagger. Definitely an interesting and great looking tunic!During World War II, officials of the Army administration (Heeresverwaltung, short HV), also referred to as theWehrmachtbeamte(Armed Forces Officials), wore military rank insignias similar to those of the Wehrmacht. These were separate from any other insignia they would wear while serving in the Wehrmacht, war economy, or in military education facilities, and so forth.Originally, Heer Army officials normally wore, in addition to their dark green main corps colour (Haupt-Waffenfarbe), a secondary colour (Nebenfarbe) denoting their branch. The Nebenfarbe was worn as piping surrounding the collar Litzen and underneath the shoulder boards on top of the dark green Waffenfarbe. In March 1940 distinct Nebenfarben were abolished and replaced with light grey. Asthis uniform tunic is post 1940, we are unfortunately unable to tell their exact function and/or branch, we can just tell the relative rank they were in the organization, as compared to military ranks.This tunic conforms well to the M36 pattern, and features four pleated pockets with scalloped flaps and green painted pebbled buttons, and has a five button front closure, with two 'hook and loop' fasteners for the collar. The non-magnetic buttons on the tunic are sewn directly to the fabric, not attached with metal circlips, which does make them more prone to loss, but all are still present. The interior is partially lined with olive canvas twill, with reinforcements around the sleeves, as well as the usual bandage pocket on the lower right interior. There are holes for belt clips, however the straps have been removed, and there are two metal clips installed to sit on top of an interior belt or perhaps trousers. The sleeves are unlined, and there are maker and size markings on the right front interior, though the maker mark is too faint to read. The sizes are clear, and there is anE.40marking, for 1940 processing through the Erfurt clothing depot.It is adorned with the usual rank and branch insignia used on German Army tunics, including a lovely hand embroidered officer style silver bullion eagle on aflaschengrün(dark bottle-green) background. The insignia used by the Heeresverwaltung were for the most part the same as those used by the regular Heer, except that they would have two differentWaffenfarbe(corps colors), theDunkel-grün(Dark Green) of the Army Administration, and then a separate branch color, which linked to what aspect of the army they were worked for. The shoulder boards and litzen collar tabs would both incorporate this aspect, however as noted before, this is a tunic from 1940 and later, after which light gray was used for the branch color by all members.The collar on this tunic is wrapped in blue gray wool, and has Army AdministrationMitte Dienst(Medium Service) litzen collar patches on each side, for officials with rank equivalent to company grade officers (Leutnant to Hauptmann).These feature aHellgrau(light gray) background with hand embroidered pointed tip litzen in silver/aluminum wire threads, featuring a regulation 'V' patterned, twisted green center stripe. They featureDunkelgrün(Dark Green) rayon piping on all but the forward edge, which is correct for this rank of the HV. The color is in excellent condition, showing very little wear of any kind, though there is some wear to the collar tabs.The 'sew-in' style company grade style officersschulterklappen(shoulder boards) of this tunic are constructed with two rows of fine silver flatware 'Russia Braid' double piping, with a thin row of dark green piping between them, which go around the entire edge. Under this is light gray piping, with more dark green piping underneath. There is a single rank pip present, so they held a rank equivalent toOberleutnantin the Heer Army. There is also a metal silvered HV cypher installed for the Heeresverwaltung. There is unfortunately not much information out there regarding the rank structure of the Army Administration, so we do not know what 'title' the rank insignia indicate.An excellent condition Army Administration Middle Grade Officials tunic, converted from enlisted during the war. Ready to research and display!Approximate Measurements:-Collar to shoulder: 8'Shoulder to sleeve: 24'Shoulder to shoulder: 16'Chest width: 19'Waist: 18'Hip: 20'Front length: 30'German WWII Army Tunics:Terms such as M40 and M43 were never designated by the Wehrmacht, but are names given to the different versions of the Model 1936 field tunic by modern collectors, to discern between variations, as the M36 was steadily simplified and tweaked due to production time problems and combat experience.Field Tunic (Feldbluse) Model 1936When the NSDAP came to power in early 1933 the Reichswehr, the armed forces of the Weimar Republic, were near the end of a two-year project to redesign the Army Feldbluse (field-blouse). Beginning in that year the new tunic was issued to the Reichsheer and then the rapidly growing Wehrmacht Heer, although minor design changes continued to be made until the appearance of the standardized Heeres Dienstanzug Modell 1936. The M36 tunic still retained the traditional Imperial and Reichswehr uniform color of grey-green 'field gray' (feldgrau) wool, but incorporated four front patch pockets with scalloped flaps and pleats (on Reichswehr tunics the lower pockets were internal and angled). The front was closed with five buttons rather than the previous eight, and the collar and shoulder straps were of a dark bottle-green instead of the Reichswehr grey. Compared to the Weimar-era uniforms the skirt of the feldbluse was shorter and the tailoring was more form-fitting due to Germany's adoption of mechanized warfare: soldiers now spent much time in the confined space of a vehicle and a shorter jacket was less likely to pick up dirt from the seats. It also included an internal suspension system, whereby a soldier could hang an equipment belt on a series of hooks outside of the tunic. These hooks were connected to two straps inside the lining, which spread the weight of equipment without having to use external equipment suspenders. The M36 was produced and issued until the very end of the war, though successive patterns became predominant.SS field uniforms were of similar appearance externally but to fit their larger patches had a wider, feldgrau collar, and the lower pockets were of an angled slash type similar to the black or grey SS service-dress. The second button of an SS Feldbluse was positioned somewhat lower, so that it could be worn open-collar with a necktie. Due to supply problems the SS were often issued army uniforms.Shipping RestrictionsThis product is available for international shipping.Shipping not available to: Australia, France, or GermanyPayment OptionsNot eligible for payment with Paypal or AmazonLegal InformationDue to legal restrictions this item cannot be shipped to Australia, France or Germany. This is not a comprehensive list and other countries may be added in the future.