Camo Clothing

[jhv 41]

In this first pic, it appears these are sleeveless/tank top outfits. Maybe Italian troops - has anyone seen these before? In addition, is that Rommel on the left?











This is more in line with the camo outfit typically seen on Italian troops - poncho type. (like the carcano's too!)

 

[Seamie]

In this first pic, it appears these are sleeveless/tank top outfits. Maybe Italian troops - has anyone seen these before? In addition, is that Rommel on the left?


View attachment 91846








This is more in line with the camo outfit typically seen on Italian troops - poncho type. (like the carcano's too!)


View attachment 91847

It's a still from footage of Rommel inspecting the 21st Pz in Normandy, May 1944. The full Wochenschau may be available at the US national archive website or on Youtube.

 

[gummipuppe]

Wow! Italian camo sleeveless smocks. I've never seen this before. Maybe a material/cost savings measure?

 

[iron bender]

They're wearing their shelter halves in the prescribed manner as a camo cover. Germans did the same with their shelter .25's. Late war the army actually had a splinter pattern apron in inventory, similar to what you see in the film frame above.

 

[Hambone]

Cool pic, but the Germans Rommel is inspecting are wearing some form of camo painted burlap / sack cloth sleeveless camo aprons. The Italians are wearing Italian military issue M1929 telo mimetico (camo poncho / shelter half) folded up and worn in a manner shown for the issue M.31 German zeltbahn. The Italians had regulations for wearing the M.29 showing how it was to be folded. Importantly, the buttons on the Italian M.29 are arranged for this purpose or as a poncho.

As an aside, the Italians used this camo until recently:
http://www.kamouflage.net/camouflage/00295.php

 

[DaveDavis]

Ham has it nailed / those troops are wearing unit made improvised camouflage vests. Note the vehicle they are standing in front of appears to be modified French tank converted to an SP antitank vehicle. There was one German unit in the Normandy area that had dozens of these modified vehicles. You have to give the commander credit for making do with what was available, it had to have a positive effect on unit morale.

Now if an original vest turned up it would probably be howled down as fake. I guess XRF could test the paint

 

[jhv 41]

Now if an original vest turned up it would probably be howled down as fake. I guess XRF could test the paint

Bubba will be conjuring up some rare camo smocks soon

 

[DaveDavis]

Done found me an old feed sack, and bought paint this very day. Look out folks, here comes a rare one, for sure.

 

[sprat]

post war west german borderguard service had a sleeveless camo smock

 

[Hambone]

They had some cool burlap sack / scrim camo'd lids too. Would love to have one, though I reckon I could make one and bury it for awhile and come up with the same thing cheaper It's pretty cool to see how the whole Blitzkrieg thing became "we better all look like bushes from the air". Gotta like a P.47D (unless you're a German soldier)

This is, IMHO, the real thing, however, and is interesting in that it appears to be the same camo idea as the vests / aprons:

 

[mauser202]

They had some cool burlap sack / scrim camo'd lids too. Would love to have one, though I reckon I could make one and bury it for awhile and come up with the same thing cheaper It's pretty cool to see how the whole Blitzkrieg thing became "we better all look like bushes from the air". Gotta like a P.47D (unless you're a German soldier)

This is, IMHO, the real thing, however, and is interesting in that it appears to be the same camo idea as the vests / aprons:

Is this from your collection? Really cool.

 

[jhv 41]

.....................................

Rommel: Am I to understand you men made these camo smocks yourselves?

Soldat: That's the facts Jack!

 

[Wilhelm]

The German soldier was still making custom stuff out of existing camo into at least the 50's: