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Post by wustenfuchs on Dec 28, 2015 22:22:23 GMT -5
Alright. I'm building a Fallschirmäger impression. I wanted to do Eastern front for a number of reasons. First of all, I have relatives who fought in WWII (American) and I don't want to do Western front where I'd be fighting Americans. Second, most of the people in my group are Eastern front, so I'd like to do something similar. There are other reasons, but I'd prefer to get straight to it.
Now, I'd prefer to do early war. Can anyone give me any information on Fallschirmjägers on the Eastern front, or point me towards some sources where I can find the information myself?
I also have a question involving rank. I'm a Feldwebel, and as I understand it, the collar tabs have 3 gulls, with the tresse on the collar and the shoulder boards have the tresse and one pip. Am I correct, or did I miss something? And does it matter if the pip is silver or gold?
Thanks in advance.
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Post by aldrich on Dec 29, 2015 12:34:04 GMT -5
For a basic early war Fallschirmjager impression you have a couple of options. I believe the Germans only did para-drop operations only twice during the war on the Eastern front. Once during the very opening day, and the second during 1945. However, the paratroops fought in Russia as regular infantry for the entire length of the war. Good divisions to research would be the 9th and 10th Fallschirmjager, since they fought on the Eastern front for the entire war. I would go with an impression that would work for early invasion, to at least 1943, since at the very least someone at an event is bound to have a weapon or uniform from '43. Here is what I would suggest for a very basic impression: Helmet: m38 jump helmet painted feldblau with a single Luftwaffe eagle decal. Weather and camouflage it with tan mud. Tunic: m40 Fliegerbluse with insignia. Smock: Plain green or splinter B jump smock. Either is fine for different points in the war. Initially green was issued, then the camo, then when the camo stocks were running low they issued the leftover greens again. Some combat veterans liked to hold on to the green since it was a sign that they had been here longer. Field gear: Depends on the weapon. At the very least a brown service belt with Luftwaffe buckle, appropriate pouches in either brown leather or tan/green canvas, and the lightweight y straps in brown. For extra storage add a tan/green bread bag. I am not certain if the paratroops got the blue canvas pouches or if that was other Luftwaffe units so I would look that up first. Pants: m38 jump trousers Boots: 2nd model jump boots. (worst case scenario, these are somewhat similar to some combat boots, so if you need a stand in before you can save up for a quality good pair of jump boots, combat boots will work. Just make sure to find a surplus pair that is similar to the originals. Don't go cheap on the real reproduction boots! I have seen plenty of the cheap ones fall apart after even moderate use.) Insignia: Three gulls on yellow tabs. Silver tresse on the collar and shoulder boards. Shoulder boards should have yellow piping. Silver pip. Sleeve patch on the smock with three gulls. I think this covers most things. Once again, this is just a very basic impression, so feel free to tweak it or add on to it with your own research. Here are some reference pics from Russia: Summer/fall mid war: Winter Early-Mid war: Insignia: Smock sleeve insignia: Hope this helps!
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stuka
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Post by stuka on Dec 29, 2015 14:20:46 GMT -5
Kind of off topic but I am ddoing western front anything different there?
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Post by aldrich on Dec 29, 2015 14:32:13 GMT -5
Nothing major really, however, there were a few things that units did that were unique to their given area. For example, the units in Normandy or Italy could be seen with custom painted camo helmets. The style of the camo depending on the area. Units in Italy could also be seen wearing the tropical uniforms. During the battle of the bulge, depleted units were reinforced with recruits who were not even trained to do para-drops prior to the offensive. It wasn't uncommon for these "paratroopers" to be wearing an assortment of paratrooper, as well as regular Luftwaffe and army equipment such as field division smocks instead of paratrooper smocks and/or the regular German helmets instead of the paratrooper variants.
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Post by wustenfuchs on Dec 29, 2015 14:41:07 GMT -5
Thanks.
From a bit of research, it seems like both the 9th and 10th FJ divisions were formed later in the war, with the 10th formed in 1945.
And you said I should use a brown equipment belt?
Also, would I use a regular feldblau breast eagle for the smock, or the type with splinter B camouflage on the eagle?
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Post by aldrich on Dec 29, 2015 18:55:52 GMT -5
I will say that I am no expert of German paratroops, most of what I know comes from my research into other Luftwaffe combat units which I have more interest in. Those units used brown leather equipment, but then again, the FJ may have used black. Both styles of breast eagle were used on the Luftwaffe smocks, though if you use a green smock go with a wool backed eagle. Once again, I am no expert, so feel free to double check anything I say.
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Post by labrador on Dec 30, 2015 9:26:11 GMT -5
I've read lately that the M38 helmets never came in feldblau but were painted in the same apple green as the M35's. This was over at the Grun Teufel discussion group.
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Post by wustenfuchs on Jan 2, 2016 18:45:47 GMT -5
Another question... In CA (Monterrey bay area...) it doesn't really get cold during events. (I mainly airsoft in Marina at the field there at Ft. Ord) Wearing the wool Fliegerbluse AND smock is gonna be incredibly hot. Any ideas on how to make myself as comfortable as possible? I know they wore the collars of the Fliegerbluse over the collar of the smock, so I doubt I'd be able to get away with NOT wearing the Fliegerbluse.
PS: I also airsoft in Hollister, which is basically desert. It gets REALLY hot there, it'd be suicidal to wear the Fliegerbuse and smock! Would I just wear a tropical shirt in this situation?
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shiftysgarand
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Post by shiftysgarand on Jan 2, 2016 20:42:42 GMT -5
In places where it is suicidally hot, I have seen reenactors make a 'cut-off' of a German tunic (cut off the sleeves and chop the tunic below the top pockets or even higher) in order to have the collar visible but not die from heatstroke. Then again, I'd assume the real FJs just sucked it up and dealt with it... I am not an expert on German uniforms though, I'd do lots of research to see how FJs in Russia (where it can get very hot) dealt with the heat.
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Post by aldrich on Jan 2, 2016 20:49:26 GMT -5
I did not know that about the early helmets but that's pretty interesting! The German paratroopers had tropical uniforms and fought in Africa, Sicily, and Italy with these. This would be ideal for your situation. Unfortunately, these items would have been used against the western allies, and would have been very rare out east. Otherwise, I have seen photos of FJ in the tropical areas wearing the smock without the fliegerbluse. If it was warm enough they would do what they needed to do, especially in combat. I imagine they did this in Russia too. There are plenty of photos of regular infantry without their wool tunics in the summer heat in Russia.
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Post by wustenfuchs on Jan 2, 2016 21:24:57 GMT -5
I guess I'll just lose the Fliegerbluse if it gets too hot then. Thanks!
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Post by wustenfuchs on Jan 30, 2016 3:44:47 GMT -5
how's this, fellas? I've purchased the Fliegerbluse, jump pants, helmet, smock, sidecap and MP-40. Now, unfortunately... My group has decided to standardize our uniforms. (My idea, ironically) So this means I'll now be building a Wehrmacht impression. Oh well. I've still got all this cool Fallschirmjager stuff. ^thumbs up for the #1 best photo ever taken of me.
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