Hi all, showing a recent acquisition. I had another M44 tunic in Italian (green) cloth, but this example is made from a brownish-green ‘Feldgrau 44′ cloth that is a near perfect match to my Heer M43 cap. My main interest is Luftwaffe Enlisted blue-grey uniforms, but the late war Heer EM uniforms have always had an appeal for me. Hope you like it!

I will post the dealer pictures first - from this link:-

http://www.virtualgrenadier.com/sale_item.php?iid=4815

in case the link is deleted in the future. Thanks to Mike Davis of Virtual Grenadier - great service as usual - cool militaria, and will then add a few pictures of my own.

The jacket came without history from a consignor to the above vendor, and therefore there is nothing to indicate that the shoulder straps have been on since the war, however the condition is a great match and so who knows? As for Grenadier Regiment 696, this was part of the 340th Volks-Grenadier Division which was formed in September 1944 and unlike some Regimental ‘Überschübe’ slip-ons they are feasible for the late-war time period, as some units had effectively ceased to exist by that stage of the war. The 340th Volks-Grenadier Division (considered a very effective unit) also had a very prestigious commander, Theodor Tolsdorff, one of only 27 recipients of the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds no less…. and apparently nick-named "Tolsdorff the Mad" by his men because of his reckless courage.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodor_Tolsdorff
https://ww2gravestone.com/people/tol…dorff-the-mad/

One shoulder strap shows slightly cleaner piping behind where the slide sits, but even if the the straps did have slides on originally it doesn’t mean these particular slip-ons, but you never know….

If anyone recognises this jacket from earlier collections or previously owned it and knows of history (veteran related etc), please feel free to PM me in confidence, as items with history is definitely my thing!

Regards, Paul

Click to enlarge the picture