I posted this Waffenrock in the collection display forum as part of the grouping of recent arrivals yesterday. I’ve owned another (NCO) Pionier Waffenrock since the late ’80’s but never had one with the white outlined unit numbers which I think are pretty striking. I saw this one listed for sale and checked the unit history. Pionier-Battalion 27 was stood up in October of 1937 and was assigned to the 27. Infanterie Division. Three years later in October of 1940, it was converted to a Panzer-Pionier-Battalion as the entire 27. Infanterie-Division was converted into a Panzer Division, the 17. Panzer-Division to be exact. Being a big fan of collecting items pertaining to panzer divisions, especially a uniform from (ultimately) a Panzer-Pionier-Battalion, I decided it would be a good piece for my collection. Unfortunately the tunic has a bit of mothing, particularly in the fine badge cloth of the cuffs. However, it’s unit association overrode my normal objections to that level of mothing. There are clear traces of a removed Gefreiter or Obergefreiter stripe on the sleeve, with remnants of the stitching still evident.

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