Four Bees: Grenzpolizei-Grenztruppen Der DDR, Sommer Uniform - Arbeitsjacke......................East German Border Police Summer Uniform Tunic

Here is the latest addition to my growing collection of items for the Bundesgrenzschutz bicycle set up. I found this tunic down in California at a military surplus store (online) advertised as a "German Work Shirt". I ordered one up and it arrived yesterday. The tunic is actually an East German summer-weight uniform tunic that is unlined and, I believe, is actually a field "work" uniform, something like the modern BDU fatigues worn in the field by today's soldiers. I will be using this tunic to put together a replica Bundesgrenzschutz lightweight field uniform from the the 1950's. I have the shoulder eagle already, but still need to find a set of shoulder boards.

East German Troopers in the Summer field uniform

The Bundesgrenzschutz adopted a lightweight work uniform in 1956 and used it until it was officially replaced in 1958 by the camouflage field uniforms. The green work uniforms were used up through 1960, while the new camo outfits were phased in. The uniforms were constructed of olive green moleskin fabric, not the normal brighter BGS green. They were basically an olive drab BDU.

Here's a couple of pictures of the Bundesgrenzschutz work uniform being worn:

Here's the run down on the East German tunic I have............. This tunic is in brand-new and unissued condition. This style of field tunic was used by the East German Border Police in the 1970's and 80's. The tunic is made of a lightweight, green. cotton blend fabric with aluminum pebbled buttons. There are smaller, pressed fiber buttons, that line the collar and at the sleeve cuffs. The label code indicates that the tunic dates to 1981. The seams inside the jacket have a loose-weave polyester binding that is very typical on DDR field clothing from the 1970's and 1980's. The number 504-16 is stamped inside, on a number of the fabric panels of the tunic. I'm not certain what the meaning of these number is, but they may identify a certain size of the cut pieces to aid in assembly of the tunic at the factory. There are attachment eyelets and a a loop on each shoulder for the attachment of shoulder boards.

This tunic actually looks pretty darn close to the WW2 Afrika Korps tropical uniform! I'm sure it could be used to make up a pretty good replica uniform with the right insignia..........here's what the WW2 Afrika Korps version of this uniform looks like: