[Sticky] Fallschirmjäger Questions.

Yep, those are the ones, and I bought 3 bloody sets for FJ, LFD & Sanitater . Not happy with that at all.

I can handle slighty farby, but completely wrong takes the p**s a bit .

they bought from that italian dealer ?

always buy items like these from the Uk, not many people have them wrong here.

Tom

RAU's guls are top notch, just got 2 for myself. His yell tabs are also good, same colour as my original ones

Does anyone know what enlisted FJ would wear as service dress? I'm guessing LW blue Langehosen with marching boots (not jump trousers and jump boots), Fliegerbluse with blue shirt and black tie topped of with sidecap.

Any pics appreciated.

Martin, I had a look at this a few months ago for Stof's party, where I went as FJ. There were enormous variations, from M35 blue trousers with jackboots, shirt and tie, to jump trousers, short boots, Fliegerbluse with no shirt or tie! The pics I looked at were obviously all posed, some with sweethearts, some actual wedding photos. Basically, anything goes.

Interesting. So were they only issued combat uniform? Or did wearing that stuff have more kudos and differentiate them from the desk jockeys?

Well, I may not be interpreting correctly what "service uniform" is (sorry). I assumed you meant what did they wear on formal occasions ?

I was told that FJ were (obviously) proud of who they were, and so would often wear their Springerhosen rather than M35s, so people would know they weren't just regular Luftwaffe personnel.

Yes, that's exactly what I meant

Surely the collar tabs would identify them. Then again if you're after impressing the Laydeez....

Collar tabs might be confused with common or garden aircrew.

Had a quick look, but could not come up with any photos. I'm guessing that the jump qualification badge and the cuff title would tell people that you were Fallschirmjäger.

Depends what year which determines your walking out uniform.

Depending what Fj regiment you were determined if you have a cufftitle and also again, depending what year.
NOTE- this isnt the only look, there were many alterations to the uniform the soldier took upon himself to change, but if you want a guideline uniform, then follow the below.

Lets go for an early 1940 look.
You would want to wear a shirmütze with yellow piping ,
A tuchrock or waffenrock with yellow piping around the collar.
White shirt.
M1935 Straight leg trousers
Shoes or trousers over the jackboot.
* note, the blue shirt didnt hit the seen untill 1943
Black Tie
And if you can find one,a nice drop tail eagle.
And if you want to show what you are all about, a nice Fallschirmjäger Rgt 1 cufftitle and ofcourse the FJ badge.

Lets go a little later, say 1942 + tho the 1940 uniform could be used all the way through, this is just another possibility.

Again, shirmütze or the Side cap.
2nd Pattern Flieger with yellow piping or not.
White shirt or grey (blue from 1943)
Black Tie
M38 Jump pants or M1935 straight leg trousers.
Service shoes, or 2nd Pattern Jump boots.

I have lots of photos to support what i have written and when i get home tonight i will post some up for you to have a look at.

This is what i wear-

For unit dinners or special occasions-

Shirmütze
2nd pattern Piped collared Flieger- No cufftitle
White Shirt
Black Tie
straight leg trousers
shoes

For a more casual look , as often seen say like visiting pareants or popping out into the civvy district i wear '

Side Cap
Piped collared flieger
Grey shirt
Black tie
M38 Jump pants
1st or 2nd pattern jump boots.

Tho this year, ill be going for the tropical casual look

Following up on my post on Arnie's, I have been soaking up as much of the information found on and through this board as my brain will allow over the past couple of days. Apologies in advance for the long post...I'd rather be thourough than hog the thread for too long

I may have picked a rather unfortunate time to start up a WW2 German kit, as the affordable replicas all seem to be out of stock (%#$ you Chinese crackdown! ).

I'm not looking for re-enactor quality, but I don't want to do things glaringly wrong either. I'm aiming for authentic looking kit on a budget. I'd like to fit this into as wide a timeframe as possible, so I can turn up for most games in the same kit and not look out of place.

Phase 1 (Items to set the basic impression)

Epic:
- Fallschirmjager Jump Trousers (£64.95)
- German Paratrooper Jump Smock (£58.95) - (this is the green step-in type)
- Luftwaffe M43 ski cap (£16.95) - (chose this over the side cap, because of practicality)
- M43 Cap Eagle/Cockade Luftwaffe Woven (LW Blue) (£6.95)
- Luftwaffe Belt Buckle (£13.95)
- P38 Hard Shell Holster (£28.95) - (will probably just put a springer in there for the look)
- German EM Luftwaffe Brown Leather Belt (£15.95)
- Unsure on boots. British Army Boots Combat High seem to be in short supply these days. Will have to look around a bit. Maybe I can source something acceptable locally. Looking to spend less than £40
- Bread Bag (£13.95) - (blue or green?)

- I would like a scarf, but which material/colour would be best? - (while I realize this isn't a necessary item, I feel this can add a bit of character with minimal cost to an otherwise barebones impression)

- I'd prefer a Kar98, but seeing as there is no affordable replica (converting a DBoys is not an option for me due to local laws), I will probably end up with an MP40.

That's about £250-300 before replica (I may have to part with some modern kit to fund this )

Phase 2

- Either 2*3 MP40 pouches or a Kar98 bandolier, depending on which replica I end up with
- Helmet (apparently tricky. recommendations for a size 61 noggin?)
- Water bottle
- Fliegerbluse + Insignia
- Splinter B jump smock - (may not need it if I already have a green one, but ever since I was a kid, this has been the defining FJ item for me, so £65 well spent )

Say there was a game in early war setting. Do many FJ players turn up in their Splinter smocks anyway? May seem like a trivial question, but I would rather fit in with the norm. If most FJ players just stick with the Splinter smock for all games, I may grab one instead of the green - if only because that would permit me to forgo the step-in type).

I think I've claimed enough of your time, thanks for reading

Hi Nilz,

I am from the school of thought that near enough will do.

Shop around in the UK, there are enough guys selling, check the for sale items on this forum. Or give Militaria.net a shout, he may give you a discount on a bulk purchase.

IMHO.....
Jump trousers good but standard German trousers acceptable.
Get an early jump smock if you wish but splinter B is widely used. I only have splinter B.
M43 ski cap ok, but Para helmet is the way to go.
Brown or black belt with buckle.
Boots Combat High are great, but any high black assault boots will do for starters.
Either bread bag (I ditched my blue bag for the green because the green was better camouflage)
MP40 is absolutely fine.

If you don't have all the kit by the time a game comes up you want to play; most people here will lend you whatever you are short of.

Take it easy,

Carl

Thanks for the info and pics Tom. I didn't know that lutes were standard issue Anyone know where to get a pair of passable LW blue trews in a 34"?

Nilz - I'd agree with all of Carl's observations, especially regarding the paratrooper lid. They may be expensive but they are totally worth it. I'd speak to Richard Underwood. He'll make sure you get the right liner / shell combo and he'll also spray it however you like. A couple of amendments:

Unless you already own a pair of feldgrau trousers, I'd still buy the springerhosen.
If you prefer the splinter B smocks then get one of those first.
Move the pistol+holster to phase B - there's enough pics of FJ without pistols for it to be OK
Ammo pouches should be in phase A.
Water bottle also to phase A
Bread bag - definitely green or tan. The blue ones just don't look right.

I'd also add a pair of the cavalry y-straps

Bread bag - definitely green or tan. The blue ones just don't look right.

But blue is right.

Nils you're you're in the Netherlands aren't you? Boots wise your best bet is probably old Dutch Para boots, should be easier to find than BCH and look more convincing once you've removed the toe cap.

If you're going for an impression that is good for early war then you will want an M40 sidecap rather than an M43. If you go for a later impression then an M43 is fine. I'd agree with the others though, a helmet is the best option overall and a worthwile investment. Its both iconic and can be worn for any period.

As to which smock, just go with what you like most. Splinter isn't much less versatile than green, especially since we haven't had a scenario involving FJ any earlier than 1943. Of course it may be different for you.

As Steiner says a blue breadbag is perfectly correct and if its a decent one won't be too bright a blue and give you away. I'd definitely stick y straps in group A as they're very useful and prevent you're belt slipping. The same with ammo pouches too if you're using an MP40, although jump smocks' canvernous pockets are good too. No need for a waterbottle straight away though if you have a bread bag as you can hide a modern one in there.

Scarf wise just wear what you like. Some units wore a certain type, others just whatever they had. I wear a bit of silk I painted up to look like a section of german parachute. On its own it doesn't look perfect by any means but looks the part around your neck.

Btw if you look on ebay now epic are selling LW belts for £3.50 posted as they're not meant to be correct (slightly wrong colour). Just don't bid on the 110cm dark brown one please.

Thanks for the info and pics Tom. I didn't know that lutes were standard issue Anyone know where to get a pair of passable LW blue trews in a 34"?

There are a few companys that are selling the M1935 trousers . Pirchen/ant z do them. Barry lyndon does them and kommiss is now selling them.

BUT if you dont want to pay the ££ for them, get modern RAF dress trousers, wrong material but there blue

Thanks for the heads up. I'll steer clear of the dark belt and bid on the red one.

Cheers for all the help so far. I am indeed in The Netherlands, but I normally play UK fields. I intend to use this kit for CiA events

Good point about scenarios usually being post 1943 anyway. I'm relieved we're not doing any Holland 1940 scenarios. It would be a rather embarassing affair mostly consisting of flooding half the playing area, followed by looking East while the German side deploys behind the lines and calls victory

May as well go for the Splinter B jump smock.
I moved the helmet down because of the relatively high cost. An M43 cap will at least provide me with suitable headdress. Would prefer to get a helmet straight away ofcourse. I'll get one from Underwood when I do.
Since I read that there are plenty of pictures of FJ without mag pouches at all, I thought I'd stuff mags into pockets initially. I'll try to squeeze those in.
Y-suspenders on my list now.

I think BCH might be easier to source than anything Dutch pre-1990's I've been trying to find a pair of the old brown boots for my 1970's Dutch kit for ages now and nothing has turned up. In fact, some UK surplus stores seem to be better stocked on Dutch kit than the Dutch ones I'll have a rummage around some flea markets and second hand stores. No half decent surplus stores anywhere near here anymore.

Hans Gowert, what kind of scarf are you wearing in that Late War picture in this forum? That's exactly the type of scarf I'm after.

I thought I'd stuff mags into pockets initially

If you get an MP40 it might be better to put them inside your smock. If you belt is nice and tight and as high up as it should be they're not too hard to get to. Otherwise they'll all fall out of your pockets the first time you go prone.

nilz,

just a plain gray scarf , or sometimes a blue polka dot scarf.

wear any colour civilian scarf , you be surprised how much variation there was regarding the use of civilian kit in the field.