Did Heer tankers also wear "pea" pattern camo uniforms, or was that just Waffen SS?

- Steve

It was an SS pattern. You could try the zeltbahn pattern instead

David

Bugger !!!!

Oh well, thanks anyway David.

of course it is the vague chance of an heer panzer commander found this camo pattern so kool that he outfitted himself in this unregular way,if so you must make sure to put the wehrmacht insignia on it:)

Good idea!

However, having pondered the matter some more, I've come up with a scenario of an SS tanker hitching a ride in a Heer vehicle.

I mean - who's to say with any authority that such a thing never happened?!

In fact in all likelihood it probably happened quite a bit.

Overall I'm pleased with my build, so I've decided to allow myself a bit of the old "artictic license" rather than loose too much sleep over it.

- Steve

Steve,
I have read that in the ETO and Italy, camouflage items were in high demand by heer troops, and they would wear SS items if they could lay their hands on them. However, on the eastern front it was the opposite - the way the Russians treated prisoners who they suspected of being SS was not nice, and so the garments were avoided by the heer to prevent mistakes from being made.

Might help you out with your artistic licence there!

James

That's an interesting point, James.

I know an old German vet (he was Heer, not W-SS) who fought in Russia and was eventually captured in Normandy in July '44 by the Free Polish forces.

I don't recall what unit he was in at the time (I'll have to ask him next time I see him) but he told me that when he was captured with his 2 mates (the only survivors from their company) they came within an ace of being executed on the spot because they were wearing camo and the soldiers who captured them thought they were W-SS.

Fortunately for them though, another guy recognised that they were Heer and intervened, so they were sent off to a PoW cage and eventually he ended up in a PoW camp in Canada (and very glad to be out of it, he says).

- Steve

Even in the West, Germans captured in camo could be beaten up or worse (I've seen the photos), because they were thought to be snipers. Snipers were unpopular because they were thought to be somehow "sneaky & underhand", as they deliberately coldly targetted individuals as opposed to shooting them in the heat of battle. The Americans ceased using their camo coveralls in case they were mistaken for SS. I've read of a case where Polish troops in Normandy shot Heer tank crew because they were wearing black uniforms & were taken to be SS! This was witnessed by an SS man who was ignored as he was in camo!