One of his brothers went into the Army, but was rejected because he "didn't weigh enough, even though he was 6ft tall-- he was accepted into the Navy though.

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I remember reading somewhere that the Germans were shocked by the condition of the British prisoners they took in 1940, particularly the state of their teeth. Some of the second line German divisions would have looked pretty similar though methinks, for example the "Ear and Stomach Battalions" and the reserve divisions made up from older men who had been on the job line in the 20s. Even through the 1930s Depression, the British Army still struggled to recruit, the army was still viewed as a last resort for the desperate. In 1939, it was still under establishment and the Territorial battalions were in even worse state.The difference was that the Nazis did introduce Social Services which were not available to the British until after WW2.

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Believe it or not,us Americans also had a big problem because of the depression and folks getting proper nutrition. If you look at the pics from the late 30s and even guys lining up to get a physical for armed forces induction,there are lots of pale skinny guys in those lines.
A good part of early armed forces training was devoted to building up health,endurance and stamina through good food in reasonable amounts and lots of physical activity.
J

nice helmet Jerry-just saw one of the yesterday at Camp Ripley's nice museum.
Dan

Not a criticsm, just an observation -the prototype of this guy was either a slob or his helmet cover got ripped, because the way it fitted was a sewn-in lip at the front which slipped over the front peak of the helmet, then the cover was held in place by three steel sprung clips, one at each side and one at the rear (there are prominent sleeves in the cover for the springs). So either the lip got ripped off, or had possibly frayed on the sharp edge of the M42 helmet, or he couldn't be bothered to put it on properly!

Oops! Grandmothers and sucking eggs spring to mind! As I said, I wasn't complaining, just pointing that detail out for the others. You did say you were using a wartime photo to follow. I've seen plenty of photos of German gear not being worn properly or extemporised (e.g. helmet covers made from a flat piece of fabric and held on with bits of string or pieces cut from inner tubes). As you point out not every German soldier even in the SS was a stickler for regulations - the SS in particular liked to sew their badges onto camo clothing in defiance of regulations and even where it compromised concealment.

Yep, looks like another real soldier! Don't know if you have this book Jerry, "Meine Ehre Heisst Treue" by Olli Wikberg. It's about Finnish volunteers in the Waffen SS and includes some beautiful photography of genuine Finnish volunteers, nearly always named. They seemed to like non-standard gear, most of them sport the traditional Finnish sheath knife, against regulations. Other things which "never happened" include breast pockets sewn into their smocks and the officers seemed to favour camo uniforms presumably tailored from zeltbahn material, complete with pockets shoulder straps etc. All pre the M44 pea pattern suit. Although it specialises in the Finns, apart from the non-standard stuff mentioned, their uniforms follow regulation pattern, so it's still a good source for seeing uniform as it was actually worn.