Luftwaffe NCO Flight Tunic

Product Description: This is a gorgeous and high-quality example of a private purchase, tailor made Luftwaffe NCO Flight Tunic. It’s the four pocket style, known as the Tuchrock, worn by all ranks as part of the service uniform. NCOs in the Luftwaffe were issued uniforms, but this one belonged to an airman with some status (and money) who chose to have a tailor make his service uniform. This Luftwaffe NCO Flight Tunic is of the highest quality and presumably pre-war manufacture. The exterior is constructed from a gabardine type fabric with a smooth texture, in the typical blue-gray Luftwaffe uniform color. It is complete with all insignia. The breast eagle is a very striking, early “droop tail” version, hand embroidered, and hand sewn to the tunic. The sleeve features a 1935 trade patch for Flight Personnel, machine embroidered on a nearly matching gabardine base fabric, clearly intended for this type of private purchase tunic. The yellow piped shoulder boards are sewn in, as is correct for this uniform style, and have Luftwaffe pattern NCO Tresse as well as one rank pip each, indicating the rank of Feldwebel. The wool collar tabs are hand sewn to the collar, and each has three aluminum rank gulls. The collar is correctly piped with yellow Waffenfarbe piping for the Flight branch, and the Luftwaffe collar Tresse matches that of the shoulder straps. All of the original, silver finished buttons are present, and all of the insignia shows a light, even wear that matches the tunic exterior perfectly. Inside, this Luftwaffe NCO Flight Tunic is completely lined, with the body lined in artificial silk that shows only minor discoloration from wear. There is a hanger for a sword or dagger, as well as an internal belt. The overall condition of this handsome tunic is excellent. It does show some honest wear from the original owner, with some minor fraying to the ends of the French cuffs. It also shows some age, with a few minor moth nips, mostly to the reverse, and mostly very small (match head size or smaller). There are some very minor stains to the inside shoulders, from spending decades on a metal hanger, and a few moth nips to the felt underside of the collar. This is a really attractive example of a private purchase Luftwaffe service tunic, that makes for an eye-catching display.

Historical Description: The Luftwaffe, the air force of the German military during the Third Reich, was established in 1935. Over the next 10 years, Luftwaffe troops wore a huge variety of uniforms. Enlisted men generally wore uniforms issued from military depots. Most enlisted soldiers had wool trousers and a short jacket with two internal lower pockets, called a Fliegerbluse, as well as a dressier 4-pocket tunic, the Tuchrock. Officers wore the same general uniform styles, but as officers had to supply their own uniforms, they usually wore tailor made versions. There were also myriad varieties of specialized uniforms worn by certain units or in specific situations, from the tuxedo-style “gala” formal wear uniform of the pre-war period, to the plain coveralls worn by crews of anti-aircraft cannons. There were work uniforms, tropical and summer uniforms, and camouflage clothing for airborne troops and other Luftwaffe soldiers in ground combat. Flight crews had their own specialized gear, including leather jackets and warm, electrically heated suits. Most but not all Luftwaffe uniform jackets bore the Luftwaffe emblem of a flying eagle holding a swastika.

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