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Uniforms

Radios

Antenna

Telephony

Encryption

Tents

Generators

Uniform and insignia

The signals branch wore the normal army uniform with branch specific insignia.

All our uniforms are high quality reproductions which are as accurate as possible,  in construction, colour and quality of cloth. All the insignia used is, again, high quality reproduction.

Uniform

The signallers wore the same uniform as the rest of the army - the 4 pocket feldbluse which came in 4 basic styles, denoted by the year of introduction (1936, 1940, 1942 or 1943).

In the photo above, the 1936 pattern feldbluse is worn - this has the bottle green collar and pleats in all 4 pockets. This is an early war photograph - the helmets still have the national 'tricolour' insignia on, which was later ordered removed.

Insignia

These are the collar patches seen on all German uniforms, correctly called litzen. The yellow stripes denote the branch of service , basically so as to allow others to see what you do! This colour is called the waffenfarbe.

In the photograph above, these are mounted on stiffened backing of the same green wool as the feldbluse collar.

 

Above are the shoulder boards worn on the feldbluse and great coats. The waffenfarbe is repeated  on the edges of the boards. These also show the rank of an Unteroffizier (equivalent to a corporal in the British army) - the subdued silver braid on the edges is applied only from the rank of Unteroffizier and higher; junior NCOs and privates had no braid.

Signallers also had 3 trade badges:

This is the basic signals qualification and was worn by those who were qualified signallers (funker). The colour of the 'blitz' denoted the branch of service (e.g. a red 'blitz' would denote a signaller in the artillery). Worn on the upper left arm.

 

 

Next is the insignia of a qualified funkmeister - this was essentially the same as the funker above, but a higher rank. This variant  Worn on the lower right arm.

 

 

Finally, this is the insignia of a nachrichten mechaniker who was a trained signals mechanic. He was responsible for the upkeep, calibration and repair of radio equipment. This position could be held at any rank. Worn on the lower right arm.

 

Ranks

The signal arm of service followed the same rank structure as the rest of the army, but it had specific names for some of the ranks (normal german rank is given in brackets, and an approximate equivalent British Army rank afterwards):

There was also the appointment of a Hauptfunkmeister (Hauptfeldwebel, almost equivalent to a WO1 (RSM)). Officers had no trade specific ranks.