WOOL FIELD UNIFORM

The jacket or Tunic is worn under the camouflage jump smock.  It is a short cut tunic with two pockets on the lower front, and a row of hidden buttons.  The tunic has the rank of the Fallschirmjager on the collar and shoulder boards, the gray/silver trim denotes rank of NCO.  On the outside of both pant legs, at the knee, the trousers had an opening closed with snaps, to access knee pads when parachuting.  The pants were "bloused" or tucked into the boots as seen, and also had a hidden side leg pocket for the FJ's gravity knife with lanyard.

TROPICAL FIELD UNIFORM

The tropical uniform was a light weight cotton uniform, worn in the area's of: Rome, Italy, North Afrika, and even Southern Russia.  The tunic had four pockets, like a standard Army version, and rank was worn the same as the wool tunic.  The pants were bigger in the legs to give a baggy look, and the pants were unique to have a large pocket on the left leg.  FJ's were also know to mix the uniforms, with wool being worn with the tropical uniform.  In very hot climates, FJ's even wore their jump smocks with no pants and just an under shirt or service shirt under neath.  The smocks had an extended leg to give it the look of wearing shorts.  For formal wear there was a white version produced in the tunic and pants as seen above.

HEADGEAR: HELMETS AND SOFT CAPS

FJ's wore a special helmet designed specifically for them during jumping.  The helmet compared to a standard Heer/Army helmet does not have the lower ear area of protection seen in the first above photo.  The Heer helmet would grab the wind to much during a jump, so they designed the specific FJ helmet.  FJ's were known for painting their helmets, and for using chicken wire so that they can attach foliage for camouflage.  FJ's also had specific camouflage helmet covers issued as well.  The M43 Fliegermutze style hat resembles a baseball hat with its brim ,and next to it the M40 Feldmutze or commonly called the "overseas" cap.

FALLSCHIRMJAGER CAMOUFLAGE SMOCKS

Fallschirmjager jump smock came in a wide variety of styles and color patterns.  The smock was unofficially called a "knochensack" or "bone sack" by German paratrooper, because the one piece smock fit over all the gear, and if unfortunately the parachute did not open...your remains would remain inside...?  The type one version is the same as the first photo above, the only difference was that the type one had more zippers.  The first photos shows the type two, which is a step-in design, with a main front zipper to get in and out.  The smock was produced in both a "greenish" version as shown in photo's 1 & 2 and the other was the traditional splinter camouflage shown in photo #3.  The fourth and sixth photos show a type 3 which has a complete open front, closed by buttons, and the bottom of the legs have snaps so you could close it like a step-in version.  The type three had two main camouflage patters called: splinter(resembles shards of broken glass), and a tan/water or marsh pattern.  The marsh pattern had the broken glass look, but it had softer colors as well as the edges of the camouflage were softer in appearance.  All smocks had large leg and chest pockets for storage of gear and or extra ammunition.

FALLSCHIRMJAGER JUMP BOOTS

FJ's were issued a special boot to meet their needs when jumping.  They came up with a high, all leather combat boot.  The first version was a boot that had a unique side lace system, and a simple "waffle" pattern tread.  The tread can be seen in the second photos, which is a wartime original.  FJ's came to realize that the boot did not meet their standards, and were time consuming to get on and off with the side lace.  The second pattern had a standard front lace system, but the tread was eliminated for a more simpler flat bottom boot.  The bottom was slick, in which there was no tread or hobnails for traction, as seen in the fourth photo.  As the war progressed the FJ's were known to modify their boots with hobnails and  or Gebirg's mountain cleats for added traction, as seen in the last two photos.