Original Item: Only One Available. This is a lovely condition German WWII Heer Army NCO's M36 greatcoat or overcoat, complete with Infantry shoulder straps indicating the rank of Oberfeldwebel. NCO greatcoats were usually issued by the depots, and are much harder to come by than the privately purchased examples that officers would get during their service.

The coat is in very good condition, and is constructed with an outer shell of heavy feldgrau (field gray) wool, the standard uniform material of the time. It shows only minor wear on the exterior, with some small holes and tears from service or possibly minor mothing. The greatcoat matches very well with the M36 pattern, with a bottle-green (flaschengrün) "badge cloth" lay down collar and long cuffs at the end of the sleeves. The front features the correct 12 button front closure, featuring 6 pebbled buttons on each side. Most of these are maker marked on the back, and are sewn directly to the fabric of the greatcoat. There are diagonal slash pockets on either side at the waist, which have top flaps that can be worn both in and out of the pockets. The rear bottom of the jacket has the usual button closure, which would be used depending on the situation.

The interior of the jacket is lined with black wool twill on the upper half for additional insulation, and features gray green rayon linings in the sleeves. It has a slash pocket on the inner left breast, and all the pockets are made from gray green light cotton. The interior does show some wear in areas, possibly from abrasion on the uniform worn underneath. We checked thoroughly, and there are no markings anywhere on the interior of the greatcoat.

The button attached style Unteroffiziere mit Portepee schulterklappen (Senior NCO shoulder straps) of this greatcoat are the 1938-1940 pattern, with a flaschengrün (dark bottle green) wool base. They have the correct NCO Tresse sewn around the entire edge, and TWO rank pips are present on the shoulder boards, indicating the rank of Oberfeldwebel, an NCO rank equivalent to a U.S. Army Master Sergeant. They each have Weiß (white) piping around the edge the Waffenfarbe (Corps Color) for infantry and motorized infantry.

This is a lovely example of a genuine German WWII NCO wool greatcoat, which would display fantastically.

Approximate Measurements:
Collar to shoulder: 10.5"
Shoulder to sleeve: 24.5”
Shoulder to shoulder: 15”
Chest width: 19"
Waist width: 20"
Hip width: 29.5"
Front length: 50.5"

Following the invasion of the Soviet Union the Greatcoat was found to be insufficient for the Russian winter and they were replaced by more effective clothing.

Overcoats in various forms have been used by militaries since at least the late 18th century, and were especially associated with winter campaigns, such as Napoleon's Russian campaign. The full-length overcoat was once again popularized by the use during World War I of the trench coat.

Stereotypically, overcoats used by the army tended to be single-breasted, while navies often used double-breasted overcoats. Overcoats continued to be used as battle dress until the mid-1940s and 1950s, when they were deemed impractical. However, in colder countries, such as the former Soviet Union, they continue to be issued and used. When more efficient clothing and synthetic fibers became readily available, the overcoat began to be phased out even there.