Drillich Fatigue Uniforms

September 4, 20205 yr

#1

I thought I would start a thread on the lowly German Fatigue uniform. This is the plain-Jane uniform that was issued to every serviceman for fatigue duty. This was referred to by the Germans as a "drillich" (ticking) cotton uniform made in the style that we Americans call "herringbone twill" (HBT). While this should be a common uniform for collectors to find, since there were so many of them issued, this is not necessarily the case. The reason seems to be that since the outfits were so handy, and usually had no insignia, they were simply worn out and discarded. This makes nice examples of this unloved uniform hard to find today.

Here is a set of un-issued Police drillich HBT that sat in a police warehouse inventory in Salsburg and was never issued. Notice that it has a set of five removable pebbled metal buttons so the uniform jacket can be easily washed. The material is sturdy un-bleached cotton HBT and there is no insignia. Typically the only insignia worn by the Wehrmacht or the Polizei was a piece of Tresse worn on the collar to indicate a NCO. Also notice the factory paper tags still on this uniform indicating necessary information for the Quartermaster.

Please show your examples of this uniform if you have them.

September 4, 20205 yr

Author

#2

The photos come from photograph albums and show Polizei troops on maneuvers with some wearing the drillich uniforms and some their regular uniforms in the photo above. The photo below shows Polizei troops engaged in normal barrack fatigue duties and note the rank collar tresse on one NCO. These were sometimes made of removable metal strips for ease of washing.

The drillich Jacke below is also Polizei issue and shows considerable wear and a bit of damage. Notice that this jacket has been whitened during the period of use. This is common for these fatigue uniforms.