Osprey MAA 419 The German Army in WWI (3)

[Dan Morton]

Has anybody else received their copy of MAA 419, The German Army in WWI (3)? I think this is the best in the series so far! The illustrations on pages F, G, & H or Italy, the Balkans and Palestine, respectively, are really nice! Haven't had much time to read the text yet, but it seems mostly about detailed uniform references.

Should the uniform colors on F-1 and F-2 be greener? Particularly the Wurtemburger. Photos from Armes Militaria magazine show the Wurtemburger uniform as much greener. However, for those of you with an interest in Troddel (bayonet knots), the colors on the both the officer and NCO look correct to me. If it was a private, the Troddel would be solid green, but Jager NCOs and officers wore different ones.

Opinions, folks?

All the best,
Dan

 

[garyjd]

Dan, I have the number 2 book in the series and wish that Ramiro Bujeiro would have illustrated the plates for the first title as well. I'm looking forward to this one. Thanks for the review.~Gary

 

[yeo_64]

Hi Dan ! Thanks for the e-mail message. I received mine about a week ago and have been inspired ever since :lol: :lol: ! I have to agree that this is the best of the lot and the illustrations are indeed inspiring. I especially liked the drawing of the rabbi,and am tempted to sculpt one myself. Unfortunately,I have no inkling of the back of the frock coat that he is wearing. Any help there,Dan ? All in all,a good read and worth every cent ! Cheers !
Kenneth

 

[Dan Morton]

Ken - No idea what the back of a rabbi's frock coat would look like!

Try an image search on Google?

All the best,
Dan

 

[Dani A.]

Hello,

Here you are...

It is a regular chaplain's frock; rabbis used the same, with the same waffenfarbe, violet - which shows very indistinct in the Osprey plate, at least in my own copy of the book.

Rear details could vary, because chaplains ranked as officers and their uniforms were privately made; piped false pockets could be included, for instance.

HTH,

Dani

 

[yeo_64]

Hi Dani ! Thanks for the reply to my query.Unfortunately,all I see of the posted image is a cartoon picture of a figure with a clock.Could you kindly try posting it again ? Thanks in advance and cheers !
Kenneth. :lol:

 

[Dan Morton]

Yeah, I was reading this and thought I must be hallucinating for a second when I saw the little cartoon figure where the rabbi should be. A momentary "flashback" or something. :lol:

I look forward to seeing what the back of a rabbi's frock actually looks like.

Violet? Boy, the rabbi's coat in the Osprey 419 sure isn't violet! Do you mean like a violet shade of feldgrau or really violet? I suppose the picture will answer that question.

That's 2 I believe he's made mistakes on. I looked up my references on the Wurtemburger and all 3 uniforms in the references are quite a lot greener and less grey than the one shown in the Osprey 419 pic. I might be able to believe that because it was late in the war and more difficult to get everything, dyes for fabric included, that the Wurtemburg uniform makers went to feldgrau, but that isn't what my references say.

All the best,
Dan

 

[Dani A.]

Ooooooops!

What you saw was the MSN Photo Album logo where I had the photo in... Image transfer didn't work, obviously! Now I have fixed it.

The frock is not violet, is field grey, of course. Waffenfarbe means, literally, "arm colour"; each Army branch had an assigned colour, violet for chaplains, which is present, in this case, in the frock's piping and in the cap band (an alternative headgear to the hat).

Regards,

Dani

 

[Dani A.]

Regarding Wurttemburger uniforms, I think caps (both mountain caps and officer's caps) were regulated to be that distinct shade of greey green, but ski litewkas and mountain trousers were field grey. Nevertheless, I have seen mountain caps which look field grey. Also, later on they used conventional (i.e. non-mountain troops specific) uniforms, and in this case these where grey green (like those of Jaegers). Probably those factors mentioned by Dan influenced all this, too. And sometimes, field grey uniforms have a green cast; add to this wear, and aging (in preserved uniforms), and the picture is certainly a mixed one...

Dani

 

[Dan Morton]

I mispoke a little earlier. I was thinking entirely of the Oberjager, Wurttemberg Mountain Battalion painting at F2 in MAA 419. What I said was a little too broad. But I still think Mr. Bujeiro may have gotten F2 wrong. To illustrate the variation in color of Litewkas from very green grey to more standard feldgrau, see:

Armes Militaria #110, "Les Skieurs Allemands, 1914-1915" - standard feldgrau Litewka and trousers;
Armes Militaria # 206, "Les Troupes de Montagne du Wurttemberg, 1914-1915" - feldgrau Litewka but green-grey trousers;
Armes Militaria # 214, "Les Fusiliers de Montagne Wurtembergeois" - much greener Litewka and trousers; and,
Armes Militaria # 218, "Les Fusiliers de Montagne Wurtembergeois (continued)" - very green Litewka and trousers.

The last two are illustrating later war uniforms. If F2 is meant to show a late war uniform of a Wurtemburg Mountain batallion Jager, more green and less grey may be a closer match. These four articles refer variously to the "Wurttembergische Schneeschuh-bataillon, Wurttembergische Gebirgs-bataillon or Wurttembergische Gebirgs-regiment" and show mountain Jager uniforms.
__________
Your posting of the rabbi's coat is really neat! Definitely violet armband, coat piping and capband. Again, my eyes aren't the best, but yes I can barely make out in the F-3 MAA 419 rabbi painting muted violet piping on his coat and hat band.

All the best,
Dan

 

[yeo_64]

Thanks,Dani,I see the photo now ! VERY COOL ! Cheers.
Kenneth.