White Drill info

[cpittman]

The German word "Drillich" is a word that describes the weave of the fabric, not the function of the garment. "Drillich" is the German term for HBT fabric. Saying there is a difference between an HBT jacket and a Drillich jacket is like saying there is a difference between a helmet and a Stahlhelm, it is the same thing!

[Drew Maynard]

chris- thanks for the clarification, perhaps 'drill/work/training' jacke and 'hbt/drillich bluse' is more correct?

[cpittman]

The Wehrmacht introduced a white two-pocket HBT tunic in 1933, which was replaced in 1942 with a green HBT tunic in the same cut. This two-pocket tunic without insignia was not well-suited for combat use in the reality of war so it was replaced in 1940 with a four-pocket green HBT tunic cut in the style of the issue wool Feldbluse. Just as M36, M40, M41, M42 and M43 wool Heer tunics were all called "Feldbluse", so the term "Drillichrock" applied to all these HBT jackets, which were all intended as fatigue jackets for work and training purposes (and later, for combat). The tunic that Craig shows a link to is a reproduction of the 1942 issue four-pocket HBT "Drillichrock" that is made from canvas and not HBT, the vendor explains this as a "theater made variant" (no comment). Like the wool Feldbluse, these came with insignia from the factory. However, also like the wool Feldbluse, these can be seen sometimes without insignia in use during training. I'm not sure why this happened, if uniforms owned by training units were perhaps stripped of insignia by regulation, or for some other reason. I'm also not sure why a recruit in a training squad would have NCO tresse on the collar as shown in the above period photograph. For reenacting, I would say that the two-pocket HBT tunic only makes sense for a pre-1942 impression. After 1942, the four-pocket tunic with insignia is more useful and more authentic for nearly all situations (except perhaps for recruit training, where existing stocks of two-pocket tunics were likely used up).

[Bandenkampfer]

Does anyone reproduce the two-pocket green drillich uniform? I have noticed in my research a lot of Prinz Eugen soldiers wearing it during training exercices and every-day duties and thought it woud be a great secondary uniform to allow members to wear.

[craigob]

The Wehrmacht introduced a white two-pocket HBT tunic in 1933, which was replaced in 1942 with a green HBT tunic in the same cut. This two-pocket tunic without insignia was not well-suited for combat use in the reality of war so it was replaced in 1940 with a four-pocket green HBT tunic cut in the style of the issue wool Feldbluse. Just as M36, M40, M41, M42 and M43 wool Heer tunics were all called "Feldbluse", so the term "Drillichrock" applied to all these HBT jackets, which were all intended as fatigue jackets for work and training purposes (and later, for combat). The tunic that Craig shows a link to is a reproduction of the 1942 issue four-pocket HBT "Drillichrock" that is made from canvas and not HBT, the vendor explains this as a "theater made variant" (no comment). Like the wool Feldbluse, these came with insignia from the factory. However, also like the wool Feldbluse, these can be seen sometimes without insignia in use during training. I'm not sure why this happened, if uniforms owned by training units were perhaps stripped of insignia by regulation, or for some other reason. I'm also not sure why a recruit in a training squad would have NCO tresse on the collar as shown in the above period photograph. For reenacting, I would say that the two-pocket HBT tunic only makes sense for a pre-1942 impression. After 1942, the four-pocket tunic with insignia is more useful and more authentic for nearly all situations (except perhaps for recruit training, where existing stocks of two-pocket tunics were likely used up).

thank you!!.. thats the defination i was after, that link I have isnt HBT as you saw, So im guessing that i need insignia for the "theater made" beast

[kraftfahrer]

I recently bought an off-white HBT from Keith in HongKong. The fabric was definitely too white, but I found that bathing it in tea would change its color to a more correct one. Also, it had correct button buttons as far as type is concerned, but they were metal instead of grey. So I had to paint those by hand. The other problem, is that Keith' stuff is way too large. An L is more like an XL.

Due to recent problems with this vendor, I would not recommend him. Maybe if he resolves some of the delivery problems that are going on in these months...



Also, 1944militaria has announced this product, I believe in a much better quality, but apparently it is not ready yet (July 2008).

[Angus1235]

Gentlemen:

For your viewing pleasure:

from German Army Uniforms of WW2 in Colour by Wade Krawczyk:

pp 21-23: Infatry Enlisted Man, Fatigue Dress, Germany, 1934-1940
pp 69-70: Artillery Enlisted Man, Summer Combat Dress, Russia, 1943-1944

It's a pdf with details on construction, usage and timelines. This should help alot.

http://www.soldaten.ca/drillhbt.pdf

@ Brendan Hunt -thanks for those photos, the top left one looks like the Alte Museum in Berlin, resting place of the Pergammon Altar.

Are those steingrau HBT trousers on the left?